About 4,000 people gathered outside City Hall Tuesday evening in a peaceful protest against the possible election of Ald. Eugene Sawyer (6th) as acting mayor to succeed Harold Washington.
Inside, though, the mood was tense and the corridors frequently chaotic. Almost 900 protesters gathered in the lobby and on the second and third floors, prompting several aldermen to complain about ”mob rule.”
The protesters inside were raucous, peppering their chants
with profanities and shouting epithets at aldermen they disliked.
Police officials, who closed LaSalle Street between Washington and Randolph Streets during the protest, said the demonstrators outside were mostly good natured. Uniformed officers on foot and on horseback stood on the crowd`s perimeter.
The protesters inside City Hall were more raucous, peppering their chants with profanities and shouting epithets at aldermen they disliked.
”We want to complain about the lack of involvement of the people,” said Ted Smukler, 33, of the North Side, who was among the protesters outside City Hall.
Another, Greg Coles, 40, who works for a South Side social service agency, said, ”We`re making sure we have no deals behind no closed doors so that the dream of Harold Washington stays alive.”
The demonstrators chanted and protested because of reports that Sawyer had the necessary votes from the 50 members of the Chicago City Council to be elected acting mayor.
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They had come in response to a call for action made Monday night by allies of Ald. Timothy Evans (4th), the other leading contender for acting mayor, at a memorial service for Washington in the University of Illinois-Chicago Pavilion. The memorial service turned into an enthusiastic
political rally for Evans.
Rev. Jesse Jackson had urged a peaceful protest, and the protesters heeded his suggestion.
Almost all of the protesters inside and outside City Hall said they supported Evans.
Lou Pardo, 68, from the West Side, said: ”I`m here to protest the coup d`etat that`s taking place. . . . There should be a delay of the vote so all the candidates can present their views.”
On LaSalle Street outside, young men climbed the walls to stand in windowsills 10 feet above the ground, and led chants among the protesters.
Young men climbed the walls of City Hall to stand in windowsills 10 feet above the ground and lead chants among the protesters.
The enthusiasm and occasional anger of the protesters appeared genuine, and most appeared to be ordinary citizens. Some protesters, though, told reporters they were city workers, a tradition at City Hall demonstrations. The city workers would not say who told them to demonstrate, but staff of Ald. Luis Gutierrez (26th) and Ald. Jesus Garcia (22d) were working the phones throughout the day to mobilize demonstrators.
In Uptown, workers in the ward office of Ald. Helen Shiller (46th) said activist Walter ”Slim” Coleman started a telephone campaign Tuesday morning to bring protesters to City Hall. ”We want to get down there tonight and stop them from voting,” one worker told a caller.
The crowd-inside and outside City Hall-would be considered a poor turnout of voters from one ward in a city election, but the numbers did prompt Ald. Bernard Stone (50th) to complain to reporters.
”It`s intimidation,” he said. ”It`s mob rule. . . . I for one am not going to be intimidated.”
The council meeting to choose the acting mayor was delayed to 9:15 p.m. from 5:30 p.m. while aldermen negotiated in private.
By the time the official meeting began, the protesters outside had dwindled to a few hundred.
The crowd outside City Hall, which did not form until after 4:30 p.m., was friendly, said Deputy Chief of Patrol John Stibich, who mingled to keep an eye on things.
”When a civilized society starts giving in to mob rule, that`s the beginning of the end,” said Ald. Roman Pucinski (41st). ”That`s why we`re very careful on what we did tonight. . . . Lots of aldermen have been intimidated.”
Dozens of extra police officers were assigned to City Hall and the surrounding area, and additional officers were on standby. By late Tuesday, three protesters had been arrested.
Paul Belousek, 26, 418 Ridgeland Ave., Oak Park, and Christopher Scott, 27, of 3746 W. Odgen Ave., were arrested for disorderly conduct, and Renaldo Gray, 31, of 1712 E. 84th Pl., was arrested for theft for allegedly stealing a police officer`s bulletproof vest.
