The Civilian Office of Police Accountability is conducting an investigation and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has expressed that she is “deeply concerned” after cellphone video circulated over the weekend of a Chicago officer confronting and physically struggling with a Black woman walking a dog.
“I am deeply concerned by what is depicted on the lakefront beach in that video,” Lightfoot said in a tweet on Monday. “I am aware of the incident and it is currently under investigation.”
The footage was captured Saturday morning at North Avenue Beach, and shows a woman identified as Nikkita Brown by her attorney Keenan Saulter walking her dog. Saulter said Brown was walking out of Lincoln Park when the confrontation began after the officer asked her to leave because the beach was closed.
The officer involved has not been publicly identified.
“What we do know is there was some closure of the beach, apparently, that preceded this interaction,” Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said at a news conference on Monday.
“That is the extent of what we know. We don’t have an arrest apparently by this officer and don’t fully understand because we have not interviewed this officer and COPA will be in charge of that interview. I believe COPA has reached out to the person you see on video walking the dog that had a struggle with the officer. I believe they are initiating that conversation.”
Brown said he is waiting for more information before deciding whether the officer, who has been put on desk duty, should be disciplined. He said neither Brown nor the officer had been interviewed yet.
The Chicago Police Department is working with COPA as the incident is investigated. COPA also said it is in contact with Saulter.
Brown was walking her dog at around midnight when she was approached by an officer because the beach closed at 11 p.m.
According to a statement from Brown’s attorneys, Brown told the officer she was leaving. The video shows Brown walking away from the officer as the officer follows her. The two appear to be speaking to each other although their words are not audible. Her attorneys report that Brown told the policeman she was leaving and asked him to remain distant because he was not wearing a mask, which he refused. She then pulled out her phone in an apparent attempt to record the officer on video.
The officer then apparently grabbed for the phone and the two struggled over the device as Brown screamed, before it fell to the ground. The officer held Brown’s hands behind her back and appeared to be speaking to her, until eventually the two separated and Brown walked away. The struggle lasted about two minutes and Brown’s shoes were also knocked off during the encounter as she held onto her dog’s leash the entire time.
Attorneys said the officer attacked Brown violently “for absolutely no reason,” and called the situation an “obvious case of racial profiling.” Brown has also said she saw other people walking along the beach who were white and were not told to leave.
The footage was taken by a co-worker of Brown who wanted to make sure she was safe. When Brown got home she called 911 and filed a report about what happened with the 18th District.
Saulter said Brown has been traumatized by the incident and wants the officer to be publicly identified so that a formal complaint can be filed.
