Tag Archives: PROTESTS

UPDATE: 16 arrested in anti-Trump protests in Chicago Loop

(CHICAGO) As Donald Trump took his seat in the Oval Office on Friday, protesters filled Daley Plaza to protest the start of the Trump administration.

At least 16 people were arrested in the wake of the Friday’s “Resist Rally,” organized by the “Chicago Movement For The 99%,” and other events, according to Chicago Police. That included 10 males and 6 females, with charges ranging from disorderly conduct to aggravated battery, police said early Saturday.

Organizers are expecting some 50,000 to take to the streets Saturday for the Women’s March on Chicago, set to coincide with similar marches in Washington and other cities.

Tensions grew high as the protests went on throughout the night and spread across downtown. About 8:40 p.m., as a group marched south on Michigan Avenue past Millennium Park, a Chicago Sun-Times reporter observed a masked woman spray-painting the phrase “Die Fascist Scum” on a CTA bus stop.

Immediately after the reporter began to record the woman, a man walked up to the reporter, knocked his phone away and punched him in the chest.

As in Washington D.C., the Chicago sky was gray and the air chilly, but the climate was markedly different in the two cities. While Trump partisans likely outnumbered demonstrators in the capital for Friday’s inauguration, in Chicago — a Democratic stronghold where Hillary Clinton received 84 percent of the ballots cast in November — only a lone Trump supporter was to be found.

The tone of the protesters’ signs and speeches, calling for resistance to the incoming president’s agenda on immigration, civil rights and labor, offended Lincoln Park resident Amber Passey, who left work around 3 p.m. looking for someplace to celebrate Trump’s inauguration and passed the plaza.

So Passey ducked into a Walgreen’s and bought poster board and markers to make her own sign and join the demonstration. The message scrawled on her makeshift sign: “Americans respect their president.”

Passey climbed the Picasso statue and held her sign over her head for a few minutes as some the crowd hooted— until a protester sneaked behind her and snatched it away.

“I had to wake up in America for the past eight years with a president I didn’t like, but I respect the hell out of him,” said Passey, 25, as she trudged purposefully back to Walgreens for more substantial poster materials. “These people are the sorest losers I have ever met in my whole life.”

South Sider Diana Dagaz, 29, felt the mood wasn’t so bleak among the anti-Trump crowd. Sporting a cat mask— a reference to Trump’s use of a feline synonym for women’s anatomy— Dagaz carried a small sign emblazoned with pagan “sigils” and the words “Hex Trump” and “Hex Pence.” Dagaz said she did not wish the incoming president ill with her hex, only to weaken his power to do harm.

“I don’t want to use signs that have (the language) of fear tactics on them,” Dagaz said. “That’s what the other side does.”

Madeleine Cooley, 75, had a darker view of the four years to come. A regular participant in demonstrations dating back to the movements for civil rights and against the Vietnam war, Cooley said she had seldom seen the nation more divided than it had been during and since the election. Cooley trekked to Daley Plaza from her home in Downers Grove, and planned to join suburban demonstrations over the weekend.

“I think this is the worst it’s ever been,” Cooley said. “Nixon was a crook and a liar, but this guy (Trump) is just so unpredictable. We don’t know what he’s going to do. I guess we’ll find out now. I’m worried.”

Harry Truman College student Jed Forman, 21, said that the demonstration was one of several he had attended in his far shorter career as an activist. A New Jersey native, Forman said he’d never taken an active interest in politics until Trump’s ascent inspired him to get involved in voter registration and turnout drives this fall.

“Ever since he got elected, I’ve been coming out to protests and things,” Forman said. “I actually want to get involved. I didn’t really do much before. Now, I want to get ready for the mid-term (elections).

“So, I guess (Trump) had a positive effect on me. I won’t deny it. I want to do something to protect my rights and the rights of others.”

