Chicagoans were a bit uneasy this weekend, as some of the worst clashes between police and protesters took place there since the infamous Democratic National Convention of 1968.
Thousands of occupiers and anti-war protesters from across the world traveled to the Windy City to protest the annual NATO summit.
Most of the demonstrators in Chicago used the summit to complain about various wars, climate change, the greed of the ‘1%.’
Despite a mostly unified message by the protesters, it was still unclear as of Monday morning just what was the focus of demonstration.
According to National Public Radio (NPR), one of the demonstrator said the group’s message was, “NATO is used to keep the poor poor and the rich rich.”
NPR also reports the protests were ‘largely peaceful’ until the very end, when demonstrators tried to get close the convention center, when President Barack Obama was speaking at the convention.
Sources present say the tense standoff between police and demonstrators lasted for hours, as shoving and scuffles broke out amongst officers wearing full riot gear.
Among the things being thrown at the police: red paint, a bucket and some sticks, amongst other things, according to the New York Times. At one point, a protester shoved an officer to the ground during the melee.
Chicago is the first U.S. city outside of Washington, D.C. to host the summit. The city of Chicago had been preparing for weeks for the inevitable mass of NATO demonstrators.
In all, more than 45 protesters were arrested and four officers were injured.
Two of the occupiers have been held on terrorism charges. One is being held for “falsely making terrorist threats” and the other is charged with “solicitation of possession” of explosives.
This comes just days after separate charges were brought again three other anarchists.
