Nothing says "welcome to Chicago" quite like three guys in a tow truck rolling up on a news crew and turning a routine live shot into an episode of absolute chaos. As Trending Politics reported, three suspects were taken into custody after allegedly attacking a CBS News Chicago reporter and photographer near the Adler Planetarium on Monday afternoon. The journalists were not physically injured, which is genuinely great news considering how sideways this whole thing went.
According to CBS, the crew was setting up for the station's afternoon newscast around 4:30 p.m. on East Solidarity Drive when three men pulled up in a white tow truck and immediately started causing problems. One suspect allegedly shouted racial slurs at the photographer, who is an African American male, and then ordered a dog to attack. The dog apparently read the room better than the humans and did not engage, but the confrontation kept escalating anyway.
Witnesses described the whole thing as sudden and unprovoked. "It started racial with the cameraman because he's an African American male," one witness told CBS. A second witness explained the dog appeared to be a scare tactic. "I think he was trying to, again, intimidate him, make him scared by having the dog approach first," the witness said. When a crew member tried to defend himself from the dog, the other two suspects piled out of the truck and joined in.
"They were saying, 'Leave the dog alone,' and I just feel like maybe the scene got more chaotic than they were expecting, and I feel like the only thing they thought to do was to just cause as much damage as they could and leave," the witness added. One suspect allegedly smashed the photographer's camera while another used a traffic cone to shatter the windshield of the CBS news van. A traffic cone. Points for improvisation, I guess.
The suspects fled in their tow truck but did not exactly lay low afterward. Chicago police said the same vehicle was later reported in Brighton Park after occupants allegedly pointed a firearm at people. When officers tried to stop the truck, the driver took off, leading to a pursuit that ended when the suspects crashed into a police vehicle. All three then tried to run on foot before being caught. Police also recovered a firearm from inside the truck, though authorities said the weapon was not displayed during the attack on the CBS crew.
"We are shocked and horrified by this crime and we are grateful that our journalists are safe," a CBS spokesperson said.
As of Tuesday morning, no formal charges had been announced and detectives were still investigating. The suspects have not been publicly identified. The attack happened in broad daylight at one of Chicago's most recognizable tourist spots, which really drives home how brazen the whole thing was.
This is unfortunately not a new phenomenon. Multiple television news crews in Chicago have been assaulted or robbed while working in public locations in recent years. At this point, "setting up for a live shot" in certain parts of the city apparently qualifies as an extreme sport. The investigation remains active as police review surveillance footage and determine what charges to file.
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