On Saturday, November 18th, thousands of people gathered in Grant Park for a rally organized by Coalition for Justice in Palestine. After a group of demonstrators shut down DuSable Lake Shore Drive in an act of civil disobedience, Chicago Police brutally attacked attendees.
NLG Chicago legal observers watched Chicago Police Officers violently shove and punch demonstrators. On two separate occasions, we observed elderly people being shoved to the ground, one hitting their head on the concrete. One of our Legal Observers—easily identified by their bright green hat—was shoved to the ground and then trampled by several officers while trying to document this police violence. We are calling on Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to condemn CPD’s excessive use of force and take action to ensure that Chicago Police do not use force to suppress the free speech of demonstrators at future protests.
CPD has long used violence to suppress speech, most infamously during the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago and during the 2020 uprisings following the police murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. CPD’s actions over the weekend are a continuation of this history of brutality and are part of a nationwide pattern of violent police repression against people and organizations opposing Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people. Likewise, Israeli police have aggressively targeted and arrested peace activists across Israel/Palestine criticizing the attacks on Gaza.
Since October 7th, we have provided Legal Observers for 26 actions calling for an end to the genocide and tracked more than 175 arrests and citations. We also call on State’s Attorney Kimberly Foxx and Mayor Johnson to drop these charges and end the charging of activists involved in free speech activity.
Violent state repression against the fundamental right to protest has no place in Chicago, Washington DC, Jerusalem, Gaza, or anywhere else. NLG Chicago is proud to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian liberation movement in Chicago and across the world.
REQUEST LEGAL OBSERVERS FOR YOUR PROTEST: chicago.lo.program@gmail.com
REQUEST A KNOW YOUR RIGHTS TRAINING FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION: nlg.chi.crimdefense@gmail.com