— Chicago Sun-Times

Thousands take to the streets to protest Trump win

[van id=”us/2016/11/10/trump-tower-protests-new-york-sot-ac.cnn”]
By Max Blau, Euan McKirdy and Azadeh Ansari, CNN
The morning after Election Day smacked Democrats with a combination of shock and sadness.
Donald Trump would be the next US President. For thousands, disappointment turned to protest as Hillary Clinton supporters channeled their disbelief into a single defiant message.
“Not my President,” they chanted. “Not today.”
In response to Trump’s victory, a shocking win fueled by the rural roar of a dismayed white America, tens of thousands of Americans in at least 25 US cities — including New York and Nashville, Chicago and Cleveland, San Francisco and Seattle — shouted anti-Trump slogans, started fires, and held candlelight vigils to mourn the result.
Many of those demonstrations, taking place in areas that supported Clinton, continued early Thursday morning and led to dozens of arrests.
“People are furious, not just at the results of the election, but the rhetoric of Donald Trump,” Ahmed Kanna, an organizer for Social Alternative Berkeley, told CNN’s Don Lemon.
Demonstrations outside Trump’s properties
In New York, authorities estimated that as many as 5,000 people — including pop star Lady Gaga, a staunch Clinton supporter — protested the real estate mogul outside Trump Tower.
Their concerns ranged from policies, such as his proposed plan to build a wall along the US-Mexican border, to the polarizing tenor of his campaign that had stoked xenophobic fears.
“I came out here to let go of a lot of fear that was sparked as soon as I saw the results,” protester Nick Powers said. He said he feared Trump will support stronger stop-and-frisk policies that would put many people in prison. He was worried that Trump’s victory would embolden sexist views.
Fifteen Trump Tower protesters were arrested Wednesday night for disorderly conduct, an NYPD spokesman said.
In Chicago, activists marched down Lake Shore Drive — an eight-lane expressway along Lake Michigan — toward the Windy City’s Trump Tower with signs such as one that said, “I still can’t believe I have to protest for civil rights.”
CNN’s Ryan Young, who saw a few thousand people there, said many chanted vulgarities toward the President-elect — who’s accustomed to using such language.
“As a nation we thought we had come so far, but it seems like we’re taking many steps back,” one woman said. “We want to come together to change that.”
Meanwhile, protesters in Washington chanted “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA” as they marched downtown to the Trump International Hotel. Elsewhere in the nation’s capital, an illuminated sign proclaimed that the US is “better than bigotry.”
Their cries turned profane after a solemn gathering of thousands attended a candlelight vigil outside the White House to mourn the election loss.
“Everything that has been built up has been destroyed,” protester Brian Barto told CNN affiliate WJLA-TV. “America has failed (minorities).”
Trump effigy torched on the West Coast
Headed into Thursday, more than a thousand protesters in Los Angeles, including young Latino protesters, rallied outside City Hall, according to CNN’s Paul Vercammen.
They chanted “I will not live in fear,” “Fight back, stand up” and “Si se puede!” (Spanish for “It can be done”).
Protesters also set on fire a pinata depicting the head of President-elect.
Several protesters said they feared that family or friends might be deported once Trump takes office. Brooklyn White, an 18-year-old protester who voted for Clinton, held a sign that said, “hate won’t win.”
“We can’t let it stop us,” she said. “If he’s the president then fine, but if Donald Trump is going to be it, then he has to listen.”
Early Thursday morning, the protesters marched onto the 101 Freeway and blocked traffic. Authorities arrested at least 13 protesters, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman said.
In Oakland, California, police said as many as 7,000 demonstrators took to the streets Wednesday night. By then, trash fires burned on a highway. Johnna Watson, public information officer with Oakland’s police department, said several officers were injured. More than 24 people were taken into custody.
A few miles away at Berkeley High School, about 1,500 students walked out of classes Wednesday morning. It was one of numerous high school walkouts that occurred nationwide following the election.
Supporters: Trump an ‘agent of change’
As anti-Trump protesters aired their grievances with the election, supporters have also come out in some places to express their enthusiasm for the President-elect.
In New York on Wednesday morning, groups of Trump supporters cheered his victory outside Trump Tower. Others went to the White House late Tuesday and early Wednesday to show their support.
Nicholas Elliot, a Georgetown University student, said he was elated about Trump’s election as he compared it to the United Kingdom’s Brexit vote to leave the European Union.
“I feel pretty good, a year and a half process has ended and it ended my way,” the Texan told CNN affiliate WJLA.
JD Vance, author of the book “Hillbilly Elegy,” told CNN that Trump supporters in middle America voted for the President-elect because so few people — including the Clinton or her supporters — had paid attention to their plight.
“They see Trump as is an agent of change and agent of protest against folks who they feel have really failed in government,” Vance said.
CNN’s Marc Preston said the “Band-Aid” has been ripped off over the past 24 hours. Now comes the hard part: finding middle ground.
“All that anger that has been contained outside of Washington, D.C. and New York that we don’t see in middle America necessarily although these are urban cities, everyone’s starting to see it,” Preston said. “There is a lot of healing that has got to happen.”

