Content warning: elements photographed for my story below contain profanity and crudeness.
This post has been thoughtfully revised for factual correctness as subsequent investigations confirmed new details.
2020 will be remembered as a dark chapter in American history. Never in many of our lifetimes have we seen lawlessness become so rampant, both with police breaking the law and a host of hurting people, anarchists, and opportunists using such grievous lawlessness as an excuse to commit crimes en masse.
Today I saw democracy morph into anarchy. I saw protesting morph into violence.
As I write I can still hear sirens, honking, fireworks, and intermittent yelling outside my apartment. The tone is tense. It is rumored that the Walgreens and CVS just down the street have been looted. I’ll find out tomorrow morning if my wife’s car survived the rampant vandalism.
Update: it did, thank God! Many people in a much poorer economic state did not have their cars and businesses survive the onslaught, sadly.
This is my photo and video story of what I observed while strolling from the Gold Coast to the Magnificent Mile.
Gold Coast
The Magnificent Mile
At about this point, the body of protestors is pretty much behind me now. That body mostly comprised of peaceful protestors expressing their beliefs. One of them even gave a homeless man his water bottle.
The more aggressive participants from within the crowd begin to loiter, harassing the police and commencing the looting shortly after they leave.
This is around the time the looting began, which I captured while heading for home.
I took my leave, dumbstruck by what I just encountered and impressed by the professional restraint our law enforcement workers had while receiving so much abuse.
They’re people too.