Sarge's favorite Irish Resturant was Attack by protesters

The melee at a Tinley Park restaurant Saturday appears to have been the work of radical protesters who wanted to attack a gathering of alleged white supremacists, the mayor and a law enforcement source said.

Ten people were injured at the Ashford House Restaurant on 159^th Street after 15 to 18 young people, wearing hooded black jackets and wielding bats and hammers, burst inside and attacked another group of 12 to 15 people who were meeting there, officials said.

Mayor Ed Zabrocki said police believe the attackers were from a group called Anti-Racist Action, which on its website described the assault as a strike against a gathering of white supremacists.

The law enforcement source said the victims included several people with ties to a white supremacist group. Zabrocki said that was his understanding, too, but that police were still trying to clarify those links.

Five people remained in custody in connection with the attack, Zabrocki said, adding that the state’s attorney's office was exploring criminal charges.

Restaurant owner Mike Winston said the group that was attacked had made a reservation, saying they were from an Irish heritage association.

"We had no idea who these people were," he said. "We don’t ask for people’s political stuff when they come in the door."

The trouble put a deep dent in his business, he said. A wedding shower booked for Sunday was canceled, he said, and the normally packed dining room was practically barren.