The-CNN-Wire ™ & © 2016 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

15 people arrested at protest near Chicago Marathon route

CHICAGO More than a dozen people were arrested Sunday afternoon at a protest near the route of the Chicago Marathon in the Loop.

Fifteen people — 13 females and two males — were arrested at 3:42 p.m. in the 300 block of North Michigan Avenue, according to Chicago Police. Additional information was not immediately available pending charges.

Those arrested were part of a group protesting Islamaphobia and SWAT-style tactical training at an Illinois Tactical Officers Association conference in Hoffman Estates taking place on Sunday, according to a statement from organizers of the demonstration.

© Copyright 2016 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved.

Update: NFL ‘Draft Town’ traffic disrupted by protesters

(CHICAGO) Demonstrators wearing chains briefly blocked traffic on Lake Shore Drive on Saturday, using the NFL’s “Draft Town” as a backdrop to draw attention to police brutality and massive budget cuts at Chicago State University, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

The protests were organized by the activist groups Black Lives Matter and Assata’s Daughters.

Police said 17 protesters, all women, were arrested. The women wrapped themselves in chains before walking across Lake Shore Drive near Jackson around noon, as the NFL Draft festivities hosted by the city were under way in Grant Park.

All 17 were charged with misdemeanor counts of obstructing traffic and were released on their own recognizance Saturday night, police said.

The groups called on the Chicago Police Department to fire Officer Dante Servin, who fatally shot 22-year-old Rekia Boyd in 2012 but was acquitted of murder charges by a Cook County judge last year. Servin has remained with the department, even as former Supt. Garry McCarthy moved to fire him in December amid a wave of protests that began after the city released video of another officer gunning down 17-year-old Laquan McDonald with a barrage of 16 shots.

On Friday, Chicago State announced more than 300 non-faculty positions were being cut at the largely black South Side school because of funding shortfalls linked to the state’s ongoing budget crisis.

The protesters complained that hosting the Draft Town and other NFL-related activities costs the city millions.

— Chicago Sun-Times

NFL Draft Town traffic disrupted by protests

(CHICAGO) Demonstrators wearing chains blocked traffic on Lake Shore Drive briefly Saturday, using the NFL’s “Draft Town” as a backdrop to draw attention to protests of police brutality and massive budget cuts at Chicago State University, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

Chicago Police said 17 protesters, all women, were arrested in connection with the protests, organized by activist groups Black Lives Matter and Assata’s Daughters. The women, who had wrapped themselves in chains before striding across Lake Shore Drive around noon, as the NFL Draft festivities hosted by the city were underway in Grant Park

The groups called for the groups to fire Chicago Police Officer Dante Servin, who fatally shot 22-year-old Rekia Boyd in 2012, but saw murder charges against him dropped by a Cook County judge last year. Servin has remained on the force, though former Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy moved to fire him in December, amid a wave of protests that began after the city released video of another officer gunning down 17-year-old Laquan McDonald with a barrage of 16 shots.

Friday, Chicago State announced more than 300 non-faculty positions were being cut a the South Side university because of funding shortfalls wrought by the state’s ongoing budget crisis. In a statement, the protesters complained that hosting the Draft Town and other NFL-related activities this week costs the city millions.

“Decision makers at the local and state levels have made it clear where their financial priorities lie,” the protest groups said in a statement. “We continue to receive cuts to the institutions that keep black women safe— institutions that continue to be replaced by terrorist cops who brutalize and murder Black women without penalty.”

— Chicago Sun-Times

Kasich vows to win Ohio, do well in Illinois.

By John Dempsey, WLS-AM News

(CHICAGO) Republican Presidential Candidate and Ohio Governor John Kasich was on WLS this morning, predicting he will win his home state of Ohio, and it’s winner-take-all 66 delegates on Tuesday.

Kasich told “The Big John Howell Show” he will also do well in Illinois, and rejected the notion that our polarized country does not want to buy his moderate message.