But in the main, the crowd outside City Hall, which did not form until after 4:30 p.m., was friendly, said Deputy Chief of Patrol John Stibich, who mingled to keep an eye on things.
Vendors also worked the crowd-selling for $1 buttons with the words ”The Machine” with a red slash though them. For $2, protesters could purchase a button with Washington`s picture. There also were a wide choice of color photos of the late mayor. Nonpartisan earmuffs cost $2.50.
By the time the official meeting began, the protesters outside had dwindled to a few hundred, with many escaping the cold by going into the first floor of City Hall.
Inside, protesters made transit through the City Hall corridors difficult at times. On the third floor, near the offices of Evans, Sawyer, and Ald. William Henry (24th), who supports Sawyer, demonstrators tried in the late afternoon to get into the balcony of the council chambers.
At one point, the crowd surged forward and knocked some people off balance.
”Be cool. Be cool,” a woman screamed. ”Jesse Jackson said be cool.”
About 100 protesters were allowed into the balcony. The rest of them watched for hours through glass doors as the aldermen and their aides raced back and forth in the foyer connecting the offices of Henry, Sawyer and Evans. Seeing Ald. Robert Shaw (9th), a Sawyer supporter, the crowd screamed,
”Traitor.”
At one point, in the anteroom to the council chambers, Interim Mayor David Orr stood on a chair to tell reporters, ”This city is in control.”
The delay in starting the official meeting forced the protesters, most of whom were black, with some whites and some Hispanics-and a smattering who said they lived in the suburbs-to come up with new chants.
Four police officers guarded the door to the council chambers and marked the hands of those inside who left to go to the bathroom so they would be able to return.
Early Tuesday, one observer in the gallery was ejected for throwing coins at the aldermen.
Chants of ”Uncle Tom Sawyer,” and ”Sawyer traitor” rang through the halls. More poetic insults included ”Up with reform, down with the machine,” and ”Sawyer`s in a Cadillac, looking like a Vrdolyak,” a reference to former Ald. Edward Vrdolyak (10th), a political antagonist of the late mayor.
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At another point, about 40 people carrying flags of South and Central American countries and led by a Hispanic band marched down LaSalle Street to join the demonstration. The crowd cheered until they noticed that the new group held signs that read, ”Sawyer for our future.”
After a brief shouting match between the groups, police gave the Sawyer group the northeast corner of Randolph and LaSalle and stood between them and the main crowd.
During the morning and early afternoon, the council held a five-hour memorial service for Washington while a huge portrait of the mayor rested on an easel behind his desk in the council chambers.
Praise for Washington occasionally was mixed with political messages or appeals for peace.
Members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra offered musical selections, and City Clerk Walter Kozubowski read a five-page resolution describing Washington`s life and accomplishments.
During the morning session, the gallery was reserved mostly for city department heads, city workers and friends, although some protesters held up signs when Sawyer gave his eulogy for Washington. The signs threatened a hunger strike.
Despite the pressure he was surely under, Sawyer`s morning comments were calm.
”Harold Washington was a mystery, a black man who came through the Chicago political system, not of it,” Sawyer said. Sawyer is the senior black alderman, first elected during the Daley administration.
”I`ve changed,” Sawyer said. ”I`ve been inspired by the mayor`s leadership.”
Overtly political remarks were delivered in a shouting voice by Ald. Helen Shiller (46th).
”To cut deals before his body is even in the ground is a sin,” Shiller shouted. ”These meetings (political meetings that began moments after Washington`s death) were meetings to destroy the coalition. Where are these 26 votes for reform?”
The resolution honoring the late mayor said ”Mayor Harold Washington`s election and the victories of his five years in office (were) victories both of a man and of a movement and coalition.”
The resolution also said Washington ”was dedicated to the proposition that Chicago should be a city of free citizens working together with an open government.”