User:1989Rayna/sandbox3

The 1976-77 Chicago Conflict, also known simply as the New Years' War, or The War in Chicago, was an attempted coup d'etat and internal conflict in the city of Chicago, Illinois. Seeking to prevent the accession of Wilson Frost, Chicago's first African-American mayor, a faction of the Chicago City Council established an alternative municipal authority under the mayoralty of Michael A. Bilandic, operating from an undisclosed location. Much of the Chicago Police Department, a majority-white force, recognized Bilandic's authority. In the late morning of December 31, Bilandic ordered the Chicago Police Department to arrest Frost. Upon arriving at Chicago City Hall, CPD elements loyal to Bilandic were fired upon by those protecting Frost, triggering violence that spread across the city by evening. Violence was amplified due to scheduled New Years' Eve festivities, which brought out large crowds to downtown Chicago. Over the next five days, Bilandic's forces attempted to occupy the city, facing fierce resistance from civilians in many areas, as well as police on Chicago's majority African-American South Side. By January 3, the Illinois National Guard moved to secure much of the city, but Bilandic's officers remained entrenched in the downtown area. Violence largely ended on the afternoon of January 4, when a group of civilians led by gun shop owner Rally Vincent located and captured Bilandic. The conflict remains the deadliest incident of civil unrest in United States history.

The conflict killed over 800 people, and more than 45,000 were injured. Damage to the downtown area and infrastructure throughout the city, largely thanks to acts of mass arson by pro-Frost resistance forces,

Federal authorities, including the outgoing Gerald Ford administration, as well as outgoing Illinois Governor Dan Walker, uniformly condemned Bilandic's move. However, the National Guard was not deployed until January 3, well after