View video of the press conference here.
Scroll down a bit for relevant portions of the transcript.
In case you missed the news about Chicago Police arresting nine anti-NATO affiliated activists in a residential apartment before the summit began, check out Kevin Gosztola's blog at Firedog Lake. Here's a breakdown.
Five activists raided and arrested in an apartment in Bridgeport on the south side of Chicago continue to be held without charge. They were arrested during the night around 1 am on May 17, along with four other activists who have since been released. Those four were also held without charge.The National Lawyers Guild reports the activists were “taken to the Organized Crime Division of Chicago police department for 18 hours and then they were transported to Harrison/Kedzie (District 4).” After transportation the police released the four activists.
Below is an edited transcript of the relevant portion of the press conference on May 18, 2012. When a journalist asks about the pre-crime arrests, Superintendent Gary McCarthy says:
"I don't know anything about it. I'm gonna have to follow up on it. What was the arrest for? What are you being told?"
A reporter pushes him, saying he spoke with one of the people arrested that night.
McCarthy: "Oh you're talking about the case from the other night…I thought you were talking about something that happened today."
Reporter: "He said he was held incommunicado for about 17 hours and…"
McCarthy interrupts: "Yeah, Mike, we're not going to talk about that. We just are not going to talk about it. It's an ongoing investigation that is not completed. We are not going to talk about it."
"Listen, I said very specifically and I'm saying again, protest related activity, we've got twelve arrests so far. That's the issue. Ok, we're still making arrests in the city of Chicago. We still made gun arrests out in the neighborhoods — we've made robbery arrests at the same time. So we gotta delineate ok?"
Reporter: "I understand you don't want to talk about the five that are still being held, but… (inaudible)"
McCarthy: "No, Mike, Mike, I'm not talking about it…"
Reporter: "But this man was released…"
McCarthy: "We are not talking about that. We are not completed with an investigation [sic]."
Reporter: "Nine people were arrested under suspicion of making molotov cocktails…"
McCarthy: "Mike, Dave, we are not talking about it. We are not talking about it. We are not talking about it….We will facilitate people's rights to the first amendment speech. We are not going to allow criminal conduct. It's that simple….We'll keep you posted. Again, we're not discussing that thing. It's still under investigation. We will at some point. It's not happening now."
None of the nine arrested on May 17 have been charged, though the police appear to be leaking rumors about molotov cocktails to the press. Are they talking about the beer making kit they seized?
"We will facilitate people's rights to the first amendment speech," McCarthy said.