Actor John Cusack posted a harrowing video from the Chicago protests on May 30, claiming he was “attacked” by police officers. The 53-year-old alleged he was simply filming the riots, incited by nationwide outcry from the Black Lives Matter movement, when cops appeared to repeatedly hit his bike with a baton. In the blurry video, which he posted to Twitter, a man could be heard aggressively yelling: “Get the f**k out of here! Go on move! Get that bike out of here!”
Cops didn’t like me filming the burning car so they came at me with batons. Hitting my bike.
Ahhm here’s the audio pic.twitter.com/tfaOoVCw5v”— John Cusack (@johncusack) May 31, 2020
It comes amid protests in cities across the U.S., and outcry from celebrities, following the tragic death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, at the hands of Minneapolis police. In John’s video, there is no footage of his bike being hit, however there is a loud metal clanging sound as the actor says, “alright, alright”. He captioned the clip, “Cops didn’t like me filming the burning car so they came at me with batons. Hitting my bike.”
The Sixteen Candles star claimed the incident occurred on Saturday night in response to riots continuing despite a city-wide 9pm to 6am curfew. John admitted that he broke curfew, tweeting, “Guilty as charged – when you can’t witness what happens in your own city – then the way you see the world becomes strictly illegal.” He added that he wasn’t out to take part in the protests, but “just there to witness what was happening”.
Chicsgo is just as bad @RobertDeNiroUS: "It's not a scene from the movie 'Joker'… it's New York just a few minutes ago. #GeorgeFloydProtests https://t.co/W2m1uWayxJ”
— John Cusack (@johncusack) May 31, 2020
In describing the scene on the streets of Chicago, he said things were getting “heated”, adding: “It’s nasty as f*** out there – everyone is on edge, things burning – open looting.” He wasn’t the only celeb out in support of protesters around the country. Real Housewives of Atlanta star Porsha Williams, 38, stepped out on May 29 with thousands of Black Lives Matter protestors in Atlanta. While talking to a news crew at the scene of the peaceful protest, Porsha said she was “not going to take it anymore”.
“With everything that’s going on, today I’m just like anybody else,” she said. “I am here to be a voice for the voiceless. What’s going on in black America is not ok. We are not ok. We just want to live.” The reality TV icon, who dressed in a black ensemble with a black baseball cap and white protective face gear, also added, “I’m out here today to make sure everybody knows that black lives matter, we want justice for George Floyd’s family. In know one cop has been arrested, we would like the other cops to be charged with murder. And we are going to protest until it is done.”