Indiana Men Indicted In Attack On Alleged White Supremacists In Tinley Park
BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. (CBS) -- Five Indiana men have been indicted for a mob attack that targeted an alleged white supremacist group at a Tinley Park restaurant last month.
As WBBM Newsradio's Lisa Fielding reports, a Cook County grand jury indicted the men Tuesday on charges that they attacked the group of diners with metal batons and hammers at the Ashford House Restaurant, 7959 W. 159th St. in the early afternoon on May 19.
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They stand charged with mob action, aggravated battery and criminal damage to property.
Prosecutors say the men were wearing masks and hoods when they stormed into the restaurant and attacked a group of alleged white supremacists. Ten people were injured, and three were hospitalized.
The offenders fled in three vehicles. One vehicle containing the five men was caught about five minutes later at 159th Street and Harlem Avenue, about a mile from the restaurant.
Police found evidence in the vehicle, including two expandable batons, a knife, a pair of gloves and several dark-colored hooded sweatshirts, prosecutors said.
Soon afterward, the group South Side Chicago Anti-Racist Action claimed responsibility for the attack.
On its own Web site, the group said the 5th Annual White Nationalist Economic Summit and the Illinois White Nationalist Meet-and-Greet were in progress at the time of the attack.
"The attendees have attempted to cover up the true intent of the event with mainstream media reports initially reporting the white nationalist conference as a wedding party and then as an Irish heritage meeting," Anti-Racist Action posted," adding that the event was posted on the white supremacist Web forum Stormfront.
The group says it opposes "any organizing by racists and fascists in their communities," and is committed to "shutting (them) down."
South Side Anti-Racist Action went on to display the names and pictures of two people who had allegedly organized and attended the event.
One alleged attendee posted a comment on a Patch news article saying he had received a head wound that required eight staples, and complained that Illinois law did not allow him to carry a concealed weapon to stop the attack even though he had a gun in his car.
The day after the attack, the South Side Anti-Racist Chicago Web site was hacked by someone who said the attackers would be "brought to justice," and ended with the message: "Death to Communist! (sic) Freedom for whites."
Two days after the attack, Bridgeview Court Judge Terence B. Smith ordered the suspects held on bonds between $175,000 and $250,000, on the grounds that the attacks were unprovoked and the perpetrators wore masks.
Two of the alleged white supremacists were also charged with unrelated crimes following the attack. Steven Eugene Speers, 33, of Grand Forks, N.D., was arrested on a Texas warrant for possession of child pornography. Francis John Gilroy, 65, of West Palm Beach, Fla., was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon.
The SouthtownStar contributed to this report, via the Sun-Times Media Wire.
