The below statement can be attributed to Nusrat Choudhury, Legal Director, ACLU of Illinois:
“The key findings of the Inspector General’s report were clear from countless first person videos and reports last summer of how Chicago police responded to historic protests for racial justice. It was predictable that the police killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breanna Taylor would inspire large protests due to the Chicago’s long and painful history of police violence against Black and brown communities.
Once again, the City and Chicago Police Department failed to plan in any meaningful way to ensure that officers on the ground would respect the First Amendment rights and safety of those marching for justice. As a result, Chicago police retreated to their usual, discriminatory practices.
Without leadership, guidance, and training from the top, we saw officers use batons and pepper spray against protesters, retaliate against people recording police violence in real time, and try to evade accountability by covering their names and star numbers and failing to document uses of force. We also saw officers do little to protect Black neighborhoods while enforcing a vague and overbroad curfew to overwhelmingly target Black people for arrests. It is ironic and unacceptable that protests that decried police violence were met with yet more police violence, efforts to evade accountability, and racial injustice. This is a sad legacy for the City.”