“I am gonna win Ohio, in some of the suburbs around Chicago we’re tied for first, we’re rising in Illinois, we’re second.   No, I don’t think this country’s too polarized to hear a good message, a message of what we can do to turn things around, not at all.”

The campaigns of Kasich and Florida Senator Marco Rubio have been struggling, and both men will most likely have to pull out of the race if they do not win their respective states of Ohio and Florida on Tuesday.

Rubio, in an effort to deny delegates to Donald Trump, has gone as far as to suggest his supporters in Ohio vote for Kasich, with the hope that Kasich would return the favor and encourage his backers to vote for Rubio in Florida.

However Kasich told WLS he will not do that.   “How do you go on the ballot, when you have people that support you, and you’re running for President, and you tell people ‘vote for somebody else?’ Wouldn’t that be kind of crazy?”

Kasich also blamed Trump for the violence we have seen on the campaign trail, including at Trump’s canceled Chicago rally this past Friday, at the University of Illinois-Chicago Pavilion.

LISTEN to John kasich speak with “Big” John Howell on WLS-AM 890 here.

“I said he created a toxic atmosphere, which I believe that he has done.  That comes about from dividing people, and incendiary remarks, that’s not a good thing.   There’s no question that some people actually showed up and probably wanted to cause trouble.   But when you pit one person against another, when you say a quote like ‘I’d like to punch him in the face, I’d like to knock the crap out of them, maybe he should have been roughed up’, I mean these are quotes.  I mean, come on.  You’re running for President of the United States. You can’t use language like that. It’s wrong.  What is your positive vision?  How are you gonna fix things?  Don’t divide people.  That’s not what makes America strong.”

In recent days Kasich has backed away from a promise he made to support Trump if he is the Republican nominee.   On WLS this morning he would not answer the question, saying  “He’s not gonna be the nominee, so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens here.”



©WLS-AM 890 News, 2016

Chicago area woman at Trump rally: “I’m not a Nazi.”

By John Dempsey, WLS-AM 890 News

A Chicago Tribune photo from Donald Trump’s canceled Chicago rally this past Friday has gone viral.  It features an older woman in a Trump t-shirt making what appears to be a Nazi salute.

The New York Times has identified the woman as 69 year old German-born Birgitt Peterson of suburban Yorkville.

Peterson told “The Jonathan Brandmeier Show” on WLS that she made the Nazi salute not because she is a Nazi, but to teach a history lesson to anti-Trump protesters who were holding up signs comparing the Republican Presidential candidate to Adolf Hitler.

Peterson told Brandmeier, “Anybody that stands around, and is not educated enough about world history, and compares any other person, any other man, woman or whatever to Adolf Hitler, and incorrectly, and calling me those names…those people, if they are drawing absolutey obscene and ridiculous signs and words into the air, I said  ‘If you wanna compare anything, then you have to learn first how it was done.’   And I lifted my arm and everybody there went into a panic.”

Peterson said she went to the rally with her husband Don to support Donald Trump.   She tells the Times that “The Republican Party needs to be broken up, and I believe Donald Trump is the one to do it.”    She also says “Absolutely I’m not a Nazi, no.   I’m not one of those.”

The Chicago Tribune photo of Peterson has gotten wide distribution online, and was also featured prominently on Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update.”

Visit www.brandmeier.com to listen to the segment!

@ WLS-AM 890 News, 2016

Updated: Cancellation and Fights at Trump Rally

By Jennifer Keiper, WLS-AM 890 News

​(CHICAGO) The UIC Pavilion, in Chicago, can hold some 10,000 people and several thousand were inside when an announcement came Friday evening that the event was being postponed.  That is when arguments started breaking out and some of the fights turned physical.

Police and other security moved in and started removing some attendees from the building.  One man was hauled off when he jumped onto the stage and started ripping up paper.

For more continuing coverageand analysis of the event, click here.

The Trump campaign issued a statement saying that shortly after the candidate arrived in town, he met with law enforcement and decided that for the safety of everyone – the event should be postponed.  The campaign went on to thank supporters for their attendance and urged them to please go in peace.

Chicago Police Department Spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the Trump campaign did not consult the police department before canceling Friday’s rally.

The building was emptied approximately 45 minutes after the planned 6pm start time and those inside spilled onto the surrounding streets where large numbers of police were posted and protesters were kept corralled by fences.

