A pair of men are in custody and Chicago police are answering questions after a now-viral video showed a gathering being broken up in the city’s Englewood neighborhood on Sunday night.
The video shows police moving through a large crowd of individuals, and ultimately ended in the arrest of two people on weapons charges.
At approximately 9:45 p.m. Sunday, police responded to a call that a gathering was blocking the street near 70th Street and South Lowe. A scuffle then ensued, as officers darted through the crowd and noticed a man with a gun.
That man, identified by police as Jaquan Hayden of Homewood, was chased by police and eventually placed into custody. Authorities say Hayden was arrested for felony unlawful use of a weapon, possession of a weapon without a FOID card, resisting arrest, and obstruction.
Another man, Sedrick Monroe of Chicago, was also arrested after he allegedly dropped a loaded, unlicensed gun in front of a vehicle and tried to run from the scene.
Police say shots were fired, but no one was hit.
After the incident, the video of police making the arrests and ordering the dispersals went viral, and musician Chance the Rapper retweeted the video from his account:
“I’ve seen hundreds of people at Millennium Park and pictures of even more at the parks on the North Side,” he said. “No masks, no social distancing, and enjoying themselves. Please stop sending large groups of militarized police into our neighborhoods exclusively.”
Chicago police released a statement about the incident, saying that they will enforce the state’s ongoing “stay-at-home” order in whatever neighborhoods are seeing large gatherings:
“The Chicago Police Department strives to ensure any enforcement of the statewide stay-at-home order is universal regardless of neighborhood, community or district,” the department said in a statement.
Two officers were injured during the incident, but both are in good condition on Monday night, according to officials.
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Chicago police are continuing to investigate the incident.
