Two men attack outspoken community activist Greg Brewer at his home

Windy City Watch has learned that community activist, and former 50th ward candidate for alderman, Greg Brewer was the victim of an attack this week when a man showed up at his house, knocked on his door, asked for him by name, pulled him outside, punched him and was quickly accompanied by another man who joined in as both men kicked and punched Brewer.

Brewer, who runs the website “Citizens for Responsible Development,” has been very outspoken in his opposition to the planned redevelopment of a property at the corner of Rockwell and Devon. He has been highly critical of both Alderman Bernard Stone, who he unsuccessfully challenged in 2007, and the project’s developer Mohammed Siddiqi.

After rumors started circulating throughout his far north side neighborhood, Brewer confirmed the attack with a posting on the popular West Rogers Park Yahoo Group :

“Early Monday evening around 5:45pm I heard a knock at the door. As I approached the door I could see a man about my height, perhaps in his thirties, waiting. I opened the door and said hello. He asked if I was Greg Brewer. I said I was. He repeated my name and extended his right arm as if to shake hands. As I took his hand he tightened his grip, grabbed my wrist with his other hand and pulled me out of the house onto the front porch. I resisted. We both lost our balance. He swung and punched me in the face. As I tumbled down the stairs, a second man, previously unseen, joined in. They punched and kicked me and then took off running. I assume they were parked or had someone waiting in the alley nearby. In any case, they were gone. We called 911 and made a full police report.”

The attack has caught the attention of other West Rogers Park residents who feel that the attack was an act of intimidation.

“This attack was meant to send a message to all of us who dare to rock the boat. Just like graffiti, this mugging is a sign about who's in charge in this neighborhood,” posted a member of the Yahoo group.

While we at Windy City Watch have no idea who attacked Brewer we do not believe this is a random act of violence given the fact the alleged assailant knocked on his door and asked for him by name. Our intent with this post is to let the SUN SHINE on what we feel is a very troubling attack on a community activist.

Republican Mayor uses ARMED GUARDS to intimidate voters, wins re-election. . .

In an obvious attempt to intimidate voters Cicero Mayor Larry Dominick, a Republican, dispatched armed goons who had to be removed by Cook Counry Sheriff's police, yeah you read that right, COOK COUNTY SHERIFF'S POLICE! Cook County Clerk David Orr's spokeswoman called it "voter intimidation" in a statement to the Chicago Sun-Times.

In this day and age how the hell can an elected official get away with dispatching armed guards to intimidate voters. These guards worked for Dominick who was on the ballot. If security was necessary why weren't concerns raised to the Cook County State's Attorney or Illinois Attorney General?

In addition to the armed guards intimidating voters, Jay Levine of CBS2 was followed around Cicero by a bunch of goons in suits and was warned to bring a body guard if he planned to attend Dominick's victory party on Tuesday night.

We hope that county, state and federal authorities investigate this.

Here is a video report from CBS2 Chicago.

Here is how the Chicago Sun-Times reported it:
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Cook County Clerk David Orr had to call in sheriff’s police Tuesday to evict armed guards brought into polling places by Dominick, according to Orr spokeswoman Courtney Greve.

“It’s voter intimidation when off-duty armed police officers show up in polling places,” Greve said. “They had no authorization to be in the polling places. We have a crew of sheriff’s officers on call. They had to come to remove the off-duty officers hired by Dominick’s campaign.”
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Here is how the Chicago Tribune reported it:
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Earlier Tuesday, several off-duty police officers hired by Dominick to keep an eye on the town's polling places were asked to leave, a town spokesman said.

Garcia called the presence of armed security personnel "nothing but intimidation." But Cicero spokesman Dan Proft said the security personnel were necessary "to make sure Garcia and his hooligans don't cause any problems at the polling places.
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Another question we have is why is Proft, whose salary is most likely paid by the taxpayers of Cicero, taking partisan pot shots at Garcia? Was he speaking as a Dominick volunteer or a public servant yesterday when he leveled his charges of hooliganism?

Lastly, on Monday CBS2 Chicago ran an explosive report in advance of the election on Dominick and his hiring of family and friends. Click here to view.

The GOP likes to call Cook County, Crook County but it would appear one of the biggest crooks in the county is the Republican mayor of Cicero.