Chicago police arrest 15 at futures exchange protest

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Chicago police arrest 15 at futures exchange protest

By Ann Saphir

CHICAGO | Wed May 23, 2012 12:54pm EDT

(Reuters) - Police arrested 15 people blocking the main artery through Chicago's financial district on Wednesday during a demonstration against state tax breaks won last year by CME Group, the world's largest futures exchange company.

The 15 men and women, three of whom were in wheelchairs, were escorted to the nearby plaza in front of the Chicago Board of Trade building, where they were detained in an area cordoned off with yellow tape while officers wrote tickets. CME owns the Board of Trade, which offers futures on corn, soybeans and Treasuries.

"CME needs to pay their taxes," said Annette Jones, 69, after she was ticketed and released. She said her job as a home health worker is threatened by state spending cuts, and that if CME paid its "fair share" those cuts might not be necessary.

Most of those arrested were wearing signs on their chests that read, "CME: Give it back" and "Stop home care cuts."

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/23/us-protests-chicago-exchange-idUSBRE84M0XX20120523

[leveymg]

1. Thank you, CPD. The criminals inside are now safe to continue fixing markets

and running up prices for essential commodities.

"Protect and Serve"

[frazzled]

2. Thank goodness they got themselves arrested

Otherwise you would never have heard of CME.

Look guys, this is how civil disobedience works: you break an ordinance or rule and get yourself (minorly) arrested in order to bring attention to your cause. What does not make sense for those who support such civil disobedience is to turn around and complain about the arrests. That's double-dipping.

These people got tickets. We're not going to buy into any fainting spells or rending of cloth with people bemoaning the police state over this event. This is a purely Illinois issue that has been going on for some months: we write our state legislators to complain about the tax break CME got.