Occupy Chicago

CDT, October 16, 2011.Crowds assembled outside the Central District police station in the South Loop this morning where some Occupy Chicago protesters were taken after being arrested in Grant Park earlier in the morning.

Friends clapped and cheered as protesters emerged from the building after spending the night in custody. Andrew Smith, 27 from Elburn reveled in the accomplishment.

"It was a culmination of us pushing against the system and the system pushing back," he said. "We took a stand and tonight and we’re going to take a stand tomorrow."

Starting at about 1 a.m. Chicago police in Grant Park arrested about 175 protesters who refused to leave after warnings that the park closed at 11 p.m. This morning the arrestees trickled out of the police station at 1718 S. State St. after being charged with misdemeanor municipal ordinance violations.

One of them, Cathy Russell, said she took pride in getting arrested for standing up for her civil rights and making sure her voice was heard.

"My soul has been touched in ways that I can't even express," said the 33-year-oldAvondale resident, who prefers to go by the name Sugar. "I believe it's my civic duty. I am expecting to be arrested every time I protest."

Many protesters said police treated them kindly and with good humor, despite a widely circulated report on Twitter by local hip-hop star Lupe Fiasco to the contrary.

Patrick Robinson, 24, a student at the University of Illinois at Chicago who lives in Pilsen, said he and about a dozen other people crowded into a tent when they saw police disassembling other tents in the area.

Despite warnings from police that the tent would be destroyed if they refused to leave, the protesters huddled inside, prompting officers to cut the tent open and take them into custody, Robinson said.