The peace sign and other messages on a dirty CPD vehicle, May 19. (Photo: Steve Rhodes, Creative Commons)
On Saturday night’s march around and within the Loop, a now infamous incident occurred when a white Chicago Police van accelerated into the crowd of protesters walking west on the Jackson Boulevard bridge, just beyond Franklin Street. Witnesses at the scene, myself included, saw the van conspicuously speed up while nearing the east side of the bridge.
It had been moving slowly, then gained speed as some in the crowd began to let it pass. A handful of protesters, three of whom told the Occupied Chicago Tribune they were fearful for their friends and fellow demonstrators behind them, tried to slow the van down by pushing back on its hood. It was then that the driver accelerated in full, reaching a completely unacceptable speed while still in the midst of the crowd. One protester, James “Jack” Amico was struck, thrown to ground, and treated for a concussion at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
NBC 5 Chicago sparked the asinine rabble, which continues to claim that the hit protester was faking, by posting this video, which shows an uninjured protester skidding along the hood of the van. The cameraman was far east of the bridge, where the actual incident had occurred. The protester featured in NBC 5′s coverage is not Amico. At the time of that video, Amico was lying on the street, surrounded by his girlfriend Lauren DiGioia and a team of street medics assessing his condition.
A better, though still murky, video of a protester getting hit and going down can be seen here (between the 18-21 second marks).
In short time, the 1% Chicago Tribune, along with other mainstream media, filed in lock-step behind CPD Superintendent Garry McCarthy’s story: that the protester faked his injury, that someone had punched the driver in the head, giving him a concussion, that protesters attacked the van, and that the videos, though unclear, seem to confirm this official narrative.
The story, like many of McCarthy’s this weekend (along the lines of “That wasn’t blood gushing out of a blunt-force head wound, it was red paint!”), smelled like the sweaty taint of a riot cop after Sunday’s 90-degree march. For one, I didn’t see a single police van driving around with its windows rolled down. Something of the spectacle of force is lost when a sergeant lets the breeze run through his hair. And certainly, if a cop driving through a sea of demonstrators doesn’t think to roll up his window, what appeared to be a concussion to McCarthy may be a simpler condition: That cop really is just that dumb.
But what’s missing from all the news reports is Amico’s story. Before leaving Chicago Monday night, he spoke with the OCT. His Northwestern Memorial Hospital bracelet was still on his wrist.
Amico approached the van when, he says, he saw his friend standing, unaware, with his back to it. Amico was hit in the chest and fell hard, slamming his head onto the pavement.
“It stomped on the gas the second I stepped in front. It was intentional,” he told OCT. “Mind you, they sped off after this. It was a hit and run.”
Amico and eyewitnesses say that it was Van #6751. Scott Ando of the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) confirmed that there was an ongoing investigation into the incident, but said it was strict policy that no other information be released until the allegation is “sustained.” When it is, it will appear on the IPRA website. Anyone with information about the incident can file a complaint there as well.
After medics evaluated him at the scene, an ambulance drove Amico and his girlfriend Lauren DiGioia, accompanied by a Chicago police officer, to Northwestern Memorial. The police officer handcuffed him to his bed, and according to Amico, questioned him relentlessly.
Amico refused to speak to anyone but his lawyer. He asked what he was being charged with and was told “assault on a police officer.” Amico continued to refuse to speak, while the police officer and another unidentified man continued to come into his room every five to ten minutes, demanding a statement.
A spokesperson for Northwestern Memorial confirmed Amico had been “treated and released,” but couldn’t give any more details.
When he asked for water, he says the police officer told the nurse not to give it to him. “They refused food and water the whole time I was there.” Right before discharge, the officer informed him he was no longer being charged, but said he couldn’t leave until he gave a statement about what happened. Amico told the officer, “I was hit by a police officer,” and nothing more. The officer, according to Amico, didn’t write it down.
“I was and still am an emotional wreck. It gave me flashbacks to 2006,” he said, when his 10-year-old brother was hit and killed by a car. “I was crying and distraught.”
That night, he and DiGioia recuperated at the convergence space on Wellington, and believe they were followed by undercover police on their way back. But they were on the streets again the next day. ”I didn’t stop, I don’t stop,” he said. Amico plans to press charges.
By Joel Handley
Awful that things got out of hand in a few instances, but even worse is what the msm is doing. And this fake new adoration Emanuel has for the CPD. He wouldn’t pee on them if they were on fire. He’s using them and the media is helping. Some cops crossed the line, but overall, I found the police were professional, overworked, and screwed over (no comp time, no contract). Emanuel is a turbo douche. I hope that Jack and anyone else who got injured is doing okay.
and thanks OCT. Great work you’re doing! I hope those police officers involved in Jack’s incident get what they deserve.
I too was there, and saw the van going ridiculously fast, with like 3-5 ppl stuck in front, hanging on for dear life, while it was driving through us on the bridge. I didn’t see what happened after it moved past the bridge, but I was fairly sure that the Chicago Trib story was total bs.
This whole story is not here. That asshole hit another person before the videos got on that van. The protesters were trying to stop the van after this happened. The guy pushed by the van is fine. The hit and run patient was the one taken by ambulance. Not the same people. It is totally misinformed reporting happening around all of this.
i would hardly call that video “murky”, the cop is using the car as a weapon. whether the protester in the video was seriously injured or not, that is an insane practice that must be stopped.
Glad he is gonna press charges. One correction, the van was marked, you said it was unmarked.
