The state’s second largest city erupted into chaos Sunday night, as rioters in west suburban Aurora looted stores and set a series of fires around a downtown area already financially devastated by the coronavirus lockdown.
Police responded by firing tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd, which swelled to about 500 people at its height. Some onlookers, in turn, hurled chunks of concrete and other objects at officers, shrouding the message of nonviolence urged earlier that day during peaceful protests over the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.
In addition to plundering local businesses, the crowd set fire to three police cars, a bank drive-thru and a Family Dollar retail store. Many onlookers cheered as a gas tank on one of the squad cars exploded and flames engulfed the entire vehicle.
“They smashed windows of businesses and stole whatever they could from hard-working people who were gearing up to reopen,” Aurora police Chief Kristen Ziman wrote on Facebook early Monday morning. “They set our squad cars on fire, set buildings on fire, and threw bricks at our cops. Our squads have bullet holes.”
Shots were fired at officers at least twice during the clashes, the department said, but no one was apparently wounded by the gunfire. However, one Aurora police officer suffered minor injures after being hit by something thrown from the crowd.
Illinois State Police officers were brought in to assist, as were canine units. The Illinois National Guard also provided aerial support, according to Mayor Richard Irvin.
At least 17 people were arrested, the department said Monday.
Authorities began firing tear gas into the crowd before the city’s 8:30 p.m. curfew and continued doing so until the crowds dispersed around 11 p.m. Tribune reporters witnessed at least nine instances in which tear gas was deployed and at least three involving rubber bullets.
Aurora resident Austyn Aguilar said he was tear-gassed after he approached officers standing outside an armored truck and tried to block their way.
“I screamed, ‘Don’t shoot.’ I said, ‘I feel your pain. Whether or not I hate you right now, I feel you,'” Aguilar said. “I don’t have to go through a lot of the pain my friends do, so it’s the least I could do.”
The mayor issued a state of emergency, and all entrance ramps to the city from Interstate 88 were closed. Police also proactively blocked off all entrances to the Chicago Premium Outlet mall and Fox Valley Mall.
Ayala Edwards, a local salon owner who rushed downtown to protect her business after seeing looters shatter the front window on Facebook Live, shook her head sadly as she watched the unrest unfold.
“I understand why the protests are happening,” said Edwards, who is one of several black business owners in Aurora’s downtown. “But I don’t understand the violence and the vandalism. It confuses the entire message.”
Edwards also expressed her frustration with Aurora police, who watched as local stores were ransacked and did not attempt to stop it. Her concerns echoed similar complaints by store owners in Chicago, where police were advised to weigh their personal safety before engaging.
“They literally watched the jewelry store be looted,” she said. “They stood there and did nothing. This why people don’t trust the government.”
Aurora’s tumult came a day after looters ransacked parts of Chicago’s downtown, prompting Mayor Lori Lightfoot to request the Illinois National Guard’s help. As Lightfoot barricaded the Loop and Magnificent Mile, chaos spread into city neighborhoods and suburban communities, including North Riverside, where one person was shot.
In Aurora, the day began with Ziman inviting protesters to the Police Department to discuss Floyd’s death. Floyd, a black man, died May 25 after Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, was captured on video pushing his knee into Floyd’s neck despite Floyd’s protestations that he was unable to breathe.
Ziman, one of three finalists for the recently filled Chicago police superintendent job, has repeatedly spoken out against the officers involved in the case, saying that “resisting suffocation is not resisting arrest.” At the Sunday afternoon protest, she joined the crowd in their chants of “justice now.”
“Any officer who thinks that (what happened to George Floyd) is OK needs to turn in their badge,” she told protesters. “And I stand by that.”
As Ziman answered questions about everything from body cameras to her department’s hiring practices, a clear divide emerged among those gathered. Some wanted to engage with the officers and continue a nonviolent protest, while others demanded more aggressive tactics.
The two sides began shouting at each other until the more hostile group moved toward the downtown and people began plundering businesses.
“I started my day assembling with good people who wanted to be heard. The majority who came to our police department to say they’ve had enough were hurting — and they were kind and good,” Ziman wrote on Facebook. “And they marched in our streets peacefully to City Hall. A group walked to the Outlet Mall but it was fortified with police. So they went to our downtown and tried to burn it down.”
Using cinder blocks from a nearby construction site, people shattered storefront windows and climbed inside the businesses as police in riot gear watched. After breaking into one jewelry store, masked looters emerged carrying trays of necklaces and watch boxes. Some hopped into waiting vehicles parked at the curb, while others simply walked down the street with their stolen goods.
One young man could be heard complaining that only a crystal vase remained by the time he went inside the store. He then threw the vase at officers, eliciting both admonishments and laughter from the crowd.
Looters also raided a local smoke shop, stealing cartons of cigarettes, loose tobacco and vaping products. Several teens walked brazenly down the street afterward, carrying paper bags filled with their stolen goods.
They stopped at one point to inventory their bounty and tossed two cartons of off-brand cigarettes in the doorway of Sumdong martial arts studio, where the front window had been shattered hours earlier.
Sumdong owner Rosie Alvarez simply stared at their audacity.
Her business, which had been struggling financially because of the pandemic, was set to begin one-on-one training this week as allowed by the state. She was not at the studio when the window was shattered, but a customer called and told her he had been trying to keep the looters at bay.
“I understand what they are going through, but they are hurting local businesses already hurt by the pandemic,” Alvarez said.
With her business closed for the past two months because of the state’s stay-at-home order, Alvarez predicted it would be at least two more months before she could repair the damage done Sunday.
“This is devastating,” she said.
In its early morning update, the Police Department said there were no additional reports of looting in Aurora as of 2:30 a.m. Authorities were bracing for further unrest Monday night, with the city remaining under an 8:30 p.m. curfew and the Illinois National Guard on standby to help.
“Did your actions today help unite mankind and move closer to the peace we are all fighting to achieve?” Ziman wrote at the end of her Facebook post along with a picture of her hugging a protester. “Just wondering.”
