BEVERLY — Elizabeth Toussaint has no regrets about posting a Facebook photo and narrative on Monday after witnessing a troubling incident in Beverly.
Toussaint was driving with her cousin westbound on 103rd Street at 3:20 p.m. and stopped at the traffic light on Prospect Avenue. She was waiting behind a Honda carrying four white teenagers when she saw a young black boy — who seemed to be about 9 years old — cross the street.
That's when one of the teens hung out of the rear passenger window and screamed at the child, causing him to initially freeze. Then, "the boy ran for his life," according to the story Toussaint posted on Facebook Monday afternoon.
"The fear in his face caused me to pull alongside the car with the men and yell at them to leave him alone," Toussaint's post read.
The post spread quickly on Facebook pages throughout the Far Southwest Side neighborhood with commenters labeling the incident as racist. Toussaint's picture of the boys in the car also included the license plate, which was later used to publicly identify the owner of the car on the social media site.
Toussaint, a resident of southwest suburban Oak Lawn, stopped short of branding the incident as racist on Wednesday, saying, "I can't possibly know what was in those young boys minds."
However, she also said she'd do it all over again.
"I actually think had I NOT posted this incident, the young child would have been alone in the incident with no resolution, and I wanted him to know he wasn't alone," she wrote in an email to DNAinfo Wednesday afternoon.
She also said she reached out to the parents of the boy who was scared by the ordeal.
He was "a little shaken by the incident, but he's OK," Toussaint said.
DNAinfo Chicago was unable to reach the victim or his parents.
The mother of the teenager driving the car also spoke out on Wednesday, adamant that what happened, "wasn't a racial incident."
The mother — who asked that her name not be used — said the passenger who yelled at the boy said, "Hey, I like your shoes. Come over here."
In a Facebook post that has since been removed, she said one of the boys in her son's car was being a "jerky teenager" but that "nothing racial" was said.
She told DNAinfo her son and others in the car immediately lashed out at the teen who yelled at the boy.
Though she denies racist motivations, racial tension is not new to the Southwest Side neighborhood. In September, the Beverly Unitarian Church removed its "Black Lives Matter" sign after neighbors complained about it. In March, swastikas were found in a Beverly alley. And last year, the community hosted an anti-hate rally after racist graffiti popped up near Morgan Park High School.
Toussaint's account of the incident goes as follows:
"I pulled my car to the passenger side, and my cousin and I began yelling at them to stop and told them that they were wrong. The driver of the car was profusely apologizing while the boys in the back were laughing and pointing at us. Then they sped off."
For her part, the mother of the driver said she's received threats since being identified on Facebook as the owner of the vehicle.
"My family has been ... barraged by this incident," she said.
Fearing for her safety and that of her children, the mother asked that her boys be escorted to school on Wednesday. She has also promised legal action against Toussaint as well as others credited with the original Facebook post and the person responsible for acquiring her personal information through the state's license plate database.
She, too, said she's been in contact with the family of the boy who had been scared and seemed open to a meeting with them at some point. Ald. Matt O'Shea (19th) said he, too, hoped the two parties could come together soon to discuss the incident.
O'Shea made a plea on his personal Facebook page on Monday night asking anyone with any information about the incident to contact police. As of late Wednesday, he said police had still not heard from anyone involved.
Toussaint said she called 311 immediately after confronting the boys but didn't get an answer. She then went home and filed an online report about an hour later. On Wednesday afternoon, she said she received an email saying her report was rejected "because I am not the victim or the victim's parent."
O'Shea said he believe Toussaint misinterpreted the situation. He's also reached out to the boy's parents on Tuesday but hadn't heard back. He said his concern for the boy was coupled with concern for the local family that's received threats in the wake of the incident.
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