Martial Law in Chicago ? And by the way , once NATO leaves , the security changes don't just go away ....

http://www.suntimes.com/9793714-417/rahm-emanuel-on-duration-of-nato-g8-rules-i-made-a-mistake-real-simple-ok.html

Mayor Rahm Emanuel made an admission on Tuesday: He “made a mistake” when he claimed that extraordinary security measures he proposed to handle protesters who descend on Chicago for the NATO and G-8 summits would be temporary and repealed after the events are over.

The mayor’s about-face apparently means the only thing temporary about the changes will be the power to purchase “goods, work or services” needed to host the May 15-22 event at McCormick Place without City Council approval.

But the other changes will be permanent. They include: dramatically higher fines for resisting arrest; more surveillance cameras; parks and beaches closed until 6 a.m.; sweeping parade restrictions and higher fees for those events and empowering Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy to “deputize law enforcement personnel” and forge cooperative agreements with a host of state, federal and local law enforcement agencies.

That’s not what the mayor said last month when he introduced the changes at a City Council meeting. At that time, he emphatically stated that the changes he sought were “temporary,” “one-time only” and “just for this conference.”

“I made a mistake. Real simple, OK? I thought when I answered the question, I was answering the question about contracting, OK? So, if I made a mistake, I bear the responsibililty,” the mayor said.

As he did last month, Emanuel flatly denied that the sky-high fines and 6 a.m. park and beach opening signaled an attempt to muzzle what’s expected to be an international onslaught of protesters.

In Seattle, about 35,000 people protested a World Trade Organization meeting in 1999 and caused more than $2 million in damage to businesses. There were violent clashes between protesters and police in Pittsburgh during a G-20 summit in 2009.

“First Amendment rights will be protected. Public safety will be also protected, and I don’t see the two in conflict at all,” the mayor said.

That’s not what the protesters were saying before applying for a permit to stage a massive May 19 march from Daley Center plaza to McCormick Place.

They demanded that Emanuel roll back the changes or risk waking up the ghosts of the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

“I’m a veteran of 1968. I was one of the organizers when the whole world was watching, and I see some unfortunate parallels here,” said political consultant Don Rose.

“The more pugnacious the city behaves, the more pugnacious they can expect as a response. This can be done peacefully. But mass repression appears to be on the threshold, and the city should be well beyond that by now.”

Andy Thayer, a spokesman for the Coalition Against the NATO G-8 War and Poverty Agenda, branded Emanuel “Mayor One Percent” and argued that the mayor “lied” when he said the changes would be temporary — not permanent.

Thayer offered as Exhibit “A” a proposed parade ordinance tailor-made to stifle all manner of public expression.

“Every single protest in the downtown area would be considered a ‘major parade’ with a whole series of ridiculous stipulations,” he said. “Every single piece of sound equipment would need to be registered with the city a week in advance. You can’t predict who’s gonna show up with a bullhorn. They are also insisting on a full lineup of [participants] a week in advance.

“This does not just affect G-8 and NATO protesters. Everyone who’s got a beef with the city or a private employer in this town is gonna be affected by this ordinance. They need to take this very seriously and say, ‘We do not want to go back to these ridiculous restrictions and thuggish behavior in response to protests.’ ”

Thayer said he expects the city to deny the permit, setting the stage for a court fight.

and....

http://offgridsurvival.com/evacuationandblockadedowntownchicago/

Detention Centers, Militarized Red Zones and Mass Evacuations planned for Downtown Chicago During NATO.
The plan to evacuate Chicago seems to be picking up stream.

The Illinois Department of Transportation is testing an emergency plan to shut off access into and out of downtown Chicago. The plan uses a network of highway security gates that are designed to shut down all traffic coming in and out of Chicago in the event of a terrorist attack.

The Illinois DOT is warning truckers that it’s best to avoid the city during the NATO Summit in Chicago May 20-21.  There will be a number of driving restrictions and rolling street closures, and the Illinois DOT is testing highway barricades that will block access to all major highways in and out of Chicago.

These barricades, which started being installed on Chicago highways back in 2005, are deigned to restrict or cut off access to roads during an emergency like a bioterrorism attack.

A Federal Highway Administration Office of Operations publication has this to say about the gates:

Gates in Chicago, Illinois – During an evacuation, the need for traffic management can become critical to help direct people and cars fleeing from the evacuated area and to ensure additional people and cars do not enter the evacuated area. The Illinois Department of Transportation is “testing an emergency plan to shut off access to downtown Chicago from local expressways during a terrorist attack or other catastrophe in the Loop, officials said Tuesday (May 17, 2005). The measure is aimed at speeding up the evacuation of the downtown during a disaster by more effectively controlling traffic and panicky drivers. It involves installing up to 80 gates to block access to inbound expressway ramps along five interstate highways that lead into the city, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). The remotely operated gates, a heavy-duty version of the barriers already in place on the Kennedy Expressway’s reversible express lanes, would swing closed to prevent vehicles from entering highways to travel to or through the central business district,” as reported in the Chicago Tribune article “Gates Would Cut Access to Loop in Terror Attack.”

In addition, according to the article, “the automatic gates would free up officers for other duties in an emergency. The Chicago region’s evacuation plan counts on posting police at highway ramps to stop non-emergency vehicles from entering. ‘With the gates, you wouldn’t need a police cruiser blocking or guarding every ramp,’ said IDOT spokesman Mike Claffey. If the experiment is successful, the barrier system would be expanded to include up to 80 inbound ramps on the Kennedy, Dan Ryan, Eisenhower, Stevenson and Edens Expressways, Claffey said.”

The Illinois DOT’s testing of these highway entrance ramp gates has many worried about the chaos that NATO may bring to Downtown Chicago. There is already talk about widespread city wide evacuations, rioting, terrorist attacks and even large scale detention centers and arrests.

Detention Centers

It’s been reported by the local media, that Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart is devising a strategy to deal with large-scale mass arrests during the NATO Summit meeting. In fact, the Chicago Sun Times is reporting that the once abandoned Joliet State Prison may be reopened as a mass detention center for NATO.

Joliet prison is about 40 miles from Chicago and can hold about 1,300 prisoners. The Sheriff is also reportedly looking at building tents in the yard at Cook County Jail.

Militarized Red Zone:

Starting May 1st, a full three weeks before the NATO Summit, the Federal Government will be setting up a Militarized Red Zone in the streets of Downtown Chicago.

In a Chicago Sun Time Article:

The head of Chicago’s NATO Host Committee said Thursday 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.

The news of federal agents on the streets of Chicago isn’t sitting well with many. From last months urban warfare drills, to residents being warned of possible citywide evacuations, the city of Chicago is starting to look like a city that may already be under martial law.