Hearken back to the halcyon days of America at the end of May.
Protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody were budding throughout the nation, little pockets of “peaceful protesters” marauded, plundered, vandalized and terrorized major cities, but one could still hold hope that city leaders would stop it.
It was back then that video emerged of what happened to two Chicago police officers after they apparently attempted to collar one of the criminals.
The video, tweeted by journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin on May 31, showed the angry mob descend on the officers, throwing one male cop back onto the pavement and dragging a female associate through the streets while she continued to hang on to the fleeing suspect.
The uniformed male officer caught up with the crowd with the female officer still in tow and threw himself over her for protection.
TRENDING: Daviscourt: Seattle Residents Voting for Trump After Democrats Refuse To Stop Rioting
Another man who appeared to be law enforcement also intervened and was also knocked over by agitators when he attempted to break up the madness.
To their credit, a few in the crowd began surrounding and protecting the three, who all ended up shoved to the ground, while the crowd hurled projectiles and obscenities at them.
Unfortunately, the suspect got away with help from the rest of the crowd.
WARNING: The following video contains graphic language that some viewers will find offensive.
Chaos in the streets of Chicago as Police officers are dragged through the streets … pic.twitter.com/gum1OSBwrz
— Ahmed Shihab-Eldin (@ASE) May 31, 2020
When the video first came out, TMZ surmised that these “protesters” looked like they were “not afraid of physically clashing with police” in what appears now was a gross understatement from an outlet that otherwise cranks out sensationalized news stories.
Granted, this was before the city fell into total anarchy, so there was at least a shred of ignorance that absolved them in those days.
But it isn’t that the media narrative has changed now that we’ve seen a federal courthouse under attack or city blocks occupied, it’s just that it is impossible to look at these kinds of now-commonplace occurrences and call them anything but riots.
And yet there Chicago is today, with the city plunged into utter lawless chaos as Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot has allowed her city to become a war zone night after night, still unable to get it under control.
The altercation was at the dawning of the upheaval and had Lightfoot spent more time worrying about protecting her citizens than lashing out at President Donald Trump, this incident would have been the worst thing to happen rather than the budding of historic violence.
This confrontation now seems quaint compared to the hell that is currently being unleashed on the Windy City.
Do you think stopping the problems in Chicago early on would have thwarted the violence happening currently?
What these protesters-turned-rioters were after in the beginning — perhaps equality, protection from police brutality even if they were misguided — is forgotten in the aftermath.
City streets are now as unsafe as any third-world hellhole.
The people who were worried about being shot by police now have to worry about being shot by one another.
Even back when this began, these poor police officers were woefully unprepared, with the female officer especially being physically weaker by nature, completely powerless to stop the brutal violence a gang of young people could inflict.
It appears this confrontation is the perfect metaphor for what the situation in Chicago is today: Police are outnumbered, unsupported and under attack from all sides, with their city’s leaders nowhere in sight.
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
