(This is much like the Los Angeles Riots in our history, it just happened differently in Neo-Noire’s history)

The 2004 Chicago riots were a series of riots and civil disturbances that occurred in Cook County in November and December of 2004. Unrest began in the city of Chicago on November 27, after a trial jury acquitted three officers of the Chicago Police Department for usage of excessive force in the arrest and beating of a man of color, which had been videotaped and widely viewed in TV broadcasts.

The rioting spread throughout the Chicago metropolitan area, as thousands of people rioted over a ten-day period following the announcement of the verdict. Widespread looting, assault, arson, and murder occurred during the riots, and estimates of property damage were over $1 billion. With local police overwhelmed in controlling the situation, Governor of Illinois Conrad Briggs sent in the Chicago Army National Guard, and President Theodore Shandley deployed the 7th Infantry Division and the 1st Marine Division.

Consequently, order and peace were restored throughout Cook County, but 63 people were killed, 2,383 people were injured, with more than 12,000 arrests. Chicago’s Chief of Police Rudy Caldwell, who had already announced his resignation by the time of the riots, was attributed with much of the blame.