Flamethrower-Wielding Man With Swastika Flag In Chicago SWAT Standoff

CHICAGO — SWAT teams were called to the West Humboldt Park neighborhood Friday for a report of a man armed with a flamethrower and flying a swastika flag from a rooftop.

Police were called to an incident in the 4100 block of West Chicago Avenue and blocked traffic for several blocks around the area.

A Chicago police spokesperson said no further information was available.

Shortly after 10:30 a.m., Mike Lorber, helicopter reporter for WMAQ-TV, said Chicago Avenue had been closed off from Pulaski Road to Kostner Avenue. Lorber said in a tweet that a flamethrower, propane tanks and a Nazi flag were visible from the sky.

After SWAT team officers surrounded the building, Colin Boyle, a photographer for Block Club Chicago, described hearing a voice from inside cursing Chicago police and blasting the Survivor song "Eye of the Tiger."

Neighbors told Block Club that the man regularly goes onto the rooftop, fires off a flamethrower, plays loud recordings directing profanities at the president and police department and sometimes fires a gun or screams, "I'm gonna kill you."'

The building is located just north of Orr Academy High School.

Members of a neighborhood group on Thursday held a press conference outside the office of 37th Ward Ald. Emma Mitts to discuss the swastika sign, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The yellow-and-red swastika has been displayed atop a building at the corner of Chicago and Kedvale avenues alongside an upside-down American flag, Ukrainian flag, Chicago flag, smiley face flag and the flag of the U.S. Army 1st Infantry Division.

Police were dispatched to the same block in May 2022 for an automated gunfire detection alert and a report of a man who pointed a laser at a police helicopter, according to the Tribune.

“If this was Lincoln Park or River West," West Humboldt Park Community Coalition Secretary Farrah Walker told reporters on Thursday, "that sign would’ve been taken down the day we reported it."

Titus Washington, who works in the neighborhood, told WLS-TV that Friday marks the third time the same man has disrupted the area.

"It's been three different times," Washington said. "I've been working here eight months and on three different occasions they have this whole block cut off because of him."

UPDATE

In a statement early Saturday, police said SWAT team officers found the man dead inside after hours of negotiations.

"When officers arrived on scene the individual entered the building and refused to exit the premises. SWAT officers responded and negotiators from the Chicago Police department and SWAT attempted to contact the individual to bring the incident to a peaceful resolution," it said. "Hours later, SWAT officers made entry into the building and discovered a male adult deceased on scene."