Horse ridden down the Dan Ryan is doing better, says Mayor Lori Lightfoot, criticizing the ‘stunt’ by the ‘Dreadhead Cowboy’
The horse ridden down the Dan Ryan Expressway as part of a protest by the “Dreadhead Cowboy” is recovering, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Monday, days after prosecutors said it may have to be put down because of injuries suffered during the ride.
“The horse was in shock, had to be put on an IV (but) is making steady progress, I’m happy to report,” she said.
Lightfoot again made clear, though, that she objected to the “stunt,” as she called the protest.
“What he did was absolutely wrong,” she said. “He almost killed that horse. That doesn’t even address the way that he put himself and passing motorists at risk, law enforcement at risk, over a stunt.”
Adam Hollingsworth, 33, said he made the ride last Monday afternoon to bring attention to all the children who have been shot in Chicago this year. “I shut down the Dan Ryan, Kids’ Lives Matter,” he streamed that day on Facebook Live.
The horse collapsed at the end of the ride, and Hollingsworth was arrested and charged with aggravated animal cruelty, trespassing and reckless conduct. During a court hearing last week, prosecutors said the horse was extremely dehydrated and had cuts to its front legs.
While the mayor said she sympathized with Hollingsworth’s cause, she made it clear she did not support his actions.
“As my mother taught me from a very early age, there’s a right way and a wrong way to do everything, and what he did — putting himself at risk, putting that horse at risk, putting passing motorists at risk, for that jaunt on the Dan Ryan, was decidedly the wrong way,” she said.
After Hollingsworth bonded out of jail, he publicly asked for Lightfoot’s help and noted that he had helped her with a drive to get people counted for the census during a memorable news conference where she donned a green cowboy hat.
“When she called upon me, I was there for her,” he said. “What I did Monday was my stress signal. Lori, come help me. I can’t do it alone.”
But Lightfoot said Hollingsworth “hasn’t represented the city in months.”
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