The NATO Summit in Chicago is becoming a testing ground for federal and local agencies to collaborate on crowd control through use of military on the streets and evacuation of a densely populated city.
As we near June, preparations are underway to ensure that the US government has complete control over Chicago.
Last month, Black Hawk and Little Bird OH-5 helicopters were spotted flying over the Chicago River. The choppers originated from McCormick Place parking lot.
The Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications released a statement the morning of the incident, that the helicopters were practicing a training mission with military personnel in various undisclosed cities across the nation. The officials deny that this “routine drill” had anything to do with preparations for the NATO Summit.
Between 500 and 600 National Guard Troops will be deployed to Chicago for the NATO Summit.
The troops will be transporting NATO delegates to various locations and accompanying staff members within the downtown area.
In preparation, the troops will practice responding to domestic unrest in an undisclosed location within Cook County.
Rahm Emanuel, the mayor of Chicago, has stated that the Chicago police are fully capable of handling issues that may arise from civil unrest due to the summit.
The Chicago police recently invested $1 million in long-range acoustic device (LRAD) sound cannon in preparation for the NATO Summit. They claim that the equipment will assist them in making sure a large crowd would hear their “public safety messages”.
The LRAD is a military grade crowd control device able to rattle the ear drums of people within miles of its originating sound waves.
“This is simply a risk management tool, as the public will receive clear information regarding public safety messages and any orders provided by police,” Chicago Police spokeswoman Melissa Stratton.
At the G-20 Summit in 2009, an LRAD was used to fire “non-lethal” sound waves fired into a crowd of protesters. Those within its effects complained of severe headaches and intolerable pain. There were also reports of irreversible hearing damage caused by the LRAD.
The Red Cross in Milwaukee sent out emails to volunteers of the charity that said the NATO Summit “may create unrest or another national security incident. The American Red Cross in southeastern Wisconsin has been asked to place a number of shelters on standby in the event of evacuation of Chicago.”
The email notice originated with the Secret Service.
The city of Chicago will be shut down by effecting access to and from the internal areas of the downtown area.
Cook County Sherriff Tom Dart is converting Joliet State Prison into a house the thousands that are expected to be arrested. Tent cities will also be used in the event that they over-run the prison which can house 1,300 people.
For anyone paying attention, we are witnessing the step by step process of locking down a major US city. Incrementally, and without objection, the military and federal agencies in conjunction with local law enforcement are teaming up to not only control every inch of the Chicago downtown areas.
The head of Chicago’s NATO Host Committee said she was blindsided by the federal government’s decision to create a militarized “Red Zone” in the Loop to protect federal buildings in the run-up to the May 20-21 summit at McCormick Place.
There are reports of armed military and Federal security that will assist in preparing the residents of Chicago for a “national security event” such as the NATO Summit.
This manufactured crisis is more about creating a controlled environment by the US government over its citizens than it is about securing the safety of the world leaders of the conference.
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