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A Music Video Was Shot In The Middle Of Last Week's 1,000-Person Gang Party

By Stephanie Lulay | June 23, 2017 8:14pm | Updated on June 26, 2017 8:10am
 NEAR WEST SIDE — 24 MoneyGang  shot a music video during a raucous gang party that brought 1,000 people to the Near West Side last weekend — and the video shows sobering images of men and even children flashing guns while others party, drink and dance in the middle of residential streets as police idly sit by.
24 MoneyGang Music Video
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NEAR WEST SIDE — A music video shot during a raucous gang party that brought 1,000 people to the Near West Side last weekend shows men and children flashing guns while others party and drink in the middle of residential streets as police idly sit by.

The party that spilled into the streets near Touhy-Herbert Park June 18-19 was so out of control, police struggled to shut it down, 27th Ward Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. said last week. The 25 Chicago Police Department squad cars that eventually were sent to the scene weren't enough to break up the party of more than 1,000 people, he said. 

RELATED: 1,000-Person Gang Party Too Big For Police In 25 Squads To Stop, Ald. Says

The 24 MoneyGang music video, shot by videographer Kyro Kush and uploaded to YouTube Thursday, shows the massive all-night party just two blocks west of the United Center on a street lined with homes. Along with the artist and song title, "Fathers Day Picnic" is included in the video's title — a reference to a permitted gathering earlier in the day that is an annual tradition in the park in the 2100 block of West Adams Street. 

In the nearly four-minute video, men are seen flashing handguns and semi-automatic weapons. Some scenes appear to show boys or teens pointing guns directly at the camera. Hundreds of people crowd in the streets among lines of cars, drinking, smoking and dancing as the blue lights of police squad cars flash in the background. Other scenes show men drinking on the hood and through the sunroof of a car driving down the street.

"We Money Gang," a man raps. "All my n-----s got guns ... ready to pop a n-----."

Very young children also can be seen watching or dancing in the street in the video in multiple scenes of the late-night party.

Women are seen twerking while standing on the hoods of cars, and in one scene, a man rides a mini motorbike right up to the tailgate of a Chicago Police SUV, its lights flashing. 

The West Adams Street street sign and other neighborhood identifiers, including the gateway to the defunct Jelly Bean Garden, can be seen in the background. In another shot, a sign noting the park closing time — 9 p.m. — is shown as well as uniformed officers standing nearby.

[YouTube/Kyro Kush]

A screenshot of DNAinfo Chicago's original story about the 1,000-person party flashes at the end of the video. 

Some people in the music video also can be seen in separate camera footage taken that night.

The Police Department is aware of the video and is reviewing it, Frank Giancamilli, a Police Department spokesman, said Friday evening.

No arrests have been made in connection with the party, Giancamilli said. 

Burnett, whose ward includes Touhy-Herbert Park, watched the video after DNAinfo sent him a link.

"We're lucky that no one got hurt," he said. "It also looks like a total disregard for the police. If they don't get a handle on this, it can get worse and [it] may be too late."

Earlier this week, he said police on the scene were outnumbered. 

"It's not just an inconvenience, it's very dangerous," Burnett said. "When you have that many people drinking, getting high, anything can happen." 

Although it's in Black Disciples territory today, the gangs that hang out in the park and organize the large parties include members from the Gangster Stones, Traveling Vice Lords, Four Corner Hustlers, Gangster Disciples and the Black Disciples, Burnett and police said.

[YouTube/Kyro Kush]

Despite calling for police and politicians to address notoriously loud and sometimes violent gang parties for years, neighbors living near Touhy-Herbert Park report that the latest massive all-night party was worse than ever. 

While the party itself sparked a few fights caught on security cameras, six people were shot on the Near West Side on Father's Day. One of the shootings, injuring a 29-year-old man, occurred at 11:10 p.m. on Adams Street, just two blocks west of the park. 

Minutes later, two more men were shot standing in the 2500 block of West Jackson Boulevard, a half-mile from the park, police said. 

RELATED: Near West Side Shootings Wound 6 People Sunday, Police Say

In August 2015, one neighbor described the ongoing issues at the park as a never-ending "turf war" between the neighbors who care for their block and a group of gangbangers who party at all hours of the night in the park, attracting violence and illegal activity.

Two schools — Dett Elementary and Chicago Bulls College Prep — border the park. 

RELATED: Loud Gangbangers Party All Night Long at Near West Side Park, Neighbors Say

RELATED: Raucous, 200-Person Gang Parties Ruining Park — Can Parking Ban Stop Them?