Aldermen approved a resolution honoring several departments, including Chicago police and firefighters as well as Illinois State Police. They were praised for balancing safety with the rights of protesters.
Some even compared Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy with George Washington and Braveheart. Mayor Rahm Emanuel joked about banning such references, but he did offer his thanks "on behalf of a grateful city."
"We wrote a new chapter in the history of this city," said Emanuel. "We have turned the page from what happened in the past, and Chicago has become the new gold standard of how what to do, not what not to do."
Superintendent McCarthy called it all the "seamless execution of a great plan."
