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Red Cross prepares Chicago for mass exodus during NATO Summit?

Chicago, Illinois is expected to swell with armed security forces during next month’s NATO Summit, but will that be enough to keep the Windy City under control? Officials are now readying a massive exit strategy to vacate the entire metropolis.

A memo has been sent out of the Milwaukee, Wisconsin Red Cross office that confirms that officials are already taking measures to handle an emergency of epic proportions during the upcoming NATO Summit, scheduled for the week of May 20 in the city of Chicago, 70 miles to the south. In addition to armed security forces expected to begin patrolling Chicago as early as this week, authorities are now making plans to usher residents up to Milwaukee in case the planned NATO protests cause an emergency that warrants an immediate evacuation of the city.

“The American Red Cross in southeastern Wisconsin has been asked to place a number of shelters on standby in the event of evacuation of Chicago,” reads a recent email sent out to Milwaukee-area volunteers of the emergency assistance organization. Chicago’s WLS News reports that the email states that the reason for stand-by is that the NATO Summit “may create unrest or another national security incident.”

Explaining the call for volunteers to Newsradio 620 WTMJ, Milwaukee Red Cross spokeswoman Barbara Behling adds that the agency is treating next month’s conference as it would with any other emergency situation.

"It's like any situation where there would be an evacuation,” says Behling.

"If a tornado would hit Chicago, we're an evacuation area.If there would be a large scale power outage, we're an evacuation area.This isn't anything out of the normal for us,” she adds.

Given the security precautions that have taken place already, though, has given many the impression that the upcoming summit and the protests it is expected to spawn will be unlike anything Chicago has experienced before. Last week RT reported that the US Federal Protective Service will send armed agents into the downtown Chicago three weeks ahead of the NATO Summit to prepare for the swarm of protesters expected to arrive in time for the event. Both the NATO host committee executive director and the mayor of Chicago told reporters last week that they were not made aware of the deployment of armed agents until the story was picked up by local media.

Should emptying out one of the most populated cities in America in event of a national emergency seem too much for Chicago authorities to handle, Cook County, Illinois Sheriff Tom Dart has told the Sun-Times that he has another idea for any incidents that may arise. Sheriff Dart says that in case of a protest turned violent, law enforcement should send demonstrators to Cook County Jail, a massive price facility that has been vacant for over a decade.

“It’s empty and it will be empty. There are no issues with that. If it’s functional, it wouldn’t take a lot of manpower to monitor. Transportation would be a straight shot down I-55. Across the street is Stateville [Correctional Center] We’re going there anyway,” the sheriff tells the Sun-Times.

“The only thing everybody agrees is this is unpredictable. We’re trying to keep that in mind.”

Last month it was reported that authorities decided to move the G-8 Summit, originally scheduled to occur in the days before the NATO conference, out of Chicago to Camp David, Maryland.

Police vs Protester: Feds sending armed agents to Chicago three weeks before NATO Summit

May's NATO summit in Chicago is still weeks away, but residents of the Windy City can expect to see armed federal agents patrolling the streets in preparation much sooner than that.

Three weeks before international heads of state will converge in Chicago, Illinois for the annual NATO conference, the US Federal Protective Service will send armed officers into the city’s downtown district to prepare for the swarm of protesters expected to arrive in time for the event, slated for May 20 and 21.

Both the NATO and G-8 summits were initially scheduled to occur back-to-back in the major Midwest city, but the meeting between the world’s eight leading economies has since been relocated to Camp David, the fortified presidential retreat in Maryland used as a getaway destination for many of America’s past commanders-in-chief. As of now, however, the NATO summit will take place in Chicago and, citing concerns over how demonstrators may respond, law enforcement is being called in early to size up the city.

Beginning May 1, the Federal Protective Service agents will be in Chicago for “Operation Red Zone.” Although the officers will not necessarily be restricting residents from accessing any public spaces that they are normally permitted to enter, the agents will be patrolling — in complete battle gear.

“Will you see a highly visible police force? Yes,” the FPS’ Cleophas Bradley told federal employees, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. “But we will not be preventing anyone from entering the red zone.”

Bradley adds that the officers on patrol will be outfitted with weapons that can fire off “non-lethal” projectiles, much like the firearm that cracked the skull of war veteran Scott Olsen during an Occupy Wall Street protest in Oakland, California last year.

The Sun-Times explains that the move is meant to ensure that a large section of the metropolis will be safe from unruly mobs during next month’s conference, but not even the city’s own elected officials and leaders were made aware of the agency’s plans to put fully equipped federal cops into town in advance.

“A lot of us were surprised to read that. Obviously, the federal government doesn’t consult with the city when they do this. Everybody was unaware of this,” NATO Host Committee Executive Director Lori Healey tells the Sun-Times.

Even at the top of the city’s political structure, Mayor Rahm Emanuel — a close, personal pal of US President Barack Obama and former White House chief of staff — was allegedly unaware of the government’s game plan.

“This was a security decision and we were not involved,” the mayor’s communications director, Sarah Hamilton, explains to the Sun-Times.

Failure by the Federal department to inform the host city of the security initiative is believed to be a pretty good indicator of what to expect. Although federal agents were assumed to be dispatched to Chicago for the conference, sending armed officers to patrol the city unbeknownst to the town’s own management sends a message that the government is not willing to give local law enforcement a chance to let any incidents upset the NATO Summit.

When the first agents roll into town next week, the Sun-Times say they will begin patrolling a perimeter in Chicago’s downtown “Loop” district that includes the Dirksen Federal Courthouse, the Kluczynski Building, the RH Metcalfe Building and the Metropolitan Correctional Center, as well as a handful of federally owned buildings located on what is called the “State Street cluster.”

The Sun-Times has also published an information sheet that outlines the agenda of “Operation Red Zone,” which includes preserving the peace, minimizing disruption, and protecting government property from damage and destruction. Also included on the list is the item “Ensure protection of individual rights to peacefully assemble and express opinions,” although some who plan on protesting the summit have expressed concern over how their First Amendment rights will be protected. In the state of Illinois, it is illegal to make any audio recording of a law enforcement officer without permission, essentially stripping away the right to film during the event.

Additionally, the recent passage of H.R. 347, the Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act of 2011 dubbed the “Trespass Bill” by some pundits, will make it a crime to engage “in disorderly or disruptive conduct” or“impede or disrupt the orderly conduct of Government business or official functions” during the summit — even if one isn’t aware that they are doing so.Under H.R. 347, any event that the United States Secret Service is assigned to monitor is placed in a category where protesters arrested by the armed security unit could be lobbed with hefty criminal charges.

The Sun-Times adds that, in the event of “civil disobedience,” federal agents will shut down access to the “Red Zone” by putting the Loop in lock-down as authorities attempt to restore order.

“The reality is that FPS deals with protecting federal buildings, so they do have their work cut out for them,” Jeff Cramer of consulting firm Kroll Inc. adds to the paper. “There are a fair amount of federal targets for protesters to make a point with if they wanted.”

Earlier this year, the city issued property owners detailed instructions on how to handle mobs and riots expected for the event.