This past Saturday, a peaceful protest in Chicago turned into a violent clash due to agitators.
According to the Chicago Police Department, violent agitators disrupted a peaceful protest, assaulting officers. Police officers responded by bloc
king the march and using combative measures.
In the conflict, at least 17 police officers were injured, one of which being a cop who was hit in the head repeatedly with a skateboard.
24 individuals were arrested due to the incident, four of whom were charged with felonies.
The protest began at Millenium Park, with hundreds of individuals gathering at around 4:00pm to call for defunding the Chicago police.
As protesters began to march down Michigan Avenue, police started pushing individuals at the back of the crowd. The march continued until they were stopped by a raised bridge, preventing them from crossing the Chicago River. In response, protesters started chanting, “let us through”. Officers then began to push individuals, using pepper spray, hitting them with batons and making arrests.
Officers continued to rush towards protesters.
One of the protesters, 19-year-old Jalen Kobayashi, was ta
ckled by an officer. According to Kobayashi, the officer kneed him twice in the head and then stepped on his head.
The demonstration was organized by groups such as GoodKids MadCity, BLCK Rising, Chicago Freedom School, Fuerte, March For Our Lives Chicago and Increase the Peace.
The occasion was the second weekend in a row that Chicago has experienced violent demonstrations downtown. The past weekend of August 9th, around a dozen officers were injured and over 100 individuals were arrested.
