Nearly 100 people rallied Tuesday outside the Oak Lawn Village Hall ahead of the Village Board meeting, alleging police mistreated a 14-year-old at a previous Police and Fire Commission meeting.
Oak Lawn police in a news release Tuesday said the teen used obscene language during the public comment period at the Aug. 5 Police and Fire Commission meeting, and a woman interfered when officers attempted to escort the teen away from the podium.
But the Arab American Action Network says the boy was grabbed by multiple officers, picked up and slammed into a counter in the back of the public hall and placed in a chokehold before being pushed out of the room and forced to leave the meeting. Illinois law prohibits police from using a chokehold as a form of restraint unless deadly force is justified.
Ghada Morrar, who was charged with misdemeanor obstruction of justice, disorderly conduct and assault, was the boy’s mother, activists say. They allege that like her teenage son, she was violently grabbed when forced to leave.
Organizers with the Arab American Action Network have shown up regularly to Police and Fire Commission meetings since 2022, protesting alleged officer misconduct. Recently, police say activists have “engaged in disruptive conduct that has interfered with the Commission’s ability to conduct its official business.”
“This conduct has included shouting obscenities at commissioners, physical confrontations with police officers, knocking over chairs, and refusing to comply with lawful requests intended to restore order. Juveniles have also been encouraged to attend and participate in disruptions of Commission meetings,” the Police Department said in its news release.
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But activists told the Village Board Tuesday that officers, not members of the public, were to blame for erupting tensions. Bill Beaulieu, an organizer with Southsiders for Peace, said if Police and Fire Commission Chair Jim Baker “can’t take being called a name, he should probably consider resigning, possibly getting some help.”
Yousef Masood said “many will call the Oak Lawn police incompetent” after the last Police and Fire Commission meeting.
“While this is clearly true, incompetency can only go so far,” the 22-year-old from Chicago said. “You don’t accidentally assault a 14-year-old child and arrest a mother.”
Village Board members did not respond to similar concerns raised by more than a dozen people during Tuesday’s meeting.
Activists were quick to remind the Village Board of long-standing issues of racism within the Oak Lawn Police Department, including the beating by a police officer of a 17-year-old that led to a lawsuit the village settled for $825,000.
They have also continued to question how police handled the death of Murod Kurdi, a 28-year-old Palestinian American who was hit by a car outside his Oak Lawn home in June 2023. The driver told police she had alcoholic drinks before getting behind the wheel and in December 2023 was found guilty of failing to reduce speed and fined $750.
An Illinois State Police report found Oak Lawn police did not have probable cause to charge the driver with drunken driving.
“So no, I’m not surprised that the Oak Lawn police just 20 days ago used an illegal chokehold against a small boy,” said Muhammad Sankari, organizing director of the Arab American Action Network.
“And you all shouldn’t be surprised that we’re going to continue to be here, again and again. Because you have made it very clear, and the Oak Lawn Police Department has made it very clear, that you are not interested in any kind of justice, you are not interested in any kind of accountability,” he added.
Police said Wednesday they completed an investigation of the disturbance at the Aug. 5 meeting and said misdemeanor charges of obstructing a police officer were filed against Amira Altamimi, 21, of Chicago, Kobi Guillory, 29, a Chicago middle school teacher and leader of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, and Ghada Morrar, 35, of Oak Lawn. Morrar also faces misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and assault.
The vehicle Guillory was traveling in was surrounded by multiple squad cars Tuesday night before police took the teacher into custody, the Chicago Alliance and Arab American Action Network said in a news release Wednesday.
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