Some protesters attempted to disrupt traffic on the nearby Eisenhower Expressway, prompting police to temporarily close some ramps.

@ WLS-AM NEWS 2016

 

In Depth: Trump supporters, protesters clash

Protesters against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump shout at Trump supporters after it was announced that the candidate's rally was canceled due to security concerns, on the campus of the University of Illinois-Chicago, Friday, March 11, 2016, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
 (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

 

By Jeremy Diamond and Theodore Schleifer, CNN

(CHICAGO) Donald Trump’s campaign on Friday postponed a rally in Chicago amid fights between supporters and demonstrators, protests in the streets and concerns that the environment at the event was no longer safe.
The announcement, which came amid large protests both inside and outside the event at The University of Illinois, comes amid heightened concerns about violence at the GOP front-runner’s rallies and four days before Illinois holds its Republican primary.
Hundreds of demonstrators packed into an arena, breaking out into protest even before Trump had showed up. At least five sections in the arena were filled with protesters.
“Mr. Trump just arrived in Chicago and after meeting with law enforcement has determined that for the safety of all of the tens of thousands of people that have gathered in and around the arena, tonight’s rally will be postponed to another date,” the Trump campaign said in a statement. “Thank you very much for your attendance and please go in peace.”
Several fistfights between Trump supporters and protesters could be seen after the announcement, as a large contingent of Chicago police officers moved in to restore order.
Supporters of Trump still inside chanted “We want Trump” after the event was canceled. Protesters, meanwhile, shouted “We shut s*** down” and “We stumped Trump.” Others chanted “Bernie” as supporters whipped out Bernie Sanders campaign signs.
Some protesters were being detained and forcefully carried out.
Maria Hernandez, a 25-year-old community organizer, broke out into dance as a Trump campaign staffer announced that the rally had been canceled.
“I’ve never been more proud of my city,” Hernandez told CNN.
Hernandez, who came out to protest Trump, said the Republican front-runner’s immigration policies, as well as racial divisions in her city, pushed her to show up and protest Trump’s planned event
.
“I’m protesting because I’m black and Mexican and I’m not sure where he wants to deport me to, but I deal with racism daily in Chicago and I’ve had enough,” she said.
One Trump supporter said he was “disappointed” that the event was postponed.
“Protesters have won now,” Marlin Patrick, 55, told CNN. “We just feel as if the protesters have taken over.”
Debi Patrick, a 53-year-old Trump supporter who lives outside Chicago, said there should have been more security planned for the event, but said she didn’t blame Trump for the atmosphere at the rallies, saying people are responsible for their own behavior. Asked if she would still vote for Trump on Tuesday, she said, “Absolutely, more than ever.”
But, Patrick said, “This is scaring the hell out of me, trying to leave here.”
Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told CNN that there were no reports of injuries or arrests at the event. He added that attendees were exiting the rally and appeared to be civil.
Guglielmi added that the decision to postpone the event was not made by Chicago police.
A crowd of protesters outside the rally site had been steadily growing throughout the afternoon. Earlier Friday, 32 people were arrested in protests both inside and outside Trump’s rally at the Peabody Opera House in St. Louis, police said. Thirty-one people were charged with disturbing the peace, and one was charged with third-degree assault. St. Louis police declined to provide further details.
Protests spill into streets
Soon after the event was postponed, scores of protesters — a racial mixture of whites and blacks, Hispanics and Asians — spilled out into the streets near the university, which is located in the city’s downtown.
Dozens of protesters gathered outside a parking garage adjacent to the arena, where police set up a human barricade to allow supporters to go to their cars and leave. More than a dozen police officers on horseback were there.
“Let’s go, let’s go,” one Chicago police officer told Trump supporters in a truck. “Go home.”
One supporter, who didn’t give his name as he drove out, said the situation was dangerous and that he felt unsafe as protesters shouted at his car.
At one point, a man on the third floor of the garage leaned over the edge and shouted at protesters, “I don’t support Trump.”
A protester responded, “You f***ing neo-Nazi prick, come down here.”
Aureliano Rivas, 18, a Mexican-American high school student from Chicago, told CNN he was protesting because “we have to stand our ground.”
“We shouldn’t let racism happen like this,” said Rivas, who was shouting “F*** Trump” as Trump supporters drove out of the garage. In response, Rivas said, supporters were flipping him off.
Asked what he would tell a Trump supporter, Rivas said, “This is wrong. You shouldn’t support someone who is racist.”
Trump responds
Speaking to MSNBC’s Chris Matthews after the event, Trump said he deplored the violence and said it signaled something broader about society.
“You can’t even have a rally in a major city in this country anymore without violence or potential violence. And I didn’t want to see the real violence, and that’s why we called it off,” Trump said.
Trump said he recognized that both sides were angry, but was largely unsympathetic to the protesters’ concerns.
“You have people that are very, very upset about what’s happening with our country as a country, and you have other people who don’t just feel right about things,” Trump said.
Later, as protests outside the arena continued, Trump tweeted that he had “just got off phone with the great people of Guam,” which holds a Republican convention on Saturday to elect delegates.
“I just got off the phone with the great people of Guam! Thank you for your support! #VoteTrump today! #Trump2016.”
Heightened tensions at rallies
Protests and racial tensions have recently escalated at Trump rallies. On Thursday, a man attending a Trump rally this week was charged with assault after he allegedly sucker-punched a black protester being led out of a Trump event.
Last fall, Trump said a Black Lives Matter protester maybe “should have been roughed up.” And despite an announcement at the start of his rallies urging protesters not to be violent toward protesters, Trump in February urged his supporters to “knock the crap out of” anybody “getting ready to throw a tomato” and vowed to pay for their legal fees should they face charges.
“Knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously. OK? Just knock the hell — I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees. I promise, I promise,” Trump said.
And Trump also said he personally wanted to punch a protester “in the face” during a rally in February.
But at CNN’s Republican debate on Thursday, Trump insisted that he did not support violence at his events.
“I certainly do not condone that at all,” Trump said, adding, “We have some protesters who are bad dudes. They have done bad things.”

