Did Terror Fears Play Role in Chicago Night Club Panic and Deaths?
by RAY HANANIA Chicago. An apparent fight between two women at a nightclub on Chicago’s South Side started a panic that resulted in the deaths of at least 21 people, but many people in Chicago are asking if the panic was escalated by fears of a possible terror attack and the nation’s heightened terror alert. Although witnesses said the fight continued to escalate even after security at the club allegedly used pepper spray and mace to try to break it up, other witnesses said someone at the club started yelling “Bin Laden. Bin Laden” on the microphone apparently as a joke to lighten the tense mood. Other sources said that the phrase “terrorist attack” was also yelled out as the crowd’s fears only increased with the spread of the pepper spray or mace gases. When the melee was over, 21 people were confirmed dead in the tragedy at the Epitome Restaurant/E2 Night Club, at 24th and Michigan Avenue in a predominantly African American community on Chicago’s South Side. Area hospitals reported t
