(update below)

The Chicago chapter of the pro-Israel group, StandWithUs, organized a rally on July 22 to show support for the country’s military assault on Gaza. During the rally, a man was arrested by Chicago police for carrying a gun at the demonstration.

Up until now, the man has been identified in the local press. His name is Andrew Glatz. He is 37-years-old and lives in Lincolnwood, IL. However, it has not been reported that he was with the people who were rallying for Israel.

Officer Thomas Sweeney of the Chicago Police Department’s Media Affairs Office indicated that Glatz was arrested around 3 pm and charged with a misdemeanor. He had a conceal/carry permit for his weapon, however, under state law, Glatz is prohibited from having his gun at a public gathering open to the public.

Here is Glatz being arrested:

A man with a handgun arrested at pro-Israel rally near Israeli consulate. pic.twitter.com/VRYlv3ibXB

— Stephen Miller (@ssmiller) July 22, 2014

Glatz is the president of Crown Heights Realty. He boasts in his own public LinkedIn profile that he is a “top producing real estate deal maker” and has “personally been involved in the sale or re-sale of more than 770 condominium units or homes totaling in excess of $400 million dollars.” His sales have been made in upper-class neighborhoods of downtown Chicago like River North, Streeterville and the Gold Coast. And Glatz claims to have sold “more condo hotel units at Trump International Tower than any other broker or brokerage firm.”

He sold NBA basketball player Derrick Rose his “$2.7 million bachelor pad” on the 84th floor of the Trump International Tower.

But Glatz also associates himself with the America-Israel Chamber of Commerce in Chicago. In November 2013, he went on Jewish United Fund—sponsored “mission” to Israel.

On July 21, a day before the rally, the account for his real estate firm was used to troll actress and singer Selena Gomez:

Glatz’s Facebook page shows that he “likes” the Israeli Air Force and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). He also wrote this on the wall of the “StandWithUs – Chicago” community page:

Hatem Abudayyeh, an organizer with the Coalition for Justice in Palestine, attended the rally. He was unaware that Glatz had been arrested for having a handgun. Nonetheless, when informed that this was the person who had been arrested, Abudayyeh suggested that this reflected the “types of people who act with impunity” and think they’re beyond the law.

Abudayyeh compared him to settlers in Palestine, who act as if they are above the law, and called it disturbing that the press had not investigated him more. He’s basically a member of the rich, who believes he can do whatever he wants, so he brought a gun to a rally because he did not figure police would arrest him.

It is rather remarkable that Glatz would think police are not protecting “the few Jews that are peacefully protesting.” According to Abudayyeh, a group of pro-Israel demonstrators, who had been blocked off across the street and separated from the Palestinian supporters, came over to provoke and incite them yesterday.

According to Abudayyeh, the police response was to take horses and a line of about thirty officers and surround the Palestinian supporters.

“I went ballistic on the commander. I said this is horrible, horrible racism. You put her horses and the majority of your cops in front of us when they’re the ones who marched from their rally spot to provoke us. If we had tried to do that to them, you all would have went wild. You would have started arresting people on the spot. Why did you even allow them to get to that spot when you wouldn’t allow us to get near them?” Abudayyeh said.

Abudayyeh also complained about the fact that the police department did not put a press release out on Glatz after he was arrested. He asserted this was an example of a double standard. “If anybody on our side had been caught with a handgun, it would have been a felony and it would have been all over the news.”

StandWithUs has a record of right wing politics with a “web of funders who support organizations that have been accused of anti-Muslim propaganda” and encourage “a militant Israeli and US foreign policy in the Middle East.” The group has opposed the center-right organization, J Street, for supporting “negotiations” with Hamas and for supporting individuals critical of the Israeli government, according to the Inter-Press Service.

It is unclear how police discovered Glatz was carrying a concealed weapon or why Glatz even brought a gun to the demonstration. Possibly, Glatz was afraid police would not protect him and he needed to have it because he has a fear of Palestinians and their supporters.

What is more important is that all of Glatz’s relevant associations and affiliations would likely have been known by now if he had been a brown-skinned person with an Arabic-sounding name who was arrested.

If he didn’t socialize with the rich and go to lavish dinners attended by people like Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, perhaps he would have faced much more scrutiny. But it appears local news media have mostly ignored the fact that a man, who sells condos to the 1%, was arrested for having a gun at a pro-Israel rally.

Update

More confirmation of Glatz’s arrest — Crown Heights Realty has confirmed he was arrested but cannot provide further comment at this time.

Here he is in this screen shot pulled from a Chicago Tribune photo:

His shirt matches the one he was wearing in the arrest photo embedded in this post.