Demonstration Turns Physical During U Of C Protest Calling For Adult Trauma Center
(CBS) --A protest calling for a trauma center at the University of Chicago ended with one demonstrator needing medical attention and one person in police custody.
Dozens of protesters marched to Rockefeller Chapel Saturday morning during an alumni awards ceremony.
Their goal was to make sure the school's president heard their message since he was speaking at the presentation.
A photographer claims a man punched and slapped her and pushed her camera in her face. Fellow protesters stepped in to stop him.
Paramedics treated her at the scene.
The University of Chicago said any attack was "deplorable." The alumni event was moved to another location as a result of the protest, the university said.
University of Chicago police arrested one man; he was later charged with simple battery.
In response to the calls for the adult trauma center, the University of Chicago Medicine released a statement saying, "The University of Chicago Medical Center has taken a number of steps to improve access to medical care for our South Side community: decreasing wait times and sharply increasing the number of patients seen in the adult and pediatric emergency departments, accepting more transfers from community hospitals; and increasing the number of beds in our hospital. As a result, we have provided more care in our medical center to more people — and the majority of this very significant growth over the past three years has been from patients who live on the South Side. "