CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - AUGUST 15: Police stand guard as pro and anti-police demonstrators gather outside of the Homan Square police station on August 15, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. The demonstration was one of several in the city today, either in support of or in opposition to police. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Source:   Emily Zanotti

Chicago police were ready for a massive protest in the city’s downtown that quickly went out of control Saturday night, arresting at least two dozen demonstrators who, Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot said, came prepared for a fight.

Chicago police officers were following a large protest, hosted by several “anti-racism” and “anti-police brutality groups” — though not Chicago’s chapter of Black Lives Matter — that began on the city’s lakefront and then threatened to move north toward the city’s “Magnificent Mile” shopping district, which is still reeling from looting and rioting early last week.

After one officer was hit with a skateboard and another punched, the demonstration erupted into a clash between Chicago police and protesters which ended with protesters being “kettled” and allowed out of the city’s downtown “Loop” business district only one at a time.

Sunday morning, CPD released footage of the altercation that set off the clash.

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