Seven Face Charges In Tinley Park Restaurant Attack
By Samantha Abernethy in News on May 22, 2012 10:20PM
Five of the attackers and two of the victims face charges after the violent attack at a Tinley Park restaurant Saturday in which a group of bat-wielding "anti-racists" attacked a group of people they believed to be "white nationalists." The owner of the restaurant has refused to release security video from the attack, but the folks at the Tribune were allowed to watch it.
An unpublished restaurant security video viewed by the Tribune of the bizarre Saturday afternoon melee had no sound — but it screams with images of fear and aggression. It was an attack that spilled from Internet chat rooms to the floor of the small Ashford House restaurant, bringing to the forefront an underground and nationwide battle between violent anti-racism groups and white supremacists.
The five aggressors arrested are all from near Bloomington, Ind., and involved in the Hoosier Anti-Racist Movement: Jason W. Sutherlin, 33, Cody L. Sutherlin, 23, and Dylan J. Sutherlin, 20. Also charged were Alex R. Stuck, 22, and John S. Tucker, 26. They face felony charges of mob action, aggravated battery and damage to property. Police found them in a car about four miles away from Ashford House with dark hoodies and weapons. Police are still looking for 13 others involved in the attack.
Ten people were injured, and three had to receive surgical staples for head wounds sustained in the attack.
Two of those attacked were charged on unrelated offenses. Steven Eugene Speers, 33, of Grand Forks, N.D., was arrested on a Texas warrant for possession of child pornography. Francis John Gilroy, 65, of West Palm Beach, Fla., was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon.