Protests follow unpunished car crash death of Palestinian American near Chicago

Chicago-area Arab community members and allies are protesting what they say is a lack of accountability and standard police protocol for the car crash death of a young Palestinian man, claiming a pattern of racism in the department.

Last month, Murod Kurdi, a 28-year-old Palestinian American in the village of Oak Lawn near Chicago, was fatally hit by a car. 

The driver, a white woman, reportedly refused to take a sobriety test, though police said her breath smelled of alcohol, after speeding through a residential area. She also acknowledged that she was using her phone while driving.

"The officers didn't do what they would have done in every other case. They allowed her to go home," Muhammad Sankari, lead organiser with the Chicago area-based Arab American Action Network, told The New Arab.

"We'll never know because of the Oak Lawn police. They took that away from the family ever knowing. They made a choice to do the wrong thing to take away closure from the family and subsequently dug their heels in," he said. 

Kurdi was hit in broad daylight in early June right after he'd parked his car in front of his home. Days later, he succumbed to his wounds. 

Following news of his death and the subsequent lack of standard police protocol, more than a hundred local members of the Arab community and allies took part in demonstrations at the Oak Lawn Police Department. 

Adding to the community's frustration is that the officer who deals with traffic violations who looked at the incident, Mark Hollingsworth, turned out to be one of the three officers who reportedly beat Palestinian American teen Hadi Abuatelah at a traffic stop last July, causing major injuries. This sparked months-long demonstrations. 

Now, the families of both are demonstrating together, as many in the community say they are seeing a familiar pattern.

"White cops respond to a white woman who strikes and kills a young Arab man and is given a speeding ticket and goes home," said Sankari. "For us, the optics tell the story itself."