Advocates seek accountability, solutions for Black gun owners wrongfully arrested
Advocates and legislators are seeking solutions and accountability for a pattern of Chicago police arresting Black gun owners on firearms charges despite valid FOID and CCL licenses.
CBS News Chicago uncovered the troubling pattern, case after case in which Chicago police officers arrested Black gun owners and charged with felonies even though all their paperwork was in order. An inside source also came forward, saying they believe some officers make the arrests for personal and professional gain.
Ali Abdallah is a concealed carry instructor at Eagle Gun Range in Oak Forest, Illinois, teaching gun owners about safety and legality so they can obtain their concealed carry license. In his classroom, almost every seat is filled.
The class costs $140; it's another $153 to the state to buy the CCL, giving the legal right to carry a gun.
Abdallah always instructs his students that if they are ever stopped by law enforcement, for any reason, be honest when asked if they have a weapon in their vehicle.
"You're legit," Abdallah said. "You bought the gun legally. Answer honestly."
Louis McWilliams, a Tinley Park resident, took a class like this, passed it, got his CCL and bought a 9mm pistol. So in April 2024, when he was pulled over for a traffic violation, he did exactly what he was taught in class: he told police he had a firearm, and showed them his FOID and CCL card.
"I played by the book. I did things the right way," McWilliams said.
But it didn't matter. Even though he handed officers his valid CCL, when police couldn't find it in the state's system, LEADS, they arrested him. He was charged with two felonies.
After months in and out of court, prosecutors — who initially signed off on the false charges — eventually determined McWilliams' CCL was valid and dropped them. It was little consolation.
"No matter how much you follow a system of which they create, they can still deem you wrong," he said.
CBS News Chicago has tried to find out how often Black gun owners falsely faced charges that were ultimately dropped, but neither the Cook County State's Attorney's Office nor Chicago police track the cases.
McWilliams is now taking legal action.
"I feel like my rights were violated," he said.
"We are not sub-Americans. We're not discounted folks. We have earned the right, more than anybody in this country, to carry a firearm," said Phil Smith, president of the National African American Gun Association. "We fought for this country when we weren't even citizens."
Smith encourages others in this situation to follow McWilliams' lead.
"File a lawsuit and follow through on the lawsuit," he said. "If a police chief has four or five lawsuits, $4 or $5 million with different law enforcement officers, they're going to get a call from somebody to say, 'Hey, start treating those people differently.'"
CBS News Chicago's investigation also caught the attention of Illinois State Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth, who represents Peoria. She's championed a groundbreaking bill that offers certain offenders with nonviolent criminal records a chance to have their cases automatically sealed, removing them from public view.
But in the cases of the drivers our investigation covered, they never should have had criminal records in the first place.
Like McWilliams, Lucy Washington faced a felony she didn't deserve, and her mugshot stayed on her record long after charges were dismissed, nearly wrecking her real estate career.
"My mugshot showed up on Google, right next to my property address as the real estate agent. You know, that was an embarrassing moment, and around that time I did end up losing out on a deal," she said.
"If I was innocent from the beginning, why would I have to go and clean and expunge a record?" said McWilliams.
"We're now talking about individuals that didn't make a mistake. A mistake was thrust upon them. That, to me, is a completely different set of facts and circumstances that has to be addressed," said Gordon-Booth.
She is now suggesting a bill that would provide wrongly charged gun owners with automatic expungement the moment the case is dismissed.
"It should be removed. Hard stop. They should be removed, and they should not have to pay a lawyer to do it," she said.
Gordon-Booth said it'll take time to develop such a bill, but she believes these cases deserve attention because there could be many more like them.
"So, disrupting my life didn't mean anything to them officers. And until something comes where it rattles their cage, I think that's the only time they're gonna pay attention and say it meant something," McWilliams said.