3 Activists Arrested For 'Illegal Activities' At Meeting Where 14-Year-Old Boy Was Allegedly Put In Chokehold

OAK LAWN, IL—Three activists have been charged with various misdemeanors related to “illegal activities” during an Oak Lawn fire and police commission meeting earlier this month, where a 14-year-old boy was allegedly put into a chokehold.

The Arab American Action Network and other groups have been regular attendees at the monthly police and fire commission meetings to address incidents involving run-ins between Oak Lawn police and the Palestinian American community.

>>> Activists Claim Oak Lawn Cops Put 14-Year-Old In Chokehold At Public Meeting, Demand Outside Investigation

According to an Oak Lawn police news release, police allege that lately, AAAN members and supporters have become “increasingly disruptive, interfering with the commission’s ability to conduct its official business.” According to police, audience members’ behavior has run the gamut, “from 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 [at] commission meetings,” Oak Lawn police said in a news release.

CONTENT WARNING: Video contains strong language.

During the fire and police commission meeting on Aug. 5, police said that “a 14-year-old juvenile approached the podium and addressed the commission chairman using obscene language.” Attendees at the meeting claim the young teen who was participating in AAAN’s youth organizing program called the chair a “jackass” after he mispronounced his name.

A video clip taken by an attendee showed five Oak Lawn police officers piling on to the boy when he wouldn’t leave the podium after being told he forfeited public comment because he was being “aggressive.” As the boy was being removed, one cop appeared to have his arm around the boy’s neck as he was being removed from the boardroom. Attendees at the meeting also allege that Oak Lawn officers slammed the kid on a counter, although that doesn’t appear in the video.

“When officers attempted to escort the juvenile away from the podium, an adult female interfered with the officers and was subsequently removed from the meeting,” the news release said.

After the youth was removed from the meeting, police said several other attendees at the meeting “knocked over chairs and interfered with officers as they attempted to restore order and allow the meeting to continue.”

Ghada Morrar, 35, of Oak Lawn, said to be the boy’s mother, was arrested Aug. 11. She was charged with three misdemeanors, including disorderly conduct, obstructing a peace officer and assault. Activists claim in their public comments that Oak Lawn police officers went to her residence several times in the week following the Aug. 5 meeting as an act of intimidation. Morrar is said to have turned herself in at the Oak Lawn police station.

Amira Altamimi, 21, also of Oak Lawn, and Kobi Guillory, 29, of Chicago, were each charged with misdemeanor obstruction of justice related to the Aug. 5 commission meeting. Both were arrested and charged on Aug. 25, when the Oak Lawn Village Board was set to meet.

Guillory, a member of the Chicago Alliance Against Racial and Political Oppression, said he was arrested when he left the rally before Tuesday’s Oak Lawn Village Board meeting.

“I want to speak to a lawyer,” said Guillory, told the crowd remaining outside village hall when he returned from having his mugshot and fingerprints taken. “I want to tell everything, but I want to speak to a lawyer first. People are getting harassed.”

Guillory said Oak Lawn police have shown up at his job, where he teaches at a CPS school.

At the Aug. 5 police and fire commission meeting, Guillory said police were “assaulting” him and other community members. He claimed he was shoved by a cop.

“The way officers work it all the time is they will assault you and charge you for being assaulted,” Guillory said.

Guillory was a passenger in a friend’s car when they left the rally before the Oak Lawn village board meeting, when they were pulled over near Southwest Highway around 8 p.m.

Joe Isobaker, a member of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Oppression, was the driver of the car when he said they were boxed in by six Oak Lawn police vehicles.

“They were pounding on the window where [Guillory] was sitting,” Isobaker said. “A lieutenant stepped forward and said, 'we're not here for you, Mr. Isobaker. We’re here because you have Kobi Guillory in the backseat of your car.’”

Isobaker and Guillory spent the next ten minutes still not unlocking the vehicle's doors, conferring with their lawyers.

“The officers started to pound on the windows. They said, "If Mr. Guillory doesn’t step out of the car, we’re going to remove him,’” Isobaker continued. “So it was clear that they only they could have done that is by breaking the windows.”

Guillory said he voluntarily got out of the car because he didn’t want his friend's car windows to get busted.

Murror and Guillory both have court dates on Sept. 17 at the Bridgeview Courthouse. Altamimi's court date was not immediately available.

Activists have been demanding that Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul investigate the Oak Lawn Police Department after officers were captured on a citizen’s video punching and a 17-year-old youth who had allegedly fled a traffic stop in July 2022. The teen was later found to be carrying a loaded gun and pleaded guilty to juvenile weapons charges.

Almost a year later in June 2023, a Palestinian American man, Murod Kurdi, 28,after he parked his car the street in front of his house, when he was struck and killed by a White driver. An officer at the scene said the driver, Leeanne Cusack, 27, admitted to the first responding officer to consuming alcohol before the crash, according to police reports. She refused to take a breathalyzer test, and Oak Lawn police did not seek a warrant for a blood draw. She was later fined $750 and cited for failure to reduce speed. Activists claim that Oak Lawn police did not do a thorough investigation.

Oak Lawn police said the three arrests have concluded their investigation into the “disturbance and unlawful activity that occurred during the Oak Lawn Fire and Police Commission
Meeting on August 5, 2026.”