Chicago City Wire

A former Columbia College student was recently arrested and charged with striking a police officer repeatedly with a skateboard during a riot in the city, and the man's employer — the well-known comedy club, Second City — has not publicly condemned his actions.

Jeremy Johnson, 25, was charged last week with felony aggravated battery after allegedly striking a police officer during violent protests in Chicago, reported Chicago CBS. Johnson, according to the Columbia Chronicle, is an employee of Second City and lives in the Lakeview neighborhood, which has been plagued by numerous riots.

The officer, who was wearing a helmet, sustained minor injuries and was treated at a local hospital, Chicago CBS reported.

The Second City comedy club in Chicago | File photo

Second City did not respond to an email from Chicago City Wire regarding Johnson’s alleged behavior, how they would handle it from an institutional standpoint and whether they would condemn violent and criminal behavior among community members. Columbia College spokesperson Keisha Cowen did not respond to an email regarding the institution’s stance on violent behavior on behalf of its broader community, including alumni like Johnson. 

Johnson may have been a resident assistant at Columbia College, according to one Twitter user. He also took part in poetry sessions that were focused on race, a YouTube video shows.

The Columbia College community has suffered negative effects of the violent protests this summer in Chicago, and its president posted a letter in early June on the college's website.

“This latest wave of violent response, however, has hit close to home because the Columbia campus fell prey to the rampage thrust upon our city by those who chose unacceptable violence over peaceful yet forceful engagement," wrote President Kwang-Wu Kim. “Overnight on Saturday, the college bookstore at 624 S. Michigan and the college’s buildings at 33 E. Ida B. Wells, 623 S. Wabash, 916 S. Wabash, and 1104 S. Wabash had some of their windows smashed and their contents looted. Graffiti was sprayed on the north wall of the student center; an attempted break-in in the rear of the building was unsuccessful but left two windows cracked. All of this took place in the context of widespread damage to merchants, in particular on the stretch of Wabash between Ida B. Wells and Roosevelt Road.”

Businesses in Downtown Chicago have experienced looting and vandalism and many said they feel defenseless, the Chicago Tribune reported. One business owner, Dianne Crosell, told the Tribune that city officials “have to get ahold of the city again. . . . I feel like we are under attack and under siege.”

Rioting and looting on weekends in Chicago have become commonplace over the past several months. The Chicago Police Department recently launched a video campaign aimed at unveiling the identities of those victimizing neighborhoods, and numerous images captured at the scenes show violent images of rioters. One image resulted in the arrest of a looter who was allegedly breaking into an ATM machine with a hammer.

Police have recently made a few dozen arrests for looting, according to the Chicago Police Department website.