Seven protesters against the American Legislative Exchange Council’s (ALEC) 40th Anniversary conference held in Chicago, IL, were taken into custody on Thursday after the demonstrations took a violent turn.

The protest was organized by the Chicago Federation of Labor in collaboration with the Chicago Teachers Union, the SEIU, Action Now (formerly ACORN), and were accompanied by a large contingent of anarchists.

One protester told Breitbart News they were angry with ALEC because, “ALEC is an organization that helps to create state legislation and encourages state legislators to introduce that legislation in their home states.”

Another protester, when asked why they were there, said, “because of ALEC, because he is buying the land off and shutting down schools.”

Chicago Police Department of News Affairs confirmed with Breitbart News that seven protesters, ranging in age from 19 to 27, were taken into custody after “police attempted to keep the crowd on the sidewalk…individuals began pushing the metal barricade onto the police officers…one individual would not comply and kicked and shoved the metal barricade into the officers…one offender struck a police commander in the head with a stick and tried to evade arrest…The crowd became hostile and tried to prevent officers from conducting arrests.”

CPD News Affairs could not confirm how many of the seven protesters taken into custody were formally charged; however, the charges that were filed range from battery to obstructing or interfering with police officers.

Breitbart cameras were on the scene, some of the footage below was also provided by Maggio News.