A CBS News crew in Chicago was racially attacked just as they were preparing to go live for a 4:30 p.m. newscast on Monday, June 29. CWBChicago reports that the crew were about to go live near the Adler Planetarium when a white tow truck parked in front of their news van and three men got out.
The men began yelling racial slurs at the Black news crew, according to witnesses. One of the men tried to sic his dog on the news crew.
When the dog didn’t attack the crew, one of the men broke the photographer’s camera and another man smashed the news van’s windshield with a traffic cone.
All three men jumped back in the tow truck and sped off. Chicago police arrested the three men after they pulled a gun on people in Brighton Park.
The assailants were described as “White,” but the men are Hispanic, according to witnesses. They are being held in jail while charges are pending.
The men are also suspected of threatening other people with a rifle in other neighborhoods, according to CWBChicago.
Shortly before the CBS News incident, a man told Chicago police that four Hispanic men in a white tow truck threatened him and his girlfriend as they loaded jet skis into the water at the Daley Park boat ramp. The couple chose not to file a police report.
Hispanics are routinely identified as “White” in police reports and census bureau documents.
As soon I heard they ended up in Brighton Park I knew they would turn out to be Hispanic.
— Mary Shaw (@MaryInIllinois) June 30, 2026
How does a Mexican get turned white? By committing a crime in public against a black guy. It's like getting showered with bleach to the media.
— John Olson (@olson17522) June 30, 2026
CBS News Chicago crew attacked near Adler Planetarium today.
While prepping for the 4:30pm newscast, two men in a truck rushed them shouting racial slurs. One smashed the photographer’s camera, another wrecked the news truck windshield & sicced a dog on them. pic.twitter.com/5Ddnd6q7H5
— Matt Robinson (@mattrobinson) June 29, 2026