The-CNN-Wire ™ & © 2016 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

UPDATE: 3 arrested as Laquan McDonald protesters block shoppers

UPDATES WITH ARRESTS, NEW DETAILS

A group of protesters cut off the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s speech on Laquan McDonald’s deadly shooting short Friday when they pulled the leader’s microphone and stormed the stairs where he spoke outside the historic Water Tower, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

“Indict Rahm!” the protesters shouted as a brief shoving match ensued.

Jackson and others who were ready to speak stopped their activities as the masses hijacked Jackson’s presentation, and competed with the shoppers who flocked downtown to advantage of Black Friday sales.

“No justice, no shopping,” some chanted. “Black lives matter not Black Friday!”

Others screamed, “16 shots, 13 months,” pointing to how long it took authorities to charge Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke in the African-American teenager’s death. McDonald’s body was shot 16 times.

“We want Rahm Emanuel in jail,” others said. They also chanted, “Black out Black Friday” and “The whole system is guilty as hell.”

A unity march, which started at Pioneer Court, was organized by the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. But other groups, including one shouting “Black Power” and carrying red, green and black flags, were protesting the murder as well, and attempted at times to disrupt the PUSH group.

For several hours on one of the busiest shopping days of the year, Michigan Avenue was effectively shut down from the river through a few blocks north of the water towers.

And about 10 protesters later made it onto Lake Shore Drive at Michigan Avenue, linking hands and chanting “Sixteen shots!” They halted traffic for about 10 minutes, before police ran toward them. The group then dropped hands and ran, eluding police.

Three people had been arrested in the protests as of 4:30 p.m., according to police. Misdemeanor charges of simple battery and traffic-related offenses were pending.

During Friday’s demonstration, officers blocked off the entrance of Water Tower Place. Some protesters had apparently tried to get into the popular shopping center.

At one point, shoppers were turned away from entering. “No justice, no profit,” marchers screamed.

Some protesters yelled at shoppers in front of Topshop, “Don’t shop today!” But the shoppers went in anyway.

There were some demonstrators who linked their arms in front of many stores, refusing to let anyone in. Several shoving matches broke out.

Paxton Murphy of Chicago’s South Loop said she was shoved and “forcibly pushed back as she was trying to enter the Crate and Barrel store, 646 N. Michigan.

“I’m totally, totally sick of these kids getting killed,” she said, “but that has nothing to do with me using the bathroom at the f—— Crate and Barrel.”

