UPTOWN — A prominent Chicago drummer was attacked outside of the Green Mill Lounge in Uptown over the weekend.
Around 3:20 p.m. Sunday, a 69-year-old man "with visible swelling and bruising" on his face walked into the Lincoln District Headquarters at 5400 N. Lincoln Ave. and told officers he was attacked by multiple men the day before, said Officer Jose Estrada, a Chicago Police Department spokesman.
Around 3:30 a.m. Saturday, the man was walking to a parking lot in the 1200 block of West Lawrence Avenue after leaving the Green Mill Jazz Club, 4802 N. Broadway when the men began striking him. The man said he had been drinking before the attack, and wasn't sure if the men had a weapon, Estrada said.
The only description given for the attackers was that they were white men, but the report makes no mention that the attack was racially motivated, according to Estrada.
The owner of the Green Mill was not immediately available for comment.
The man was identified as drummer/percussionist Avreeayl Ra, who was heading to his "usual parking lot, one block away," according to a GoFundMe Page that was set up following the attack.
The page, which was set up by Alissa DeRubeis, has received more than $6,000 in donations in 12 hours, about $4,000 more than its goal. DeRubeis was not immediately available for comment.
The GoFundMe Page originally said the attack was racially motivated, but has since been updated with the following message:
"It cannot be proven what the motives of this attack were, and I should have stated merely that it was a group of unidentified white males," the page said.
Ra was followed by a group of men who then hit him with something that left him unconscious. Minutes later, he woke up face-down on the concrete, the page said.
"Avreeayl is currently recovering, but he needs to take a few weeks off of work to heal. This money will help him get the rest he needs. Please help support Avreeayl in his recovery from this racist assault, with money and also your well wishes," the page said when originally posted.
Ra reportedly disputed the allegations that the attack was racially motivated.
Ra was born in Chicago and remains "a renowned musician always in demand among visiting jazz artists." He is also long-term member of the Chicago Association for the advancement of Creative Musicians, according to Ragdale, a nonprofit artists' community.
He is the son of saxophonist Arthur "Swinglee" O'Neil and has performed or recorded with Fred Anderson, Fontela Bass, Oscar Brown, Jr., Henry Byrd and Pharoah Sanders, according to Ragdale.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
