Fun times going on downtown right now:



From what I can gather, the police successfully pushed the protest back onto the State St. Bridge. It appears that a large chunk of the protesters understand basic tactics, as they've retreated across the bridge, crossed Kinze St to Wabash, and are now coming up behind the police line via the Wabash bridge.

Lots of businesses on State St have been smashed, though no fires yet.

I have a feeling that this evening is going to be ugly.

Deciding not to go down to Sears today was a wise choice.



EDIT: There have been several flare-ups. Mobs attacking officers. But they're holding the line, tackling people as they break through and hauling them away in those zip-tie handcuffs

Several large grey crates have been wheeled up from behind the police lines (by police) and the contents are being distributed amongst the officers. Looks like small canisters, maybe. That will certainly make the situation better and not worse.

 

Did Target and O'Reilly Auto Parts kill someone in Chicago also?

 

No, but Macy's apparently did, from the look of it. Also a chicken place that I quite like.

 

Please please tell me chick-fil-a is shooting looters, I don't want any of those people to get Gods chicken sandwich.

 

I'm not aware of any Chick-fil-a locations in the area. The one I saw smashed was Nando's Peri-Peri.

Also, Jesus, how much fuel does our helicopter carry? It's been on-scene since about 1pm.

A whole line of police cruisers heading up Lake Shore Dr. to the scene. And here I thought every cop in the city was already there.

Just saw a great shot of Millenium Park. There's a couple sitting on the grass right in the middle of it having a picnic, like "Eh, **** it. The violence is all the way over there."

 

6 hours of fuel is way way too much. Unless they really really sip fuel while loitering. Blackhawks are only good for like 2 hours of flight. I wanna say 1100 pounds a hour at full send.

 

Chicago's politicians don't have the will to stop them. The wandering excrement probably know that. So do the cops. I bet the boys in blue are mostly just spectating unless one of theirs is threatened.

 

Just watched a vehicle get flipped over, with the occupants inside:

 

That's a Ford Explorer. They all roll over. Just Google it.

 

​​​​​​​Triple-eight just switched off the gyro cam and is departing the scene. I guess now we know the fuel-endurance limit.

 

Chopper is back on-scene. Not a bad turnaround.

They've torn down much of the plywood which was used to board-up the windows that were smashed yesterday, then did looting before moving on:



I'm sure this will go a long way towards ending police brutality.

 

They know the cops won't hassle them right now for being out of lock down.

 

So from what i'm hearing, Detroit isn't playing. Rounding people up, zip ties, and tossing them away. Sad part is, most of the detroiters protesting aren't smashing and looting. It's all kids from uppity suburbs coming down to cause havoc. What sucks more is that they are using the detroit bail fund which is community funded for detroiters. Not for royal oak kids to get home because their parents would be pissed.

 

Props to the folks at the end of the video:





EDIT: they've raised all of the bridges, and split the riot in half.

Which is clever, but might be bad. River North (where the northern half of the group is now trapped) is a somewhat more yuppie neighborhood. No federal buildings to smash, just condos and restaurants. Also, the busses and trains are shut down, so these violent thugs are now essentially stuck, with no obvious means to get home.

It could be a long night...

 

The mayor is live, and she is -=>PISSED<=-.

Like, imagine being scolded by an angry grandmother.




Also, enforced curfew begins at 9pm tonight. This will be interesting. I can't see folks obeying it.

 

Oh **** are you actually there? You should aim to be a roof top Korean

 

I'm not down in the Loop right now, but yeah, I live in Chicago and my main transmitter is at Sears Tower, a few blocks from where the riot started.

 

Become the meme dress like a Korean and protect that transmitter

 

True story: I initially read that as "rooftop Karen," which caused me some confusion.

 

... and out comes the tear-gas.

Several fires downtown. Lots of looting. Looks like I won't be going to Sears tomorrow either.

The police superintendent is now officially calling it a riot.