John Cusack claims Chicago police 'came at me with batons' during protests
John Cusack claims police came at him with batons and struck his bicycle during protests in Chicago on Saturday evening.
The actor shared an eight-second video to his Twitter account documenting an altercation with police in his hometown of Chicago. The shaky video captured audio footage of someone yelling "Get the f*** out of here!" along with striking sounds, which Cusack said was the noise of their batons hitting his bicycle.
“Cops didn’t like me filming the burning car so they came at me with batons. Hitting my bike,” Cusack wrote on Twitter, along with the video. “Ahhm here’s the audio.”
Cops didn’t like me filming the burning car so they came at me with batons. Hitting my bike.
Ahhm here’s the audio pic.twitter.com/tfaOoVCw5v”— John Cusack (@johncusack) May 31, 2020
Later, he posted additional video of police officers alongside what looked like a burning vehicle in the distance. “These were some of the peace officers,” said Cusack. “Who gently tuned up my bike with their batons.”
These were some of the peace officers - who gently tuned up my bike with their batons- pic.twitter.com/atMf8VaV6l
— John Cusack (@johncusack) May 31, 2020
Calling it “fear and loathing in the streets,” Cusack said he saw 15 to 20 smashed storefronts, and went on to post a series of photos showing the devastation.
“It’s nasty as f*** out there. Everyone is on edge things burning, open looting... ” he tweeted. When friend Alex Winter told him to stay safe, Cusack replied, “It’s bad in Chicago ... people are enraged — now anarchy and looting widespread — I guess America is getting great again real fast.”
Before heading home, Cusack shared a message encouraging people to stay safe.
“I hope people try to stay safe,” he said. “It’s truly terrible out there — but that’s what I saw today.”
Protests took place across America this weekend as a result of the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who was killed Monday after a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for almost nine minutes. On Friday, former police officer Derek Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, the New York Times reported.
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Cusack was not the only celebrity involved in an altercation with police. Kendrick Sampson, an actor on the HBO series Insecure, was hit by rubber bullets at a protest in Los Angeles on Saturday, Variety reported. While broadcasting live on his Instagram account to show his perspective of events, Sampson could simultaneously be spotted on a CNN broadcast getting hit by a police baton.
“They shot me four times already. I already got hurt and I got hit with a baton,” Sampson said in the Instagram Live video.
Several celebrities, ranging from Oprah Winfrey and Amy Schumer to Justin Timberlake and Beyoncé, have spoken out about the death of George Floyd.
When reached by Yahoo for comment, a spokesperson for the Chicago Police Department commented, "officially, we don't have any information related to that." Yahoo also reached out to a representative for Cusack, but did not receive a reply by the time of publication.
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