3 Arrested At Courthouse Protest Against White Supremacy Tuesday

By aaroncynic in News on Aug 16, 2017 4:29PM

Three people were arrested outside a North Side criminal court building on Tuesday during a protest against white supremacy.

A few dozen demonstrators had gathered outside the courthouse to protest at a hearing scheduled in the afternoon for a 34-year-old Humboldt Park man who is accused of stabbing two people at a Dropkick Murphy’s show at Northerly Island last week. Organizers of the demonstration allege that the man is a white supremacist, affiliated with the neo-nazi group Volksfront International, and a regular poster on the Stormfront website. They also say he attacked a person of color in Wicker Park in July who was wearing a leftist T-shirt.

“Chicago stands against fascism and white supremacy,” the Black Rose - Rosa Negra collective in a statement emailed to Chicagoist.

“We know [the stabbing] attacks are not exceptional; they are part of a long history of white supremacist violence that takes many systemic forms—from our racist police forces and criminal justice system, to gentrification and lethal environmental racism,” a representative from the Haymaker Collective told Chicagoist. “We cannot expect this court, or any capitalist institution, to stop fascism—we must come together to do that ourselves.”

The man's attorney told the Chicago Tribune he was unaware of any ties his client had to white supremacist groups, and he has not been charged with any type of hate crimes.

Several scuffles broke out between demonstrators and police after the group attempted to march in the streets and blocked a nearby intersection. Participants say they were dispersing when police made some of the arrests.

“Local anti fascists gathered in response to our local Nazi and Charlottesville, shut down the intersection, and were dispersing off the street when police grabbed a protester at random and arrested them,” a member of the Black Rose - Rosa Negra collective told Chicagoist. A press release from the group alleges that officers taunted and laughed at demonstrators.

A bond hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Wednesday for one of the individuals arrested.