A US official says he may reopen a mothballed jail in Illinois to serve as a detention facility for arrested protesters during a NATO summit next month.
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart says that the Joliet Correctional Center could be temporarily reopened to house those arrested for offenses during the May 20-21 summit.
“They shut down Joliet prison. It’s sitting there empty. Could I turn the key and open it up? Does the water still work? Does the electricity work? If that’s a question, I might just look at the yard and whether to put up tents with some cots and utilize that setting at Joliet,” Dart said.
Thousands of anti-war activists are expected to descend on Chicago to protest the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit that will be attended by leaders, foreign and defense ministers of more than 50 member states.
Police in Belgium arrested some 483 peace activists from hundreds of protesters, who tried to break into the Western military alliance headquarters in Brussels on April 1.
——Agencies