#millionsmarchchi

"Nico, come find me!" That's what this protestor managed to yell from the back of a police wagon before a cop pushed him back inside. This was halfway through the Millions March in downtown Chicago on December 13, 2014. It felt like a scene out of a movie.

Earlier in the afternoon, word had spread through the crowd that protestors were planning a peaceful die-in at Nordstroms. Die-ins at popular stores has been a common tactic throughout this wave of #BlackLivesMatter protests. But when the crowd started to enter Nordstroms, police responded immediately. They rushed forward to jam the store's revolving doors, detain those inside the store, and block the rest of the protest from entering. I couldn't see what was happening inside, but about 15-20 minutes later police began marching protestors out of the store and into these police wagons.

Tensions were understandably high as protestors began chanting "Let them go!" I sensed frustration from the crowd, but everyone remained peaceful. One of the protest leaders began speaking through his bullhorn, sharing a phone number to call in case of arrest. He encouraged protestors to write the number on their arms in sharpie. Protestors began sharing markers and pens and echoing the number to those in the back who couldn't hear. It was a moment of peace and unity.

All of the sudden someone yelled "Oh shit!" and the crowd began to rush back. Without thinking, I turned and ran several feet just to avoid accidentally getting trampled. A police bike got caught on my leg as the officer rushed forward.

I didn't see exactly what happened in this "oh shit" moment. According to police several protestors attacked them. According to protestors and Chicagoist (which has video of the chaos) police started the altercation. Either way, the police arrested several people on felony charges.

Again, I didn't see the actual event. But the protestors had been peaceful all day. The moment before the chaos was one of unity, not one of heated aggression. The idea of a protestor randomly deciding to punch a police officer (and face arrest/felony charges) is absurd to me.

Cops are supposed to de-escalate situations when possible. From what I saw yesterday, that wasn't a priority for these cops.

Millions March protest in downtown Chicago on Saturday, December 13.

Photos of several of the arrests made during Chicago's Millions March protest on 12/13/14. Protestors tried to move the large march into the street (rather than on the sidewalk). Police instantly swooped in and arrested those who refused to clear the streets.

During the arrests, an angry protestor began yelling from the sidewalk. Rather than try to deescalate the situation, one cop starting beckoning in a "Come and say that to my face" way. The cop was clearly trying to bait the protestor into the street so he could be arrested as well. Thankfully, a fellow marcher stepped in to calm down this angry protestor, something the cop had no interest in doing. 

"*knocks over peaceful protestor* I'm a citizen just like you and you're disrupting ME."

"[To aloof cop] We're on your side. God bless. *shakes hand*"

"The officers have wives and children too!"

Just some gems from people who completely miss points and are upset that we blocked one entrance to a fucking Nordstrom.