Activists Claim Oak Lawn Cop Put Boy In Chokehold At Public Meeting, Demand Investigation

OAK LAWN, IL—The Oak Lawn Police Department is at the center of another controversy involving a member of the Arab American community after a video clip circulated showing five officers piling on a 14-year-old boy during a public meeting.

This is the third such incident in the past four years involving run-ins with Oak Lawn police and Palestinian American residents. One involved a 17-year-old boy who had fled a traffic stop in July 2022 after a citizen's video showed him being pummeled by three Oak Lawn police officers. The teen was later found to be carrying a loaded gun and pleaded guilty to juvenile weapons charges. His family settled a civil suit against the Village of Oak Lawn for $825,000.

The other occurred in June 2023, when 28-year-old Murod Kurdi was struck getting out of his parked car by a White driver who had reportedly admitted drinking before the accident. She refused a Breathalyzer test, according to her attorney Robert Olson, and was allowed to leave the scene. Police did not seek a court order for a blood draw. Later, Cusak was cited for failure to reduce speed and fined $750.

Activists from the Arab American Action Network and Southsiders for Peace have been attending the monthly police and fire commission meetings since July 2022, calling for the officers involved—including Oak Lawn Police Chief Dan Vittorio—to be fired. They’ve demanded that Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul open an investigation into police misconduct and racism.

The latest incident unfolded Aug. 5, at the Oak Lawn Police and Fire Commission meeting. The rally before the meeting outside Village Hall was led by youth of the AAAN. The teens also took the lead during public comments, according to a Southsiders For Peace news release. The fifth speaker, the 14-year-old boy, corrected police and fire commission chair Jim Baker’s pronunciation of his name. Those who were present at the Aug. 5 meeting said the kid called Baker a “jackass.” Baker is said to have told the youth he had forfeited his right to comment because he was being “aggressive.”

Other attendees contend that the boy held his ground at the podium when Baker ordered police to remove him from the meeting. According to a video clip obtained from AAAN, at least six police officers are shown piling on the boy, with one officer hooking his arm around the boy's neck in what appears to be a chokehold. Attendees also alleged that the Oak Lawn officers threw the boy into a counter at the rear of the room, although the video clip did not capture that moment.

“We didn’t expect an assault so we weren’t prepared to record with out phones,” AAAN director Muhammed Sankari told Patch. “Baker mispronounced his name and [the boy] corrected him and called Baker a jackass. [Baker’s] response was to sic his goons on him.”

Public comments were closed and the meeting was adjourned when the auditorium erupted into anger. Activists claim on the following weekend Oak Lawn police went twice to the boy’s home looking for his mother. She later turned herself in at the Oak Lawn police station, where she was charged with obstruction of justice and assault of a peace officer, when activities said she tried to intervene on her son’s behalf. The boy has not been charged. The family has requested that their names be withheld. The mother is has a court appearance Sept. 17 at the Bridgeview Courthouse.

Numerous residents addressed the latest incident at the Oak Lawn Village during public comments during the village board meeting. Many signed up to speak using only their first names.

The first to speak was Fadia Mohamed, Kurdi’s mother, who told village board members that she was still waiting for answers and accountability from police over her son’s death.

“What if this was your child?” Mohammed said.

Suzanne, a youth therapist, said the police and fire commission chair denied the boy’s First Amendment right to freedom of speech because he didn’t like the content of what the boy had to say. Instead, police responded by allegedly putting the boy in a chokehold.

She accused six Oak Lawn police officers went to the boy’s house to harass the mother, which she called a “cheap attempt to intimidate us.”

“We won't be silenced as long as justice continues to be denied by the Oak Lawn Police Department and the village to the numerous families in our community who have had their rights denied and trampled on by this village and its police,” Suzanne said. “The extreme use of force by this police department proves again what we have said for years now racism runs deep in Oak Lawn, and if it's not rooted out, then no one is safe, and none of our children are safe.”

Bill Beaulieu, a retired USPS worker, former union rep and member of Southsiders for Peace, has been attending the police and fire commission meetings since 2022. Beaulieu suggested that if Baker couldn’t stand being called a name, then maybe Baker should seek therapy and resign.

While he wasn’t at the Aug. 5 meeting, Beaulieu said he’s attended enough police and fire commission meetings to witness some officers “get a little bit in the moment” at times.

There have been a lot of disturbing things that have happened in the past few years, and the fact that all three instances intersect at Muslim residents, people are going to draw conclusions. People will get angry,” Beaullieu said. “I understand that you're in a stressful situation; it's very difficult. But when you're wearing a uniform and you have a weapon, you have to have discipline. You have to have enforce discipline. Otherwise, you are not a force; you are a mob.”

Nick Sous criticized the board of trustees and Chief Vittorio regarding several incidents of alleged injustice against Muslim residents involving the police department.

“You have a responsibility to make clear that when a child is put in a chokehold, an independent investigation is called on,” said Nick Sous, of the U.S. Palestinian Network. “We've been calling Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul to investigate Oak Lawn’s police department. You too, as the board of trustees, can do us that favor and call for that investigation.”

When public comments were over, activists and their allies filed out of the boardroom chanting, “Justice for Murod Kurdi,” while the village board members got on with the rest of the meeting.

Outside the village hall, protesters continued to chant, “How do you spell racist–OLPD,” as the village board continued its meeting inside.

Activist Kobi Guillory, a member of the Chicago Alliance Against Racial and Political Oppression and a CTU member, said he was arrested after leaving the pre-meeting rally about two miles from Oak Lawn Village Hall. Guillory was a passenger in a friend’s car when he said it was surrounded by Oak Lawn police officers.

Guillory stated he got out of the vehicle voluntarily because he didn’t want his friend’s car’s window getting busted. He said he was charged with obstruction of justice related to the Aug. 5 meeting. Guillory is looking for an attorney.

“I did nothing wrong,” Guillory said when he was released. “We’re going to keep showing up until we get this independent investigation going and clean up this police department.”

Oak Lawn police also issued a news release related to the events of Aug. 5, calling out the Arab American Action Network for exercising their right to exercise their First Amendment rights in public comments before the police and fire commission. .

“During several recent meetings, however, individuals in attendance have engaged in disruptive conduct that has interfered with the commission’s ability to conduct its official business,” Oak Lawn police stated. “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.”

Addressing the incident of Aug. 5, police said a “14-year-old juvenile” approached the podium and addressed the commission chairman “using obscene language.”

“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 statement continued. “The adult female involved in the incident has been arrested and charged.”

“The Oak Lawn Police Department recognizes and respects the constitutional right of individuals to attend public meetings, express their views, and peacefully criticize government officials. Those rights, however, do not permit individuals to engage in conduct that threatens the safety of others, obstructs police officers, or prevents a public body from conducting its lawful business.”