Chicago Police struggled to contain mobs of July 4th revelers as they rampaged through downtown Sunday night and at least two officers were sent to area hospitals.
The Chicago Police Department told Chicago’s CBS affiliate that it “had sufficient resources deployed to manage the crowds and ensure public safety” throughout the Independence Day weekend, but Chicago police looked to be having difficulty rounding up mobs of mostly younger people who were running across the city’s Loop downtown shopping and business district, disrupting traffic and setting off fireworks.
“Police said at least two officers were injured. Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said there were more than 60 arrests,” the outlet reported Monday. “Two police officers were injured police said and their conditions are not known.”
“Hundreds of young people and Chicago police officers flooded the Loop on the Fourth of July, clashing at times, as fireworks exploded in densely-populated areas and dumpster fires raged,” the Chicago Tribune added.
A Chicago Tribune photojournalist was on hand to document the chaos.
The scene where police attempted to control a group of hundreds, mostly younger people, in the Loop during the Fourth of July holiday weekend Sunday in Chicago. According Superintendent David Brown more than 60 arrests were made and two officers were injured in the incident. pic.twitter.com/gXkEY6Td9P
— armando l sanchez (@mandophotos) July 5, 2021
A few more from the night. pic.twitter.com/HWFibO1bf7
— armando l sanchez (@mandophotos) July 5, 2021
Others on social media grabbed footage of the groups running rampant through downtown.
🎵 WELCOME TO CHI-TOWWWWWWWN 🎵 Happy 4th everyone!!! @CWBChicago #ChicagoScanner pic.twitter.com/utQoUu5ps5
— Drew (@SportsDataGuy) July 5, 2021
“About 8:30 p.m., the contents of a dumpster burned on North Garland Court. When the Chicago Fire Department arrived to extinguish the flames, a firework went off around the corner. An hour later, another dumpster fire blazed on Garland to the west of the Chicago Cultural Center,” the Tribune reported Monday. “Someone set off fireworks in front of Staples at North Wabash Avenue and East Washington Street, sending tiny bursts cascading above the street.”
CWB Chicago reported that some members of the mob jumped onto squad cars, in some cases, breaking out the car windows with bats.
"They're breaking out the squad car windows with bats."
"They're jumping on the cars."
Washington/Wabash#Chicago #ChicagoScanner
— CWBChicago (@CWBChicago) July 5, 2021
“Police detained dozens of people, mostly juveniles, during a “large group” incident in the Loop on Fourth of July evening, according to police and sources. Most of the juveniles were taken in for curfew violations, but other arrestees are expected to face charges such as battery, reckless conduct, and battery of police,” CWB reported. “At least two police officers were injured during the hours-long disturbance, according to a police statement. A source told CWBChicago that one officer had lost his hearing after a large firework exploded near his head.”
The city was bathed in violence over the July 4th weekend — beyond the Loop disturbances — with more than 80 people shot and at least 13 killed, according to the city’s ABC News affiliate. “Seven children were among the victims.”
The incidents included yet another mass shooting, the fourth in less than two weeks.
“Two people were killed and at least four were wounded, including a 12-year-old girl and a 13-year-old boy, in a shooting early Monday in Washington Park on the South Side,” ABC Chicago reported.
Two members of the Chicago Police Department were among those shot. The pair were wounded while trying to break up a July 4th event on the city’s West Side.
“A Chicago police commander and a sergeant were shot and wounded early Monday while dispersing a crowd on the West Side. The officers were hit when someone on foot fired at the crowd around 1:30 a.m. in the 100-block of North Long Avenue, police said,” per ABC. “The commander was struck in the foot and the sergeant was grazed in the leg, according to police. Both officers were transported to Stroger Hospital. The shooter has not been located, police said.”
President Joe Biden pledged, in June, to assist the city of Chicago in controlling its spike in gun violence, but he largely pledged to assist in pressing for gun control legislation, not in helping with on-the-ground law enforcement.