arrests in chicago

[Jeffrey Fisher]

the local abc affiliate just reported about a patriotic march of "300 to
350" flag-waving americans on the local mosque in a  far-south-side
neighborhood. there's now a large police presence in an attempt to deter any
actual violence, although the officer they spoke with said there had been
"small pockets" of "altercations" and there had been arrests. he didn't say
precisely how many people were actually arrested, although it sounded like
possibly half a dozen.

this followed a (live on the scene) report about another pro-american
demonstration somewhere in town (missed exactly where) with people waving
american flags and chanting "USA! USA!" it seems though that the incidents i
mentioned above might actualyl have happened before the first
"demonstration" i saw a report on.

there was a separate report about concern for safety among muslims and
arab-americans, which included a shot of damage done by a molotov cocktail
to the arab american education center.

i don't want to make more of this than it is, but we have to say this kind
of thing was predictable. presumably there will be stuff in the trib and
suntimes, tomorrow, and we'll have a better sense of what was actually
happening.

j