Dozens, and then hundreds, of Chicago-area community members delayed in dramatic fashion a national anti-immigrant organization's meeting in Chicago's Arlington Heights suburb on the morning of October 15, 2005. The community members linked their bodies arm in arm to form a human chain at the gates of the school where a meeting of the Minuteman Project was slated to take place.

The protest, at the gates of the Christian Liberty Academy on Euclid, saw some 15 to 25 activists (at their height) form a human blockade three lines thick at the entrance to the conference. The numbers of protesters had significantly outnumbered Arlington Heights police, who called for additional backup from at least five other nearby suburbs.

The stakes increased dramatically around noon when some 400 anti-Minuteman-protesters from assorted communities in Chicago arrived via a bus convoy. The barricade then dispersed to join the rally, with the intent to reconvene later that afternoon.

At that point, a team of police officers also physically isolated an activist who stood on the front line of the barricade. Community organizers surrounded the police and the attempted arrest and tried to pull the activist out of custody. At that point, more police arrived to enter the fray, leading to more activist arrests. (All the arrestees were later released that evening.)

Those arrested could be counted among the most outspoken activists, those targeted as "leaders" and "agitators" of the morning's barricade.

Chicago Indymedia Newswire coverage: iNo Pasaran! Stop the Minutemen! | Arrests In Arlington Heights | Report from the Chicago Anti-Minutemen Protest | Minutemen: Media Coverage Report Other Indymedia coverage:

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