Occupy Wall Street protesters are demonstrating on the streets of Chicago on the eve of the NATO summit. OWS protesters are claiming that a Chicago Police Department van rammed into a crowd, injuring a protester.
https://twitter.com/#!/sofieloizou/status/204049200416161794
https://twitter.com/#!/patrickdehahn/status/204041717853327360
https://twitter.com/#!/Eagles2001/status/204052444206993408
https://twitter.com/#!/CarrieM213/status/204041084257566720
This protester claims he was so close to the action that his phone and computer were damaged by the police van:
https://twitter.com/#!/Federal_flashes/status/204041923164512256
https://twitter.com/#!/Federal_flashes/status/204042551303471107
https://twitter.com/#!/Federal_flashes/status/204056990564093952
This photo is making the rounds. It looks like a horrible high-impact hit:
But take a look at video of the incident. The title of the video, “Cop van pushes protester in Chicago,” is apt. It appears that the protester in the video deliberately inserted himself in front of the van. He tried–but failed–to impede the movement of the van. The van pushed the protester backwards as it moved forward. The protester then walked away after his failed attempt, apparently without a scratch. We hope this is not the man whom protesters claim was “mowed down.”
Here’s a second video of the same incident taken from another angle. This video shows several protesters gathering in front of the van, attempting to block it from moving. It later shows a crowd of Occupiers surrounding the injured protester, who appears to be on the ground.
And here’s a third video.
(Related: Occupiers jumped in front of a moving vehicle at a Washington DC protest last fall.)
The protestor who was allegedly injured tonight has been identified by several OWS protesters as Jack Amico:
https://twitter.com/#!/TaliSeen/status/204040810432434177
https://twitter.com/#!/DefendWallSt/status/204045187364818946
Amico was photographed earlier this year at a Washington DC protest:
OWS observer @Nickrama1 warns against jumping to conclusions about what has occurred tonight:
https://twitter.com/#!/Nickarama1/status/204041186493739008
Fox News contributor Jonathan Hoenig witnessed the incident:
https://twitter.com/#!/JonathanHoenig/status/204058889891741696
Update, 12:06 am eastern: According to one Occupier on the ground, the police presence in Chicago is increasing:
https://twitter.com/#!/CourtneyOccupy/status/204057222639132672
Update, 12:16 pm eastern: According to several Twitter users, the injured protester, Jack Amico, has been arrested and is not critically injured:
https://twitter.com/#!/CourtneyOccupy/status/204060496972886016
https://twitter.com/#!/Puttcarp/status/204059479854170112
Update, 12:30 pm eastern: FWIW, another Chicago OWS protester claims he was arrested after being brutally beaten earlier this evening:
https://twitter.com/#!/PhilipDeVon1/status/204013317604380672
Update, 12:43 pm eastern: Some occupiers are finally going home for the night. All in a day’s chaos-creating work!
https://twitter.com/#!/Keyserxsoze/status/204063466489774081
Some cops are heading home, too:
https://twitter.com/#!/jeffrae/status/204067079685537792
Other Occupiers are standing outside Northwestern Hospital, where Jack Amico has reportedly been admitted:
https://twitter.com/#!/Occupied_Air/status/204067752489656320
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