Video Alleges Police Intimidation Of Occupy Chicago Protesters

By Chuck Sudo in News on May 10, 2012 2:45PM

With all the concern about anarchists flocking to Chicago in the days before the NATO summit, there's another narrative of some members of the Police Department looking for a fight. To that end, here is some video from a group called "NewsPower TV" of some Occupy Chicago protesters allegedly being intimidated with threats of physical violence during the summit by a group of police officers recently. (We ask that you take the video with the same questions we have about its authenticity.)

Chicagoist's Aaroncynic spoke with one of the people who was involved in the altercation, who said they were pulled over by police while doing a three-point turn in a parking lot at 31st Street and Halsted Street in Bridgeport. Someone in the group captured the exchange between them and the cops with their smartphone and tried to do it discreetly, but you can hear one cop ask if he's being recorded around the 50-second mark in the video.

The protesters also shared a rush transcript of their exchanges with police in the video. Aaron's source said the video was edited to exclude the downtime that occurred while police ran their IDs. The exchange about the police riots during the 1968 Democratic convention may also lend credence to the "some cops are itching for a fight" argument. We know some police who still wear that watershed moment in Chicago's history like a badge of honor.