In light of Oak Lawn’s settlement of a lawsuit alleging police in 2022 struck a 17-year-old more than 10 times in the face and head as he was lying face down in the street during his arrest, Arab American activists say they will continue to demand accountability at public meetings.

“Remember when you all stood here and told us how we were liars and how we were wrong?” said Arab American Action Network lead organizer Muhammad Sankari, who led a protest of the Oak Lawn Police and Fire Commission meeting on Tuesday. “At the end of the day, the village just paid $825,000 of taxpayer money … because your officers beat a minor almost to death.”

The Village Board last week voted 6-0 in favor of settling the federal lawsuit brought by the former teenager who said police Officer Patrick O’Donnell beat him during his July 2022 arrest. The village said in a news release the board agreed to offer $825,000 in exchange for the lawsuit’s dismissal “not because of the merits of the case,” but as a result of pressure from the village’s insurance carrier.

“Although no member of the board wanted to settle, the reality is that we’re operating in a climate where certain elected officials are openly criticizing law enforcement and pursuing criminal charges against our officers,” Mayor Terry Vorderer said in the release. “We had to consider the broader consequences and act accordingly. This settlement puts the entire matter behind us and finds no fault in the actions of the police department.”

O’Donnell was indicted in February 2023 and pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated battery and official misconduct during the arrest. The charges were dropped in December 2024, after Eileen O’Neill Burke took over as Cook County state’s attorney.

Sankari said members of the Arab American Action Network and other progressive organizations have showed up to every scheduled Police and Fire Commission meeting since the 2022 arrest, leading the village to escalate security measures before allowing meeting attendees to access the Village Hall.

A group of about 15 activists lined up Wednesday to enter the building before the meeting started, with police waving a security wand to check them on-by-one. Sankari was the first to interrupt the meeting’s proceedings, with others following as police worked to them from the building.

The group also expressed outrage over other instances they say show deep seated racism within the Police Department.

They include the death of Murod Kurdi, a 28-year-old Palestinian American who was hit by a car outside his Oak Lawn home in June 2023. The driver told police she had alcoholic drinks before getting behind the wheel and in December 2023 was found guilty of failing to reduce speed and fined $750.

Arab American Action Network member Rania Salem is escorted out of Thursday’s Oak Lawn Police and Fire Commission meeting. (Troy Stolt for Daily Southtown)

Kurdi’s family and many Arab American community members expressed outrage that the driver was never arrested or charged with a felony and instead only faced a traffic citation.

“What we want is a department that respects the civil rights of our community, and this department does not,” Sankari said.

Sankari and other activists, including Rania Salem of Orland Park, said community members will continue to show up at public meetings until Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office launches an investigation into the department.

Arab American Action Network member Rania Salem leads a chant outside Oak Lawn Village Hall after group members were escorted out of the Police and Fire Commission meeting. (Troy Stolt for Daily Southtown)

“Justice isn’t just going to come,” Salem said. “It’s not going to be given to us — we have to fight for it, every single time. It’s not our fault that we face the misfortunes that we do or that we undergo racism or oppression, but it is our responsibility to fight against it.”

Salem said she continues to come to the Police and Fire Commission meetings, “because I firmly believe it’s our duty to do so, as a community.”

ostevens@chicagotribune.com

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/04/arab-american-activists-protest-oak-lawn/