I posted one of my photos of Illinois State Police from Sunday’s anti-NATO protest on Facebook yesterday. It provoked some passionate comments.
One was from a cop, my friend and former neighbor, Abraham.
Abraham did what you would expect most cops to do. He defended his buddies and his job.
What my friend Abraham doesn’t say is whether he was on duty yesterday at the NATO protest.
Or if he has traveled around the city these last few days like I have.
I was in Grant Park yesterday. There were thousands of people who looked pretty much like people I have been with at protests my entire life. If I said that there were a hundred Black Bloc anarchists, that would be an over-estimate.
A friend joked that you would confuse them for clerks at Hollisters.
More significant were the number of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who threw their medals over the security fence surrounding the NATO meeting Green Zone.
But Rahm and the fed’s security response was so out of whack compared to the actual situation that it is a metaphor for all that we were protesting.
Abraham and a dozen of his buddies could have controlled the crowd. There were far more bloodied heads than arrests and most of those arrested were released without charges.
Rahm’s priorities meant spending $30 million in preparation and security on the NATO meeting while closing neighborhood mental health clinics that cost the city $2.5 million a year.
Rahm’s priorities mean reducing library hours, cutting public service pensions, closing schools and provoking a teacher strike while giving tax breaks to Sears and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
And then there is NATO itself. The only military alliance in the world, spending 70% of the world’s military budget. Most of the dollars coming from the US. Their war in Afghanistan is this country’s longest and is a NATO operation.
But Abraham is just a guy who grew up next door in Logan Square. His mom taught me how to make Puerto Rican arroz con gandules.
Look at the picture. It’s hard to see the Abrahams behind all that military hardware and robo-cop equipment. And it’s hard for those guys to see the people on the street through the plastic face masks.
That’s pretty much how the one percent want it.
Fred Klonsky 
Fred-do you have any info yet on the proposed constitutional amendment that would be on the ballot in Nov. It changes the wording in the Il Constitution that protects retiree benefits. If passed it could allow the state to reduce our retirement income. SUAA has some info on this on their website-May 18th briefing.
I believe you are referring to the constitutional amendment that passed the General Assembly. It will be on the November ballot and would require a super-majority three-fifths vote of the General Assembly to increase state pension benefits.
I got a baton from a white shirt CPD while obeying orders on the sidewalk in the loop. They have surrendered their humanity for the sake of control. If they policed last call in Wrigleyville like they policed peaceful people seeking redress of grievances, they’d prevent a lot more violence and vandalism. But that’s not their goal. It is to police IDEAS. I will peacefully stand with my anarchist brothers and sisters before I stand with the guardians of the 1%.
Reminder: There was no violence or vandalism this weekend, unless you count the running over of a protester, or the CPD violently repelling people who don’t believe the 1st amendment stops 2 blocks away from McCormick Place.
The guy was ran over because the CPD driver was getting punched in the face! O, maybe you didnt know that because you weren’t there? Or was it because every camera angle is from the passenger side only?! STFU if you do not know what REALLY happened. Protesters were looking for trouble TAUNTING the police to do something!