Oak Lawn community stands up to racist police

Chicago, IL – On Wednesday, November 5, the Arab American Action Network (AAAN) and allied organizations stacked the public comments of the monthly Oak Lawn Police and Fire Commission meeting. They spoke up to demand an independent investigation by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul into the racist practices by the Oak Lawn Police Department.

Commenters explained the cases of racism by Oak Lawn Police Department (OLPD) which sparked over three years of ongoing monthly protests. The explanations were partially for the new commissioner, Mayra Olvera.

“Accountability will not come from the OLPD’s own investigation. Accountability will only begin when the OLPD is cleaned up, and that starts with the truth about why Cusack was allowed to go home after killing Murod and with jailing racist cops like Patrick O’Donnell,” Nadiah Alyafai from AAAN said. It has been two years since Leanne Cusack hit Murod Kurdi with her car. Cusack, who is white, was let go by the Oak Lawn Police despite her and them both admitting she was drunk. Cusack was only ordered to do community service and pay a fine.

“This murder [of Murod Kurdi] happened nearly a year after Hadi Abuatelah was brutally beaten by a group of officers who are also to this day not held accountable,” Yusuf Masood from the Anti-War Committee Chicago (AWC) said.

AAAN has appeared at every commission meeting since Abuatelah was assaulted in July 2022. Since then, organizers have demanded an independent investigation and the prosecution of the officers who beat Abuatelah, including Patrick O’Donnell and Mark Hollingsworth.

O’Donnell was charged by States Attorney Kim Foxx, but had his charges dropped by the current States Attorney Eileen Burke. Hollingsworth was one of the officers who lied to Fadia Muhammad, Murod Kurdi’s mother, about the facts of her son’s murder.

“We don’t need to imagine what would have happened if Leanne Cusack hadn’t been white because we already saw what happened to Hadi,” said Kobi Guillory with the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR). “We’re gonna keep coming here until we get justice for Murod, Hadi, and the whole community.”

Despite the heavy police presence in the meeting room, as the public comment session ended attendees started defiantly shouting “Justice for Murod Kurdi” before they left the building.

For more updates on the campaign for justice for Murod and Hadi, follow @aaanmarkaz on Instagram. The next action will be, as always, the first Wednesday of the month during the Oak Lawn Board of Police and Fire Commissioners monthly meeting. On Wednesday December 3, we encourage anyone who can to be there.

#ChicagoIL #IL #InJusticeSystem #AAAN