Police arrest 100 people during overnight looting, rioting in Chicago
Aug 11, 2020
Chicago [USA], August 11 (ANI/Sputnik): Some 100 people were detained and more than a dozen police officers were injured during overnight looting and rioting in the US city of Chicago, Police Superintendent David Brown told reporters on Monday.
"I want to emphasise that we made 100 arrests of looters... along with several officers being injured, several officers being shot at," Brown said. "A total of 13 officers were injured throughout the night, including a sergeant who was struck with a bottle."
Widespread looting and rioting erupted in the US city of Chicago after midnight on Monday following a police-involved shooting a day earlier that left a young man wounded.
Brown said the violence erupted as a result of "misinformation" about Sunday's incident.
The unrest began on Sunday after police shot a suspect who had opened fire on officers while trying to escape arrest, Brown said. He noted that the young man was taken to the University of Chicago hospital and is expected to survive.
"The shooter is a 20-year old man with four previous arrests," Brown noted.
A large crowd of onlookers gathered at the scene of Sunday's shooting, and tensions began to flare as police tried to keep people away from the scene of an active investigation. The rioting began shortly after the crowd dispersed from the scene of Sunday's shooting, Brown said.
"This was not an organized protest. Rather this was an incident of pure criminality," he stressed.
Police became aware that several social media accounts were encouraging looting downtown, Brown said. He added that 400 officers were dispatched to the downtown area to respond to the threat.
Brown pointed out that in the last seven days nine police officers had been shot at in the city of Chicago.
"What we are seeing is violence against police," Brown said.
Brown said that he has instructed detective units to create a special team of investigators to examine security footage, adding that they have a high definition video of suspects and vehicles.
He said police would maintain a heavy presence in the city until further notice, adding that officers would be working 12-hour shifts with no days off until order is restored.
Local television stations and social media users posted video of hundreds of rioters looting and destroying dozens of local stores in downtown Chicago including Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Nordstrom, Macy's and Best Buy. (ANI/Sputnik)
