Two nights of pro-American rallies run amok had left police in southwest-suburban Bridgeview reeling. So when Friday rolled around they called in plenty of backup—about 125 officers from 20 surrounding towns, plus the Illinois State Police and the Cook County Sheriff’s Police.
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Any newcomer needing a briefing got one from Lieutenant Tim Callahan, who’s been a cop in Bridgeview for 17 years and says that until last week he’d never dealt with an incident of this magnitude. He explained to the recruits who came to see him at the main staging area—a Menard’s parking lot at 92nd and Harlem—that the mosque on 93rd Street a block away had been targeted by anti-Arab demonstrators and order needed to be restored. At 4 PM, after two nights of riots had put Bridgeview in the international spotlight, Callahan was telling a pair of officers from Chicago Ridge that the plan was to shut down Harlem Avenue if things got out of hand.
Moments later Ahmed said he wasn’t that shaken. “They’re ignorant—they’ll learn eventually.” Still, he said, until last week he never knew how much hate his neighbors could have. “Muslims died in the World Trade Center too,” he said. “They just don’t want to know that.” Ahmed looked relieved to see his aunt and uncle drive up a few minutes later. They wanted to check on how he and Summaya were doing. She still hadn’t fallen asleep.
