Chicago activists who claim they were intentionally barred from the past two city council meetings are now suing the city council. 

Andy Thayer and Rick Garcia brought the complaint Thursday and are being represented by Loevy & Loevy and the Uptown People's Law Center. 

The activists allege they were kept out of the May and June monthly city council meetings in violation of the Illinois Open Meetings Act. They claim police let in "dozens of interns ... enough to close the chamber to the rest of the citizenry."

"People in the city of Chicago are sick and tired of measures being cooked at the top and then being rammed through the city council with no transparency, with no attempt at a true resident and citizen involvement," Thayer stressed.

The complaint requests that the final actions taken at the May and June city council meetings be declared "null and void." 

Among the actions Thayer and other North Side activists are seeking to nullify is last month's approval of a $15.8 million tax increment financing (TIF) subsidy for a luxury high rise planned for Uptown. Opponents of the project have been vocal in their opposition to the long-proposed development. 

A city law department spokesman declined to comment on the lawsuit. He stressed, however, that the city "fully and completely complies with the Open Meetings Act."