Oak Lawn, IL – 50 people rallied outside the Oak Lawn Village Hall on Wednesday evening, July 2, before the monthly meeting of the Oak Lawn Police and Fire Commission. The Arab community and allies have shown up at every meeting for three years to challenge the racism of the Oak Lawn Police Department (OLPD).

“In July 2022 we showed up after Hadi Abuateleh, a 17-year-old Palestinian American boy was beaten almost to death by three Oak Lawn cops, Patrick O'Donnell, Brandon Collins and Mark Hollingsworth,” explained Nadiah Alyafai, a youth organizer with the Arab American Action Network (AAAN).

“Today we are also here to stand up and call for justice for our brother Murod Kurdi, who was tragically killed in 2023,” Alyafai added, and recounted how the same police department that beat Hadi Abuatelah for allegedly driving under the influence let Leanne Cusack, a white woman, get away with a ticket after killing Murod Kurdi while driving drunk.

One of the officers involved in the assault of Abuatelah, Mark Hollingsworth, was also implicated in letting Murod’s killer go.

These two cases show a clear pattern of racist policing, and the Oak Lawn Police and Fire Commission’s refusal to fire the officers shows how deeply embedded the racist discrimination is.

The crowd entered the Village Hall and shut the meeting down soon after it started with chants of “Justice for Murod Kurdi!” and “No justice, no peace! No racist police!”

The protesters were removed from the building by police and continued chanting outside. They ended with a message of love for Murod's mother, Fadia Muhammad, whose family has consistently kept up the fight for justice, and resolved to be back at the next meeting on August 6 at 5 p.m.

Rania Salem with the US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) concluded the protest by saying “we will keep coming here month after month until the attorney general conducts an independent investigation into the OLPD and all the cops who assaulted Hadi are fired and charged!”

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