Hundreds of people looted the upscale Chicago’s Magnificent Mile shopping area and were arrested overnight into early Monday morning. Reports of violence throughout town left officers injured as well as gunfire being exchanged.
What We Know:
- According to law enforcement officials, the violence was provoked after a movement on social media called for looting after an incident in Chicago’s South Side on Sunday. During this incident, a police officer had shot and injured a man in Englewood.
- Mayor Lori Lightfoot stated Monday, “To be clear, this had nothing to do with legitimate protected First Amendment expression.” She went on to clarify that what transpired in downtown Chicago and neighboring communities was simply “criminal behavior,” clearly referring back to the cities historical gang conflict.
Stores looted, damaged in Chicago’s Goose Island neighborhood: https://t.co/XJbOYwSqlA pic.twitter.com/3v61QjL9h5
— WGN TV News (@WGNNews) August 10, 2020
- In an effort to bring the chaos down a couple of notches, the city lifted many of the bridges that cross over the Chicago River to reduce the number of people and vehicle traffic. Public transit was also restricted in certain areas.
Police Superintendent David Brown stated Monday, “This was an act of violence against our police officers and against our city.”
- Brown confirmed that soon after the crowd dissipated in Englewood, police discovered talk on social media in relation to the looting in downtown. Around 400 officers were summoned to deal with the uptick in crime.
- Many of the scenes in Chicago over the weekend and into this week, matched those of the public’s outcry over the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis earlier this year. Government officials and local police were hesitant to call Sunday evening’s lootings a protest, given the amount of theft and property damage left behind by all the culprits.
Going back to Sunday’s incident, the residents of the area who confronted police accused them of “shooting a child”. Deputy Police Chief Yolanda Talley quickly retaliated by saying that the description of the suspect was “misinformation”. It was later revealed that the victim was actually a 20-year-old man on Monday.
