What the heck is wrong with kids??? Nobody has any respect anymore
I went to andrew and we had our share of punks but nobody stupid enough to hit a cop
Give me a break

I'm curious about the parents. Do these kids have parents who've been involved and nurturing and the kids are just bad seeds? Or have the kids been running amok without supervision and no discipline? Apparently they weren't taught how to behave in public nor to respect law enforcement . What audacity!

Please people, don't get this twisted. The cops were undercover, dressed in all black. When they jumped on the kid, he tried to get him off and tried to hit him.

Not sure about you, but if someone I don't know jumps on me like that, I'm going to do whatever it takes to get them off.

Funny how the article doesn't mention anything about the Stagg students changing obscenities at the Andrew players during the game, nor anything about the Stagg kids fighting also.It makes you think if the result would be different if the event was at Andrew. I know all of these men personally and they're all good guys. You should not express negative feelings towards others you do not know just because they were fighting for what they thought was right.

Chanting*

It doesn't say anything about how poorly the stagg security handled the situation. Letting both fan sections out at the same time along with using an undercover cop as security is just stupid.

The cop never presented himself as an officer and he was not in uniform, he pushed Walsh first after asking him if he wanted to "start something". He also repeatedly yelled profanities, even calling Walsh a "Faggot-ass" numerous times. How can you expect a highschool student not to retaliate, or better yet defend himself after the cop provoked him like that. This is BS and that cop should lose his job.

This article blows the whole situation way out of proportion. The writer of this article failed to mention that the police officer was actually undercover and was mistaken for a stagg student. This entire article is incredibly misleading.

This article is blowing the whole incident way out of proportion. I was there and nobody hit any police officer. First of all, the cop was under cover. Which makes zero sense. What is the need for a police officer to be under cover at a high school basketball game? Nobody hit anybody. The cop wrapped up a kid after some pushing and then one of the kids tried getting him off his friend. Had the cop been uniformed none of this would have never happened. Stop hyping up a story just to make it a good read. Ignorant people these days. They don't even know the whole story.

The Sandburg/Andrew rivalry is the source for this I am sure. The football games between the two schools must be police monitored as well.

Sometimes it's not the parents fault that their kids is acting out as they do it when not around and come on we are talking high school kids that should be able to take responsibility for their own actions!

There is zero respect for police among most teens and a lot of adults. They use their phones to video police if stopped. And yet who do they call to come to their aid if in trouble?

If the "officer" didn't have clearly marked clothing identifying himself as a policeman, and a clearly visible badge, I have a really big problem with charging the juvenile with assaulting an officer. Just yelling out "police" without presenting a badge surely isn't sufficient.

If someone made a fist or made violent move to threaten the students, that would be criminal assault. If someone physically attacks another person, that's criminal battery.

The law provides that we are able to defend ourselves when assaulted or battered. If the officer did not properly and certainly identify himself before assaulting or battering these students, the fault is clearly with him, not the students!

I'm disappointed that this article fails to mention not only what Stagg students were doing at this game, but what has gone on at games the past few years. As a former Andrew player I can tell you there have been issues for several years, and Stagg should be criticized as well as Andrew. There have been incidents of Stagg fans coming on the court during a game to confront an Andrew player as well as the Stagg coach publicly calling out Andrew players. I wish that this issue was researched more deeply rather than just choosing only to portray Andrew as the bad guy.

The Stagg Coach John Daniel does NOT set a good example for the students or players to follow. I have had to report him to the Stagg Athletic Director for unsportsmanlike behavior during and after basketball games.
He is a sore loser!
He needs to set a good example; don't take out your frustration of losing a game on the opposing team's players... it is childish.
Kevin Walsh is a great kid! It is really important not to jump to conclusions.
We would probably not be having this discussion, if the adults set a good example in the first place. Something to think about.

This one sided article was written after ONLY talking to the police which blew this way out of proportion. Why would officers not be in uniform at the game? Andrew home games have a uniformed police officer which everyone respects and I have not heard of any problems at those games. It was the lack of security that caused the problem in the first place.IF you want to talk about a lack or respect how about the Stagg students and the disrespect they had for our players and fans.The parents are very involved, hard working, good people and the boys are respected by their peers. They are good students who are very involved at school as well as the community. The palos police screwed this one up royally

Reporting just what was given to you is the same thing that now has Susan Rice in trouble. Need to investigate before spewing falsehoods and get the whole story

this was not well thought out at all. get the whole story before you go and toss out a persons name. you will soon find out did he nothing wrong! the cop was not in any type of uniform that ended up tackling a kid. protecting a friend is something I see nothing wrong with.

A comment left by the user "G unit" was deleted because it violated Patch's Terms of Use. It contained offensive language and profanity.

U say that but yet the cop who was undercover did not identify himself and then was swearing at the kids trying to start a fight after the students from both schools were already separated. I was there dont report this crap that is not how it actually happened

Maybe you should write a better article that is restated to show that the police officer had no representation of himself. Think of it like this.. if you were in a fight or disagreenment with another group of people and your friend gets tackled to the ground by somebody neither of them know, what would you do? help him out by getting the person off of him or watch him. The author of this writtin this horribly and should wait till he knows both sides of the story. and also to not just blame andrew high school without even mentioning stagg or the setting at all.

Plain clothed or in uniform... I'm sure the officer identified himself before trying to diffuse the situation. If the young men could not compose themselves, stronger force may have be needed to be used. Good respectable young men do not talk back to the law... They hold their tongue. It's a shame for the parents, they must be very disappointed in the kids' behavior. If it was not blown out of proportion, a simple heartfelt apology for over reacting should be enough to get them out of trouble.

I think this should at least show the difference of once they turn 18, and they aren't protected by being juveniles anymore. What they do isn't anonymous. Some kids are spoiled and entitled, and have no consequences for their actions and have plenty of people to vouch for how wonderful they are. But if you do wrong, it shouldn't be excused.

Mrs 406 it would be greatly appreciated if you stopped acting like you were there because you clearly have no clue what really happened.

I've put this out there already and I'll do it one last time. Anyone who present when this incident happened, or knows the students involved can reach me directly at 630-666-8863 or nicks@patch.com.

Well said Tracie!

I'm sorry to appear as judgmental, I was simply commenting based on the story presented. I really do encourage the ones who are adamantly defending the kids and families to call the writer's number he posted for you, I (as well as many other readers) would be very interested to hear the opinion of someone who witnessed the incident.

Harry
Yes, because we all know that in the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90''s and the 00's (till 2007) no kid ever hit a cop, was a punk, affiliated with a gang, caused a crime, lied to their parents, watched their sister get dressed or stole bubble gum. That damn Obama...

Funny how this article doesn't mention that the cop never identified himself as a police officer, or that he pushed Walsh first, or that he repeatedly swore at and provoked Walsh. Walsh, nor any other student, hit a cop at any point during this ordeal. That cop should lose his job, and this article should be deleted. Next time, tell the whole story as opposed to what you think happened.

Game on.

I was not at the game but for 41 years i was a teacher at Simeon High School
and later at Bogan High School.I probably attended a thousand high school
sporting events.Even thought what has been described amounts to nothing
it should not have happened in the first place.
If there is any blame it must be placed squarely on the adults. Schools employ
adults as crowd control for which they are paid.I will go out on a limb and say
it was so at this game.If any inappropriate or unlawful activity occurred this
in house security should have stopped it cold.If past problems existed between the schools that should have been factored into a crowd control plan and carried out by those selected to enforce it, namely staff members paid for crowd control.
Kids are not stupid they will respond to people they know a lot better than
strangers especially if they know bad conduct will be dealt with in school the next day.