Three men accused of attacking a CBS news crew near Chicago’s Adler Planetarium earlier this week were ordered detained during a Thursday hearing after prosecutors alleged they targeted the journalists in broad daylight and caused more than $100,000 in damage to equipment.
Rafael Salinas, 29, of Clearing; Jon Twist, 37, of McKinley Park; and William Huerta, 41, of Chicago Ridge, all face at least one felony charge and several misdemeanors in connection with the incident. Twist was also charged with a hate crime for shouting racial slurs.
Judge James Murphy said it seemed clear that the men initiated the violence and that their erratic driving when attempting to escape arrest placed many bystanders in danger.
During the hearing, prosecutors didn’t indicate why the trio targeted the news crew. Assistant State’s Attorney Elizabeth Dibler said that as two CBS journalists set up a live shot on the heat wave just before 4:30 p.m. on Monday, a white tow truck pulled up alongside them.
Twist got out of the truck with an unleashed German shepherd and allegedly approached one of the journalists “in an aggressive manner.” Twist repeatedly yelled the N-word at the journalist and then asked if he was scared, Dibler alleged.
The journalist said hearing the racial slur was demeaning and threatening, and that it made him think of his family’s stories of lynch mobs in the South, Dibler said.
Twist ordered his dog to attack the journalist and when the dog didn’t attack, Twist kicked the dog, Dibler said. Fearing for his and his co-worker’s life, the journalist hit Twist with a foldable lawn chair. He then had to run away as Twist and the dog chased him, Dibler said.
His co-worker, meanwhile, watched Salinas pick up their camera equipment and throw it to the ground, causing more than $100,000 in damage. To escape Salinas, this journalist jumped to the sidewalk near the lakeshore and called 911, Dibler alleged.
The front windshield of their van was also broken, resulting in about $1,500 in damage, Dibler added. The trio then fled the scene, Dibler said.
“This was at approximately 4:30 in the afternoon … on a busy summer day,” Dibler said. “There are so many people out in Chicago, not just the citizens of Chicago, but that is a high touristy area. They posed a danger to everybody who was out in the area.”
While fleeing the scene, Huerta drove erratically, went through multiple stop signs and brake-checked officers, causing them to rear-end the tow truck, Dibler alleged. He also, at one point, reversed and began driving toward the officers, she added.
The chase continued until Huerta hit a concrete pole in the Brighton Park neighborhood. The three men, along with an unidentified fourth offender, then attempted to flee on foot before they were arrested, Dibler said.
Salinas also slapped an officer in the face with an open hand during the arrest, she said. Police found a loaded rifle on the ground by the front door of the truck.
Police reviewed surveillance footage from the Adler Planetarium, which showed Twist and his dog approaching the journalists, Salinas damaging the camera equipment and Twist damaging the news van window, Dibler alleged.
Officers also received an alert that the same vehicle was involved in another aggravated assault around the same time, in which one of the men pointed a gun at a person at Daley Park, she said.
Twist was convicted in 2022 and 2018 for possession of a stolen motor vehicle, among other charges, Dibler said. Huerta was convicted in 2003 for aggravated battery with a firearm. Salinas also had two arrest warrants for aggravated fleeing and eluding. In March, he allegedly hit a woman while attempting to flee from a police traffic stop, Dibler said.
The men’s public defender, however, argued that there were no third-party witnesses to corroborate the alleged victims’ version of events and that it’s possible they could have misconstrued Twist asking, “Are you scared?”
He also said Twist could have been reacting to the journalist hitting him with a chair rather than “racial motivations.”
He said Twist works full time as a truck driver, has three children and that his wife is African American. Huerta owns a construction company and Salinas coaches his kids’ baseball teams, he added.
Murphy said, however, that the race of Twist’s wife has no bearing on whether or not he committed a hate crime.
“Based on what I’ve heard, you are not the victim here,” he said. “This is not something where you’re minding your own business, and (the journalist) came up and attacked you with a lawn chair, it’s not a defense.”
CBS previously said in a statement, “We are shocked and horrified by this crime and we are grateful that our journalists are safe.”