A block north outside the Tiffany & Co store, 730 N. Michigan, seven protesters locked arms, telling potential customers, “It’s closed,” and chanting, “While you shop, people get shot.”

A Tiffany security guard tried to help a customer push past them but a protester bumped into the guard.

“You can’t elbow her,”  an African-American woman walking by called out. “You’re going to get yourself arrested.”

Later, another Tiffany customer demanded to get past protesters but protesters refused. The woman
became angry, and tried to push past. Police quickly ran over and tried to help her get into the store. That sparked a pushing and shoving melee between police and protesters, as police pushed and pulled the woman into the entrance where a frantic manager grabbed her I and pulled her inside.

Police and protesters got in each other’s faces for about 10 minutes before the tension quelled. Officers stepped back into their observation line, and protesters again blocked the entrance, chanting, ” Sixteen shots and a cover-up!”  And, “Hey! Hey! Ho! Ho! Rahm Emanuel has got to go!”

About 20 protesters blocked the doors of the Apple Store, 679 N Michigan.

“I understand what you guys are doing but I want to shop,” Bruno Behrend of River Forest told them.

“This is an example of white privilege,” someone yelled.

Then La’Mont Williams, 27, told him: “This store is closed because your life matters. We are doing an economic boycott.”

Williams of the Auburn-Gresham neighborhood blocked the door. Behrend and his family eventually gave up and left, prompting cheers from the protesters.

A man and woman from Omaha, Nebraska, failed to get into the Tommy Bahama store, 520 N. Michigan. They’d been visiting their daughter, who’s a resident in the emergency room at Stroger Hospital.

“This is not right,” said the woman, who declined to give her name. ” We didn’t do anything wrong. We just want to shop. This is our right.”

A couple from Carbondale traveled to came to Michigan Avenue Friday to shop at Zara and Sephora. They didn’t get into either.  ”How are they going to get out?” Ohlim Kwon wondered about shoppers trapped inside the Zara, where protesters locked arms, saying “Shut it down.”

When told about McDonald’s shooting death, they were astounded. “That’s crazy,” Enoch Hwang said.

On Tuesday, the Chicago Police released a graphic dashcam video that captured the 16 shots fired by Van Dyke in October 2014. Van Dyke was charged the same day with murder, and is being held without bail in the Cook County Jail.

Outrage and protests followed the court-ordered release of the footage.

— Chicago Sun-Times, Sun-Times Media Wire

UPDATE: Laquan McDonald protesters block shoppers, cut off Jesse Jackson

(CHICAGO) A group of protesters cut off the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s speech on Laquan McDonald’s deadly shooting Friday when they pulled the leader’s microphone and stormed the podium while he spoke outside the historic Water Tower, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

“Indict Rahm!” the protesters shouted as a brief shoving match ensued.

Jackson and others who were scheduled to speak stopped their activities as the masses hijacked Jackson’s presentation and competed with the shoppers who flocked downtown to take advantage of Black Friday sales.

“No justice, no shopping,” some chanted. “Black lives matter, not Black Friday!”

Others screamed, “16 shots, 13 months,” pointing to how long it took authorities to charge Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke in the African-American teenager’s death.

“We want Rahm Emanuel in jail,” others said. They also chanted, “Black out Black Friday” and “The whole system is guilty as hell.”

A unity march, which started at Pioneer Court, was organized by the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. But other groups, including one called “Black Power” were protesting the murder as well.

During Friday’s demonstration, officers blocked off the entrance of the Water Tower Place. Some protesters had apparently tried to get into the popular shopping center.

At one point, shoppers were turned away from entering. “No justice, no profit,” marchers screamed.

Some protesters yelled at shoppers in front of Topshop, “Don’t shop today!” But the shoppers went in anyway.

There were some demonstrators who linked their arms in front of many stores, refusing to let anyone in.

Several police officers lined up across the doors of Nordstrom on Michigan Avenue to let people pass in and out.

A couple from Carbondale came to Michigan Avenue Friday to go Zara and Sephora. They didn’t get into to either.

When told about McDonald’s shooting death, they were astounded. “That’s crazy,” Enoch Hwang said.

On Tuesday, the Chicago Police released a graphic dashcam video that captured the 16 shots fired by Van Dyke in October 2014. Van Dyke was charged the same day.

Outrage and protests followed the court-ordered release of the footage.