Police sent 400 policemen to the area, where they were greeted by caravans of people arriving by car
Chicago Police traded gunfire and arrested more than 100 people after mobs swarmed Chicago’s upscale shopping district early Monday, looting stores, smashing windows and clashing with officers for hours, police said.
Police Commissioner David Brown called the outbreak “pure criminality” and Mayor Lori Lightfoot sought to steer the incident away from the “righteous uprising” in response to George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police on the 25th. may.
“It was not an organized protest. Rather, it was an incident of pure criminality,” Brown said at a press conference.
At least 13 officers were injured and a security guard and a civilian were hit by gunfire, Brown said.
Social media footage showed crushed storefronts and people fleeing stores with arms full of merchandise, with much of the action taking place along Michigan Avenue, the upscale shopping district known as the Magnificent Mile.
Dior Gold Coast store looted in Chicago
People were drawn to a number of social media posts encouraging looting in central Chicago after tensions erupted over the police shooting of a man with a gun, said Brown.
As police questioned a 20-year-old suspect, he fled, shooting at the officers pursuing them, Brown said. Police responded and shot the man, who was hospitalized and is expected to survive.
“After the shooting, a crowd gathered.… Spirits exploded, fueled by disinformation as the afternoon turned into the evening,” Brown said.
In response to social media posts, police dispatched 400 police officers to the area, where they were greeted by caravans of people arriving by car, Brown said.
As police arrested a man carrying a cash register, shots were fired at them from a passing vehicle and police responded, Brown said.
Brown has vowed a police crackdown in downtown Chicago, assigning officers to 12-hour shifts and canceling days off.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
