Migrant tent protest leader condemns attack against alderperson in Brighton Park as demonstrations go on

As a protest against a proposed migrant tent camp in Brighton Park entered its second day, its leader condemned the attack on the local alderperson the day before, claiming that someone agitated the protesters who swarmed the official.

A man grabbed the microphone after Ald. Julia Ramirez (12th) arrived Thursday, and he was “riling people up,” organizer Jacquelyn Zuniga told the Sun-Times on Friday.

“I said, ‘Hey, what are you doing?’” Zuniga said. The man said he was trying to stand up for the community, she said.

Zuniga wasn’t able to calm the crowd due to a language barrier with many of the Chinese-speaking residents, she said.

The crowd then swarmed Ramirez, prompting police officers to whisk her and the aide into a squad car and drive off. Police said Ramirez and the aide had been battered. No arrests were made.

Jacquelyn Zuniga, who opposes a proposed winter camp for migrants at 38th Street and California Avenue, speaks to a reporter Friday.

Ramirez declined medical attention, and the aide was taken to a hospital in good condition, police said. The first-term alderperson later called the incident “a disappointing experience.” She said she attended the protest to hear her constituents’ concerns.

Zuniga condemned the violence that happened Thursday but said neighborhood residents have the right to assemble peacefully.

The drama in Brighton Park is the latest development in Mayor Brandon Johnson’s efforts to address the arrival of thousands of South American migrants in Chicago.

As cold weather approaches, Johnson’s administration is considering building a winter tent camp at 38th Street and California Avenue. But the city has not finalized the site yet because of “land issues” and environmental remediation, mayoral adviser Jason Lee told the Sun-Times on Thursday.

Protesters who oppose a proposed winter camp for migrants said they were collecting money for legal fees at 38th Street and California Avenue Friday.

Despite that assurance, several protesters on Friday said they believe the city is trying to rush construction to ready the site before Tuesday’s community meeting at Kelly High School, making it a done deal before the community can have a say.

That “misinformation” has been circulating in the community for a week in an anonymous letter left at front doors, fueling fears that led to the attack, Ramirez’s chief of staff Bill Drew Jr. said Friday.

The letter falsely claimed the tent site was finalized in a “backroom deal” between Johnson and Ramirez, Drew said.

“That flyer was circulated to stoke fear and sow division in our community,” Drew said. “We’re above that, and that’s why we’re having a community meeting about it.”

Protesters who oppose a proposed winter camp for migrants said they were collecting money for legal fees to block construction of the camp at 38th Street and California Avenue Friday.

The site in Brighton Park could be just one of several locations for the base camps, Johnson’s administration has said.

A quarter of alderpeople have submitted potential locations, Johnson aide Cristina Pacione-Zayas said last week. But only two of them have been shared publicly. Besides the Brighton Park site, the city was also eyeing a potential site at 115th and Halsted streets in Morgan Park.

Zuniga and protesters were collecting money Friday to retain a lawyer to try to stop the construction. They were inspired by South Shore residents who filed a lawsuit to stop the city from using a high school to shelter migrants, Zuniga and others said.

Protesters on Friday told a reporter they believe the alderperson has the power to shut down the camp, but Ramirez’s office says she doesn’t have that power.

In Ramirez’s statement after the attack, she asked that the mayor’s office allow “more local involvement in the decision-making process,” and to reconsider the site in Brighton Park.