'They said they were going to kill us': Couple attacked by teens in Chicago speaks out
Woman says Chicago cop told her downtown chaos going to keep happening because Brandon Johnson got elected
CHICAGO - A couple who was violently assaulted by a mob of teenagers over the weekend in downtown Chicago is speaking out about the terrifying experience.
The video of 20-year-old Ashley and 22-year-old DJ being attacked in the 100 block of North Wabash Ave. has gone viral. They say they had just left Nordstrom shortly after 8 p.m. on Saturday when they were confronted and assaulted outside the Macy's entrance.
"We were in downtown Chicago trying to shop, trying to get some food, and were walking down the street and there was a really big group of guys, a really big group of people, guys and girls. DJ had my hand trying to lead me through the crowd of people and they pushed him, they pushed me, and as soon as they pushed me I told DJ, ‘They just shoved me.’ And he was like, ‘Don't shove her, who shoved her?’ And as soon as he said that, everything went crazy," Ashley recalled.
"They said they were going to kill us. They turned around and started fighting. I got pushed down to the ground and the whole group went to DJ and not to me. I have a whole lot less injuries than he does because I was more of a bystander than anything. But everyone went for him and ended up in the middle of the street. They were jumping him in the middle of the street. It got pretty bad," Ashley said.
Chicago police say the offenders stole property from the victims before continuing on their way.
"It was a group, a mob, of about 60 to 100 people," said Lenora Dennis, a Chicago citizen and Good Samaritan who was nearby and tried to protect Ashley and DJ from the attackers after she said police did not come to their aid.
Ashley said she saw the cops just drive past them as she was getting off the ground from the attack.
"They almost had to avoid the collision to get past us, but they just drove by the incident in the middle of the street," she said.
"Cops drove right by it. Acted like they didn't see anything," said DJ.
"I literally went out in the street and held my hands up to a police car and asked them to stop and motioned them over to what was going on, and they just cut a path around me and just kept going," said Dennis.
Dennis was eventually able to get the couple into her car. She then drove them to the police station to file a report.
"I got told by the desk sergeant that this was going to happen, and that this was going to keep happening because Brandon Johnson got elected," said Dennis. "That floored me."
Dennis said an ambulance then took the couple to the hospital, but the couple was without their phones, wallets, and shoes — all of which had been stolen during the attack.
"I told the couple that I was going to go home to find them some shoes so that they wouldn't be barefoot for the rest of the night," said Dennis, who tells FOX 32 the couple was staying at an Airbnb for the night.
"God bless her," Ashley said. "She gave us shoes, took us home, took us to the hospital. Thank you so much. I don't know where we would have been without her."
"Do unto others," said Dennis. "That's a mantra that I live by every day. Just do unto others as you would have them do unto you."