When Chicago Rioted. A tradition that many had forgotten.
Being on hockey skates turns out to be great for protesting. They are much faster over pavement and easy to film from. It's so good being on skates that it's impossible to explain in words.
This was my first riot, what are the rules?
It's also the day Covid-19 seemed to become irrelevant in Chicago.
George Flyod, murdered and choked to death by an angry cop in Minnesota, set off a quick chain of events here in my hometown of Chicago.
The cops were all huddled together. Covid just some invisible crap at the moment, apparently safer than a bunch of pissed off Chicagoans.
I immediately decided that a half pint of Whiskey might help calm my nerves and maybe help me protest.
Storming Michigan Avenue was not an option on this day.
I rolled into 7-11 and noticed that the workers were terrified. They were right on the edge of the chaos that day. Would it be looted? It was later looted. I realized that they’d be grateful if I even paid. I did pay, cause I don't personally like thieves.
I rolled to the front line of protesters to watch the cops take it on the chin all while sipping Jack Daniels. To my bewilderment I watched a cop get his ass kicked. Punched and kicked before he could get back to the safety of other officers. That was some Blues Brothers shit right there.
I saw a guy with a joker face calmly watching a police car burn. Days later thanks again to Twitter, I found out that the joker face had lit up the cop car, and was calmly watching it burn when I passed by. He had a neck tattoo and his joker face wasn’t covering it. Days later, I knew his name was Timothy O’Donnell and he was sitting in jail.
Never in my life did I expect to see a Chicago police car on fire. The Ford SUV cop car was burning in front of the AMC theater and then it exploded. Except the explosion was kinda pathetic. But still my primal stem in the back of my head was gleeful.
Coming to a theater near you!
Sweetie, what time does the movie start? I don't think we will make the previews.
The fire department extinguished the fire and so I decided it was time to see what was going on in the loop. I sipped my whiskey and skated over the Chicago River on Columbus drive since the other bridges were all raised.
I filmed the "Congratulations Graduates of 2020" sign on the Chicago Theater and the cops who were all huddled together scared, and of course ready to beat some ass if at all possible.
Looters had busted into the Chicago Wit hotel and destroyed the lobby and bar area where I had photographed many fancy weddings. As much as I like that wedding money, and all the love and happiness that comes with a wedding, this was more exciting.
Bottles started flying and cops were charging back and forth in a disorganized manner.
I've heard older Chicagoans from the South Side call the Chicago River the Mason Dixon line.
I mean I understand if the system had stepped on my neck for my entire life and just showed me the American dream on TV, I'd go get what I could too. I would also turn a nice warm Chicago Summer day into a raging Christmas party.
I could see a red Firefighter boat and a lot of cops all around Trump Tower. That kinda puzzled me. I figured our Mayor Lori Lightfoot would let Trump Tower get looted. I mean she told the Italians that she had the biggest dick in town. You can google that and watch her say that on camera. If she let Trump Tower get stormed she woulda been loved so dearly by all of us Chicagoans, and Chicago woulda been loved by the world. Might still happen!
The cops were North of Macys and I was watching the looters run in and out.
Looters, I learned, are simply having a very good time. It's really just a sport and the fear of missing out is hard to justify. I had no idea there were this many looters in Chicago. And I have no idea where and how they all appeared. Or where they then so quickly disappeared to.
The Macys Department store in Chicago was originally the Marshall Fields Department store, which today has become Amazon. The original Marshall Fields had a line of horse drawn carriages down the block, ready to bring you your purchase from this magnificent department store. This was way back in the day, when most of the world was still living in the stone ages. This was high tech. Lovers would set a time to meet under the huge clocks on State street, before phones were invented. At home, I have a 1920's photo of the old Marshall Fields and so this seemed like history in the making. The first great American department store was being looted. Eventually I couldn't help myself. I had to go in there and experience this historically fucked up moment. Watch the video if you'd like to join me.
