The SWAT team surrounds the Humboldt Park building where a man waved what appeared to be guns as he shouted racist threats

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A police SWAT team cordoned off several blocks around a building in Humboldt Park on Friday where a man was waving what appeared to be firearms as he walked up and down a makeshift tower block shouting racist threats .

Police were called to the 4000 block of West Chicago Street shortly before 9 a.m. and closed nearby streets while they attempted to speak to the man. At 4 p.m., police appeared to have entered the building, but no further details were available.

Throughout the day, the man brandished what looked like guns as he stood atop scaffolding on the roof. He shouted racial slurs and obscenities at the police.

Sometimes he would wave to people gathered below or use a siren to drown out what an officer was saying over a megaphone. Sometimes he sat on a lawn chair on the middle level of the tower.

Several flags flew from the scaffolding, including an American flag displayed upside down and one with a smiley face. Neighbors said he had also displayed a Nazi flag.

I saw the white flag of power up there, it’s just ridiculous, said Abraham Simmons, 43, whose mother lives a few blocks away.

According to Simmons, the building was used for events and had recently undergone construction.

I don’t know who owns the building, but clearly they don’t have a problem with the flags up there, it’s like they’re invisible,” Simmons said.

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