CHICAGO, Ill. – Chicago’s police commissioner says more than 100 people were arrested following a night of looting and unrest that left 13 officers injured and caused damage in the city’s upscale Magnificent Mile shopping district and other parts of the city.
Police Superintendent David Brown says it “was not an organized protest” but instead “an incident of pure criminality” that began following the shooting of a person by police the previous day in the city's Englewood neighborhood.
It wasn’t immediately clear what led to the unrest, which began shortly after midnight, but anti-police graffiti was seen in the area.
At one point early Monday, shots were fired at police and officers returned fire.
Many of the businesses that were ransacked had recently opened after Chicago protests of George Floyd’s May 25 death in Minneapolis devolved into chaos.
Brown says a heavy police presence is expected in the downtown area until further notice.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot described it as “straight up, felony criminal conduct” and “an assault on our city."
