Lorenzo Williams case will go to grand jury as activists push for charges to be dropped

Activists are pushing for all charges to be dropped against Lorenzo Williams Jr., whose arrest last week is under investigation for police misconduct.

A video of the arrest appears to show Williams, 32, on the ground while a swarm of officers surrounds him. One officer appears to strike him three times with a closed fist and an object in his hand, and two other officers pull Williams by his hair. The officer who struck Williams then draws his gun, aims it at Williams' face and says "I’m gonna f------ shoot you. You’re gonna get f------ shot."

A group of people not on camera can be heard questioning the officers and begging them to stop.

The arrest happened July 30 in the 800 block of North Cambridge Avenue, according to court records. A gun that was stolen from Iowa was recovered on the scene, according to an arrest report.

Williams was charged with unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, resisting or obstructing a peace officer and aggravated assault of a peace officer. The Sun-Times is not naming the officer because he hasn't formally been accused of wrongdoing.

Jasmine Smith, with the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, said there's no video footage of Williams doing anything to warrant the officers' response and called for all charges to be dropped.

"The charges never should have happened. ... How do y'all have charges like this when the video shows that he was being attacked?" Smith said during a news conference at the Cook County courthouse in Skokie.

At a brief hearing Tuesday, the Cook County state's attorney's office requested the case be continued to Aug. 26, when a grand jury will consider the charges against Williams. Prosecutors will present evidence to the grand jury, which will decide whether to indict Williams. His public defender demanded a trial.

Williams walked into the courtroom in a tan shirt and pants with "DOC" printed on the back, his hands in handcuffs and a sheriff's officer following closely behind him. Williams' mother, sister, aunt and the mother of his baby were in court but declined to speak to the media, Smith said. Williams has a 5-year-old son and is expecting a baby in October.

Bruises and swelling marked his arms and face, which Smith said was from the arrest.

"When he walked in the courtroom, you guys see the evidence of him being beaten, the scars of them banging his head against concrete," Smith said. "His arms was bruised up, his head, his face is still swollen. It's bald scalp at the top of his head from them pulling out his dreads because they had their feet on his dreads."

The officer shown in the video striking Williams and pointing a gun at him has a history of being involved in police misconduct cases. In 2019, he was one of the officers who wrongly raided the home of social worker Anjanette Young, then handcuffed her naked while she repeatedly asked to see the warrant and told them they had the wrong house. The Civilian Office of Police Accountability pushed to have the officer suspended for 15 days, but it wasn’t clear if the suspension was served, records show.

Gabriel Miller, also with the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, questioned why the officer was able to continue working after his involvement in the Young raid.

"We want to talk about the way that [the officer] is a perfect example of the kind of police that are allowed to continue with this kind of behavior [with] no accountability over a period of years and decades," Miller said. "Chicago taxpayers see their money going to settle cases of police crimes when the victims of those crimes have to appear in court in handcuffs."

Smith said Williams' criminal history didn't justify his treatment by police last week.

"No matter of his past or his history, what happened last Tuesday, what the police did to him should have never happened," Smith said.