Oak Lawn, IL – On February 4, organizers from the Arab-American Action Network (AAAN) and members of the community gathered in Oak Lawn village in the Chicago suburbs. AAAN organizers handed out brightly colored whistles to everyone standing outside of the Village Hall building ahead of the monthly Oak Lawn Police and Fire Commission meeting.

Rania Salem of AAAN explained the choice, “Whistles have become a tool in our fight against ICE, and so we’re bringing them here to say ‘The bad guys are here and we’re going to get them out of our neighborhoods!’”

“We’ve been coming here nearly every month for about three years now, demanding justice for Murod Kurdi,” said Muhammad Sankari, a lead organizer within AAAN. Murod Kurdi was a young Palestinian American man who was killed in 2023 by Leanne Cusack, a white woman who struck him with her car outside of his home.

Cusack told police on the scene that she had been drinking, saying she’d just had a beer and a shot of alcohol. Astoundingly, the white officers chose not to administer a breathalyzer test and instead let her off with a minor traffic ticket, which she later contested in court.

AAAN, backed by the broader Palestinian and Arab community, demand that Cusack be held accountable, as well as the officers who let her walk free, and that state Attorney General Kwame Raoul open an investigation into the racism of the Oak Lawn Police Department.

The fight for justice for Kurdi is connected with the fight for justice for Hadi Abuatelah, who was beaten nearly to death by three Oak Lawn police officers in 2022, when he was just 17 years old, simply for running from a traffic stop.

The movement recently achieved a partial victory in the form of a near million dollar settlement for the Abuatelah family, but the Village of Oak Lawn and Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen Burke have still failed to meet AAAN’s demand that all three officers be fired and charged for their crimes.

The Oak Lawn Police and Fire Commission has refused to hold any officer accountable in the Kurdi and Abuatelah cases and has been stonewalling the community and limiting attendance at their public meetings.

During the most recent meeting, organizers and community members stood outside in the freezing cold for nearly an hour because the front door was locked and guarded by a dozen Oak Lawn police officers who watched the crowd from inside.

OLPD placed a speaker outside by the front entrance which they sometimes use to project the commission’s meetings after the community is removed from the building – a loophole to an Oak Lawn village law that requires Police and Fire Commission meetings to be open to the public.

One commissioner, Al Moyzis, heckled the protesters while waiting to be let into the building. “You have a big mouth”, he said to Salem of AAAN. “Well maybe you should be more vocal and do the right thing,” she shot back.

After a long wait, the doors were unlocked and community members filed into the building. Once it became clear that the commission had no intention of discussing Kurdi, the community did what they’ve done at every commission meeting for the last three years: they shut it down.

AAAN organizer Husam Marajda blew his whistle, stood up and shouted over the commission, “You have been sitting on your behinds for three years doing nothing. We will continue to demand justice for Murod Kurdi until you do something about it!” He blew on the whistle and chanted “Justice for Murod Kurdi!” as officers pushed him out of the room.

Salem stood up and continued the chanting and whistling. This time the crowd joined in, creating a deafening sound that continued as officers struggled to clear the room.

Even from the hallway, the whistles and chants of protesters were loud enough to disrupt the meeting. “Justice for Murod Kurdi!” and “Lazy racist crooked cops, get your ass a real job!” echoed through the building as the meeting room and hallways were slowly cleared. Even after everyone was pushed outside, protesters held the front door open and continued to chant into the building.

Salem closed out the evening with an invitation to keep the fight growing.

“See you next month,” Salam said. “bring your friends and family. We’re gonna keep coming back month after month until these guys are out of a job!”

#OakLawnIL #IL #ImmigrantRights #OppressedNationalities #AAAN #MurodKurdi #InjusticeSystem