Glad to know the words ‘tribune’ and ‘journalism’ are not as bad as one would think in Chicago, just make sure ‘occupied’ is in the title.
I wouldn’t blame the cops, I would blame the citizens that can’t elect the proper government. If you a resident of Chicago this is your fault for not doing enough.
I’ve closely and repeatedly viewed the video you link to “of a protester getting hit and going down … (between the 18-21 second marks).” It shows no such thing. Note that at the 21-sec mark, there are half a dozen people standing immediately in front of the van, illuminated by its headlights. Several of these bystanders are aiming cell phones. NOT ONE of these bystanders looks down or lowers his camera to see the supposed “victim” struck down right in front of them.
Please, it’s human nature. When we’re standing inches away from someone who falls, we look down at that person. We do not continue staring straight ahead like zombies.
Watch the ensuing 9 seconds until the van drives past. Not ONCE do any of these bystanders look down where anyone would have fallen. They ALL continue staring at the driver.
All of which convinces me that between the 18-21 second marks, no “victim” was struck down. If I were serving on a jury deliberating this case, there’s no way I’d convict the driver for hit and run based on this video.
That’s because they’re looking at the van. Particularly if you’re gazing through a cell phone, the tunnel vision is acute. Some people couldn’t get the facts right if they dope-slapped them. Cripes.
No one. I mean no one, not even the president of the United States has immunity for crimes against humanity. This police officer is scared & unfortunately people get hurt when others are forced to do something he has never done before.
Although i am quite supportive of the underlying sentiments toward the 1% upon which Occupy was born and remain thankful to those who protested and stood up for the cause peacefully, which was the majority of the protesters, I take issue with those protesters that behaved badly and\ or criminally. I am left confused about the movement when Occupy seems to justify the violence employed by some protesters and\or blame police when the opposite is clearly true. When protesting the violence of NATO (or violence in general) the use of violence by the objectors makes them as bad as those they are objecting to
At face value this story has the tone of propaganda. I have sought out and watched as much footage regarding this incident as i could find and combined with other facts, I am confident that the Officer was the victim and not Amico. The officer and his van were being swarmed by a hostile group of protesters pounding on van and even slicing the tires. The officer, who remained hospitalized with a concussion that night, was under siege and likely feared for his life or safety. Yet this officer never sped thru the crowd at dangerous speeds, which frankly, was an exhibition of amazing restraint. No protesters, including Amico, were seriously injured and although Amico went to the hospital, he was treated and released with minor injuries and never diagnosed with a concussion, as this story implies.
I have to ask…when we resort to and\or tolerate violence from ourselves or others to protest against violence and spin and cover up facts to promote our agenda are we not guilty of the same actions and behaviors that Occupy opposes?!
Edgerz, thanks for reading and for commenting. I also take issue with any violence, exhibiting by protesters or police. But I think there’s some important facts that you’re getting wrong, and other “facts” that you’re merely repeating.
I was on the bridge when the van sped through. I know for a fact that the van drove at an unsafe speed. I watched it accelerate, and I watched many in the crowd jump away. I can also say that before it sped it, the whole scene was laughable. The van was moving excruciatingly slow through the dense crowd. There was a sense of glee, as if we all saw the same human folly at play. When the driver turned on the siren, everyone mimicked the sound, “woop, woop,” and laughed. The protesters did not swarm the van. Some lightly banged on the hood, almost so lightly as to be patting it. It was more to say, “What do you think you’re doing?,” than it was a threatening gesture. The knocking against the van only intensified after the driver accelerated and put many lives in danger. Thankfully no one was seriously injured, as you say. But that could have easily not been the case. There was no excuse in the world for that van to be driven through the crowd, and there was even less of an excuse for the driver to accelerate as he did.
As for the “concussion” he suffered. Maybe he did, but as I said in the article, it sounds fishy to me. Only McCarthy said this, and as of now, there is no way to verify it. The Independent Police Review Authority would not verify the driver, his badge number, or his condition, and would only say that they are investigating the incident, which could take months, or even longer. My guess is that McCarthy gave a fake narrative at the time, which he knew couldn’t be verified, in the hopes that everyone forgets by the time the full truth comes out, if it ever does.
I was there and saw exactly what you describe as far as the van coming up to the bridge on the west end and then promptly accelerating. I know that we want to have a non violent image but the fact of the matter is that when that cop drove that van at an unsafe speed into a group of peaceful protesters was violence so when I saw someone jump on the side of the van while there were three or four people on the hood who couldn’t get off and punched that stupid cop right in the face it was one of the best things that I saw the entire weekend! The cop had it coming and it was amazing!!! The guy had to hold on to the open window as the cop was speeding and somehow landed a perfect left on that criminal cop!!! It couldn’t have gave the cop a concussion definatly nothing worse then the dozens and dozens of people that I saw take billy clubs to the head from CPD. When the cop got hit he tried to slow down because you could just see in his face that he wanted to go and get the guy (who did get away) but he quickly realized that if he were to get out of that van at that moment he probably would have got mobbed. We were understandable pissed! I am amazed that no video of that punch have came out but that is just as well because I would hate to see one of our comrades get arrested for anything!!! I just wanted to let you know what
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The van was driving at an unsafe speed and there is no debate about that and he also never slowed down to give the people that he had hit and left on the hood a chance to get off. There is no way that cop had a concussion. He was hit so lightly with the guys off hand while in motion. If he gets a concussion from that he needs to retire because lord only knows whats going to happen when he tries to raid a drug den with some real people.