The Chicago Tribune has reported that four protesters were arrested this afternoon, two of them at the corner of Jackson Boulevard and Wacker Drive in Chicago. From my office, I have an unobstructed view of the intersection and a portion of Jackson Boulevard approaching the intersection. See below the break for what transpired.
Mid-afternoon I heard shouting. I stood up and looked out of my window down onto Jackson Boulevard. There was a small group standing on the northwest corner of the intersection. The portion of Jackson I can see has one bus lane and three lanes for other vehicles; it usually has lots of traffic mid-afternoon. There was no traffic when I first looked down, only a small group of people running and shouting. One was waiving a red flag. Within a few seconds I saw enough cops on bicycles to span the four lanes. Next came a taxi, followed by more cops on bicycles. It was a police escort! As soon as the first line of cops reached the intersection, they dismounted and rushed the group on the corner. (Maybe the runners melted into the group, I didn't see them run away.) I watched as one person was shoved up against the exterior of the Walgreens, cuffed, and taken to a squad car.
Rewind a few minutes - according to a co-worker who was in the Walgreens at the time, the group outside Walgreens was peacefully protesting. Three men in ski masks started harassing/assaulting members of the group and a Walgreens employee called the police. Before the police arrived, the three men removed their masks and entered the store. One purchased a beer and all left. By the time the police arrived, all three instigators had left the store. The people arrested had nothing to do with the reason the police are notified.
The arrests have begun.