This place was famous for it's elaborate Christmas displays, and in some bizarre way this was a covid Christmas in the Spring. I fired up my phone camera and followed an excited looter in wondering if I had just become a looter by law. A guy was just running out with an extra pair of sunglasses on his forehead. I stepped on glass and throught the door, and suddenly I was in the Macys. I watched one looter run past with a slew of purses. Nobody even seemed to cover their face. What the fuck up with that. The alarm was going off and I panned up the atrium and then there was a sudden moment when I got flustered and almost panicked. Last thing I wanted to do was go to jail for this nonsense. And I stood out like a sore thumb. I was white and on inline skates. I quickly turned around and sped back to the door as a bunch of looters ran out. I didn't grab any gifts which makes me think I'm a terrible gift giver. Which women have reminded me that I am.
To my left there was a young guy crying and quoting scripture out loud. And I think he was on to something. He saw the big picture. And how all this would backfire. And really I wanted and still want him to be wrong. I took this photo and I sensed that this woman also knew this wouldn't work out all that well.
The Picasso was being spray painted. Which I found appropriate and I found nothing wrong with this. This would of course horrify my Mother. She hates graffiti and complains profusely about it. I think it's a sign of a free society. Once you can't graffiti you know your well on your way to being enslaved. Too many "Free" people don't realized this truth.
Blues Brothers smashed cop cars but it was just a movie. Right here was a real smashing of cop cars. The O.D.D. in me was raging. Kill the Police, was clever but not a recommended solution. Throwing a construction horse through the window must have been satisfying. I'd like to hear that guys story.
Rent a cops slithered out of back offices. But after thousands of donuts and a couple bouts of covid. They were harmless and easy to ditch.
A block away I started smelling all sorts of perfume. The Ulta Beauty store had been looted earlier A couple citizens were standing around trying to figure out what perfume bottle they wanted to collect off the sidewalk. They were spraying it on and having a discussion about it. Everybody was smelling really good and fresh right over there. I quickly ate a sandwich and drove West on Garfield Park Boulevard.
At some point I passed the Gold Coast Exotic Motors shop on Rush with all its Lamborghinis and Bentleys and shit. The front door was wide open and motherfucker a group of young guys came running out with all the cool sports car jackets. I could see all that cool leather and I was overcome with a very strange feeling of jealousy. And then followed by a feeling that the joke was on me. Maybe I should have been running into those corporate stores that don't pay enough in taxes and why should I not get mine considering the Illinois state wasn't really helping me out enough as Covid-19 dismantled my wedding photography business.
Next I attended a peaceful protest in Hyde Park near University of Chicago, which wasn't that interesting except for the one psycho white guy that was fully armed with an AR-15. I figured he was US military but then I noticed he was alone and it didn't seem like the cops wanted him there either. He was standing around defending the Akira store. What a hero this guy was defending all those cute dresses and hats.
Shit with a little luck and some good selling on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist and Ebay, I could have probably figured out the next couple of months of rent with all the loot coming out of that fancy car shop. Maybe that would have been the smart thing to do. America has been looted by the dirt bag rich with their army of laws and lawyers starting at the top with Trump.
I chuckled at the "yes, we're open" sign and sat in my car pondering my next move. Next thing I know there's a CPD sergeant in his white uniform sitting next to me in his cop car. I tell him I'm just a photographer in shock and awe at this entire situation. He looks at me and asks me if I went into the Currency exchange. I tell him I did to take a couple photos wondering if I had just spilled the beans on myself. He then looked at me and asked "Did you see the safe in there or is it gone?".
My next stop was to check out Grand Boulevard Plaza mall again. That was the mall with lines of cars looting it the night before. I parked my truck in front of the Western Union and went snooping around in there. I wondered if the looters really had cleared it all out. I went in the back and looked around and snapped some photos. One of the ATM's was dragged into the middle of the waiting area.
Maybe 20 years ago, I woulda started looting it's hard to say. Back then I didn't hate thieves and I was young. And hopefully I woulda been smart enough to head straight for the Rolex store or I woulda went shopping for some Chanel purses that magically grow in value. Followed by Dodd Camera, where I'd get all the lenses that I've always wanted but could never afford. Wait followed by an exotic trip somewhere in the world with a the sexiest girlfriend.
