John Cusack Shares Video of Police Who “Came at Me With Batons” While Protesting in Chicago – Hollywood Reporter

CULTURE

6:12 AM PDT 5/31/2020

by


Ryan Parker

“It’s nasty as f— out there, everyone is on edge, things burning- open looting – Magnificent Mile- and all over,” the actor said.

John Cusack was one of the many protesters across the nation who encountered forceful police pushback Saturday night when situations got out of control in several major cities. 

The actor took multiple pictures and video which he shared on social media while out protesting in Chicago over the death of George Floyd.

“It’s nasty as fuck out there, everyone is on edge, things burning- open looting – Magnificent Mile- and all over,” the actor and Illinois native said via Twitter. 

At one point, while on his bike, Cusack said police officers came at him with batons. In the video, someone assumed to be an officer, can be heard yelling “Get the fuck out of here!” along with what sounds like a baton striking Cusack’s bike multiple times. 

Cops didn’t like me filming the burning car so they came at me with batons. Hitting my bike.
Ahhm here’s the audio pic.twitter.com/tfaOoVCw5v”

— John Cusack (@johncusack) May 31, 2020

In a follow-up tweet with video, he wrote, “These were some of the peace officers – who gently tuned up my bike with their batons.” 

Cusack also said police were using pepper spray on the crowd, which included press members. 

In his closing posts, the actor said what he was witnessing was pure chaos. 

“Would be very surprised if this is a one or two day event / this may well be the beginning of end of [President Donald] Trump loathsome era – thank god – feels like many streams of outrage coming to a head- a wave peaking -Chicago scene was about getting to Trump Tower most of day,” he tweeted. “Packing it in – I hope people try to stay safe  – it’s truly terrible out there – but that’s what I saw today.”