Clash: Demonstrators try to flee the police as they are moving in on them during protests against the NATO Summit in Chicago
The poisonous fruit of a subversive destructive president hellbent on division and civil unrest.
Thousands of protesters clash with police in Chicago: Chaos in the Windy City as 45 activists arrested and one cop stabbed after demonstrators target NATO Daily Mail
- Demonstrators take on police close to the location where President Obama is meeting with other world leaders
- Several officers injured, including one who was stabbed
- Hackers take over Chicago police and NATO websites as protesters take to the streets
- A total of about 42 arrests made in Chicago, with five people facing terrorism-related charges
- Restaurant diners attacked by assailants 'wielding batons and hammers' at restaurant in nearby Tinley Park
- Reverend Jesse Jackson appeals to protesters for 'non-violence'
PUBLISHED: 16:47 EST, 20 May 2012 | UPDATED: 05:33 EST, 21 May 2012
Thousands of demonstrators upset with the war in Afghanistan, climate change and the erosion of union rights have raised the intensity of a march in downtown Chicago on Sunday as world leaders assembled for a NATO summit.
The protest, one of the city's largest in years, turned violent at the end of an anti-NATO march, where demonstrators confronted Chicago police, pushing against a line of officers several blocks from the lakefront convention center where President Obama hosted a gathering of world leaders.
Authorities were seen making arrests one by one and leading individual demonstrators away in handcuffs.
After a clash near McCormick Place, Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said at a news conference that the protests resulted in 45 people being arrested and four officers suffering injuries - one from a stab wound in the leg.
Holding the line: Police clash with demonstrators protesting the NATO Summit in Chicago
Take down: A protester is detained by police after a march and rally against this weekend's NATO summit turned violent in Chicago
Those numbers seemed certain to rise as new clashes erupted later in the night.
The protesters tried to move east toward McCormick Place and threw objects at police.
After more than an hour, the two sides were still locked in a standoff, with police blocking the protesters' path and the crowd refusing to leave.
MyFoxChicago.com reported that most of the trouble centered around protesters dressed in black, who threw bottles, sticks and paint at police, among other objects.
Some protesters appeared to have blood streaming down their faces. Authorities were seen carrying a few people away from the scene.
Getting physical: Demonstrators try to stop a Chicago police officer from detaining an activist as anti-NATO protests turned violent on Sunday
Injuries: Some protesters were pictured with blood streaming down their faces as the demonstrations got out of hand. Some officers responded by swinging their batons. Several speakers, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson, asked protesters to peacefully disperse.
The confrontation comes at the end of a march nearly three-hour protest march that was largely peaceful. Authorities were seen making arrests one by one and leading individual demonstrators away in handcuffs.
Out in force: Baton-swinging police officers clashed with anti-war protesters at the start of the NATO summit on Sunday, beating some and dragging others away
So much for mending fences: Demonstrators prepare to throw barricades at police during anti-NATO protests Esther Westlake, a recent graduate of Northeastern Illinois University, marveled at the size of the crowd. She said she had been involved in antiwar marches before the war in Iraq in Chicago, but had never seen one this big.
Ms Westlake said: 'It's crazy. There's so many people here. Having NATO in town is kind of exciting.'
Injuries: A bloodied demonstrator yells out after clashes with police following a march blocks away from the NATO Summit
Fight: Protesters, many affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement, marched on Sunday, close to the location of the NATO summit
Pleas: Several speakers, including the Rev Jesse Jackson, centre, had asked protesters to peacefully disperse But some participants wondered whether the protest agenda was too unfocused to get the diplomats' attention.
'It seems like there's so many messages and people aren't really sure what they want to get accomplished,' Ms Westlake said. 'People just need to figure out what their argument is going to be.'
She worried that some protesters participated simply 'to do stupid things' and cause trouble.
Troublemakers? Chicago police were seen detaining protesters during the march and rally
Some participants called for the dissolution of NATO, the 63-year-old military alliance that is holding its 25th formal meeting in Chicago.
Meanwhile, the hacking group Anonymous said it had attacked the websites of the city of Chicago and police department because of a violation of human rights.
Officials said they were still investigating how the sites went down in a possible cyber attack.
The sites shut down this morning. In one Anonymous tweet, the group claimed to have taken the police site out of commission as the NATO summit began in the city on Sunday.
Mass movement: Demonstrators flow out of Grant Park in Chicago on the opening day of the Nato summit
Clashes: Police break out batons against NATO Summit protesters during a march through the streets of downtown Chicago
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