3 Aurora Men Accused Of Looting, Breaking Windows During Protest

AURORA, IL — Prosecutors filed new charges last week against three men from Aurora, alleging two smashed windows at a downtown bank and one broke into Walmart as police clashed with protesters during a protest at the end of May.

Antwon Dimsuke, 46, faces a felony burglary charge after police alleged he entered the Walmart store on Kirk Road early on June 1 with the intent of stealing items, according to a report by the Daily Herald.

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Cortney Humphries, 38, and Jeffrie Highsmith, 28, each face a felony charge of criminal damage to property between $10,000 and $100,000. Police allege they smashed windows May 31 at the First Midwest Bank on Broadway, the report states.

First Midwest Bank was situated near the heart of a large protest that evening, after hundreds of people marched from the Aurora Police Department to the Chicago Premium Outlets and then to City Hall to demand an end to police brutality against Black people. The protest was organized in response to George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police on May 25.

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Protesters demonstrated peacefully for several hours that day before the tension reached a breaking point when a woman who was demonstrating a block away from City Hall demanded to know why police shot tear gas at her. Minutes later, police fired multiple tear gas canisters toward protesters as they clashed in a nearby parking lot before police retreated through the alley next to the train tracks.

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Over the next half hour, dozens of people smashed windows and looted stores along Broadway, including First Midwest Bank, the Happy Daze smoke shop, Colima Jewelry and Aurora Jewelry.

Humphries was also charged with burglary after police alleged he entered Colima Jewelry on May 31 with the intent of stealing items, the Daily Herald reports.

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Highsmith was charged several days after the protest with armed violence, criminal damage to government-supported property and aggravated assault of a peace officer. Kane County prosecutors allege Highsmith stole a flare and baton from an unoccupied police vehicle and threw a rock at officers.

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An Aurora police spokesperson was not immediately available Wednesday to provide additional information about the department’s investigations into crimes reported to have occurred during the protest May 31-June 1.

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