That Monday morning the sun did manage to rise over lake Michigan. And when it did, I found myself taking a photo of a poor little grandma named Karen in front of her Currency exchange. She was just sitting in her electric wheelchair staring at the exchange. She asked me if I had a couple dollars. I gave her two bucks and four quarters. Then she told me "My check is in there, June 1st, how am I supposed to get my check?" This question hit hard. We brainstormed, and I offered to go into the bombed out currency exchange to see if I couldn't find her check. This seemed like a long shot but why not. I looked in the front door and I could make out an arm behind the bullet proof glass pulling hard on some electrical equipment. Then I noticed the open side door, then I noticed a car with it's open trunk pushed up against the back door. I looked at Karen and explained to her that it was still being looted. She looked back at me and we decided that it wasn't a good idea to go in there looking for her check. I apologized for not helping more and we went our separate ways.
And after all the looting, I kept hearing stories from the ghetto where goons were riding around with new clothes and toys and stolen cars. Not that I could really afford much from the stores on Michigan avenue either. All over Chicago that weekend, I heard jubilant shouts, shattering of glass, and hammering.
The looters were also unfortunately about 95% black from what I saw. I covered downtown, the Northwest Side, Northside, and the Southside, over the two days and nights and all I saw was a sea of black folks having the time of their lives. It was both confusing and depressing. I saw what I saw, and I'm writing it as I saw it.
A block away I started smelling all sorts of perfume. The Ulta Beauty store had been looted earlier A couple citizens were standing around trying to figure out what perfume bottle they wanted to collect off the sidewalk. They were spraying it on and having a discussion about it. Everybody was smelling really good and fresh right over there. I quickly ate a sandwich and drove West on Garfield Park Boulevard.
Over at Western and North a couple of blocks from where I used to live I found an Auto Zone that was being emptied out, and a Walgreens with its alarm blaring and looters running in and out tripping over the busted metal awnings. Supposedly the drugs in the Pharmacy is what many were after. Might add nicely to the concoction of looted booze that you have in the trunk. Might really take you to the next level. The video Game Stop next to the Walgreens was also full of looters getting their favorite video games for the Summer. These folks were probably the smart looters. They realized that after this there would be a long Summer with nowhere to go shopping and nothing to do.
This was playing out at the Walmart on 47th and the entire shopping mall on 47th and most of the Binnys liquor stores around town. I keep waiting for that Charlie Chaplinesque edit of looters doing stupid shit on camera make it's gerat debute on Youtube.
I hit traffic at the Grand Boulevard Plaza mall right off the I-90 highway and Garfield Park Boulevard. The left two lanes were a parking lot of cars with open trunks. It looked like those lines of cars at the airport when you go pick someone up. Except it was more like a scene out of the zombie apocalypse show "The Walking Dead". Everybody was screaming and running in and out of the mall. I saw another looter hammering at a Western Union Currency Exchange ATM open and I could see the back door open to the liquor store. The entire mall was being looted. And there wasn't a cop in sight. I made a mental note that I'd come back to survey the damage the next day. Seemed way too dangerous to go in there right then and there.
I saw this play out all over the city. On Milwaukee Avenue in Bucktown all the nice shoe shops caused a complete traffic jam around me. Apparently if you are a looter, parking your car takes too long. Better to scream in joy, just slam the car into park, wherever you are, and then to run as fast as you can to your favorite shoe joint before somebody gets your shoe size. Just don't cut your head open on the shards of glass as you run in through the busted front window. Don't slide on glass and bust your leg open. Forget about the fact that when you get back to your car there will be nowhere to go cause everybody else has a trunk open full of loot. And by the way if you turn out to be a chicken shit kinda looter. Best first hit the liquor store. Eventually when the armada of cop cars does show up, if they show up, they just add to the traffic jam, and what's the point of arresting everybody anyhow. Chicago had many looting traffic jams that night.
I watched my old liquor store get ransacked. And actually when it came to my neighborhood I wasn't alright with all these looters. That flipped a switch in me. Made me want to get out of the car and start bashing heads with a hockey stick. Get the fuck out of my neighborhood and go loot the big box stores you fools. What a mess of emotions.
