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Clashes erupt as far-right activist Jake Lang protests Palestine Fest near Chicago
A small group led by Jake Lang clashed with a much larger crowd of counterprotesters outside the fourth annual Palestine Fest in suburban Bridgeview, Illinois.
Tensions flared outside Palestine Fest in the Chicago suburb of Bridgeview, Illinois, on Sunday after far-right activist Jake Lang and a small group of supporters came to protest the festival and clashed with a much larger crowd of counterprotesters outside a gas station near SeatGeek Stadium.
Lang, who had called for a “Peaceful Crusader Rally” to “Stop Islamification of Chicago,” was previously charged with assaulting an officer with a baseball bat and other crimes before receiving clemency as part of President Donald Trump’s pardons for Jan. 6 defendants.
Rock thrown at truck as caravan left
The confrontation culminated around 1 p.m., with police working to separate the groups. Protesters screamed at each other through bullhorns and threw water bottles. According to a WGN photojournalist at the scene, tensions escalated as authorities escorted Lang and his supporters out of the parking lot and pro-Palestinian protesters swarmed his caravan; video shows a large rock being thrown at one of the pickup trucks, cracking its windshield.
“The protests outside of the event ended with no arrests made. Two individuals received medical care after being hit with projectiles. Two law enforcement officers sustained minor injuries, but are doing well,” Bridgeview Mayor Steve Landek said. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that at least two protesters were detained.
“Thousands of people are gathering peacefully”
Inside the festival grounds, held in the stadium’s parking lot, the atmosphere remained calm, with Palestinian music, food, clothing vendors and carnival rides. “Thousands of people are gathering peacefully,” said Hatem Bazian, chairman of the National Board of American Muslims for Palestine. Bridgeview, often called “Little Palestine,” is home to one of the largest concentrations of Palestinian Americans in the country.
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