Calls for justice grow for Palestinian-American teen beaten by police near Chicago

On Wednesday afternoon, around a hundred people gathered at the Oak Lawn Police Department to demand justice for Hadi Abuatelah, a 17-year-old Palestinian who was beaten at a traffic stop by three white police officers. 

The demonstrators, a multiracial coalition of different community activists, started their chants and speeches outside the police department, then entered for the commission meeting, where several were able to make comments on the case (before the sign-ups were closed to the public).  

They are demanding that the three police officers who beat Abuatelah be fired and charged with criminal assault and that the department's police chief be held accountable.  

"If we wait On the Oak Lawn Police Department to do it, nothing would happen," Frank Chapman, executive director of the National Alliance Against Racism & Political Repression, told The New Arab, after taking part in Wednesday's demonstration. "We're demanding that the state attorney general take action. If need be, we'll go all the way to the Department of Justice."

"In the US we have an upsurge in racism. White supremacists are running rampant and committing all sorts of acts of violence against people of colour. It's very important for us to come together," he added.

Abuatelah was arrested at a traffic stop in late July while riding as a passenger in the village of Oak Lawn. Police dashcam footage appears to confirm witness accounts and video footage showing the officers beating the minor after he'd been subdued and was no longer moving.   

One of the officers claimed he smelled marijuana in the car. Abuatelah began to flee. He was then pushed to the ground and handcuffed. Officers later claimed they feared he was reaching for a gun. 

According to a lawsuit filed earlier this month by the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and Abdallah Law, Abuatelah was shown to suffer internal bleeding in his brain, a fractured pelvis, a broken nose and multiple bruises and lacerations. Upon being released from the hospital, he was transferred to the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center for a hearing, where he was held overnight and then released following demonstrations. 

This case has brought together a diverse coalition of activists, many of whom come from the Black community and who can relate to cases of police brutality. It has also helped bring to light other stories of alleged police misconduct toward Arabs and Muslims, which until now have largely been kept private, often because of fears of law enforcement.  

"Our community is hyper-policed and surveilled," Muhammad Sankari, lead organiser with the Chicago area-based Arab American Action Network, told TNA. 

"We've seen so many cases of community members railroaded on fake terrorism charges. They're told to sit down, shut up and don’t make noise," Sankari said.