We'll shut down rush hour traffic to send message to Mayor Rahm Emanuel – WSOC TV
CHICAGO – Protesters are set to march on the Windy City’s iconic Lake Shore Drive Thursday to express outrage over Chicago’s endemic gun violence and call for the resignation of the city’s mayor and police superintendent.
The demonstration organizers said they planned to shut down rush hour traffic along the busy thoroughfare on the city’s lakefront and then march to Wrigley Field, where the Chicago Cubs were set to host San Diego Padres.
Organizers of the march say that some protesters may try to force their way into the ballpark.
The protest is set to start at 4 p.m. CST.
Police, however, announced out of concern for safety for protesters and motorists that they would preemptively close a roughly two-mile stretch of Lake Shore Drive to vehicular traffic shortly before the scheduled start of the protest. They planned to reopen it soon after marchers passed through the area.
Rev. Gregory Livingston, one of the march’s lead organizers, said demonstrators decided to bring the protest through the heart of the city’s more affluent enclaves on the North Side to “redistribute the pain” of gun violence and economic disinvestment plaguing some of Chicago’s black and Latino communities.
Chicago has recorded more than 300 murders so far in 2018, more than any other U.S. city but a 23 percent decline in killings compared to the same time last year.
The protest organizers declined to seek a permit for the march or coordinate with police ahead of the demonstration.
“We’re not looking for permission because we need to really make an impact on City Hall,” Livingston said.
The protest comes during a busy tourism week for Chicago with the annual Lollapalooza music festival starting Thursday in downtown Grant Park. On Thursday, Livingston called on the festival performers to stand with protesters.
“I’m asking the stars of Lollapalooza not to perform today and Shutdown Lollapalooza,” Livingston said. “This would be a show of solidarity with Marchers who can’t afford Lollapalooza tickets but rather struggle to breathe under the looming shadows of death, poverty and second-class citizenship.”
Thursday's performers include English rock band Arctic Monkeys, indie rock act Franz Ferdinad, and the Scottish synth-pop band Cvrches. Lollapalooza officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The demonstration comes weeks after a separate group of anti-violence protesters, led by Rev. Michael Pflegar, shut down traffic on the Dan Ryan Expressway, a highway that cuts through some of the Chicago’s South Side neighborhood most impacted by gun violence.
Police initially tried to dissuade Pflegar from marching on the interstate. But eventually Mayor Rahm Emanuel expressed support for the Dan Ryan protest. At one point during the July demonstration, Police Supt. Eddie Johnson even marched arm-in-arm with Pflegar.
Organizers of Thursday’s march, however, said that the last thing they want is the Emanuel administration’s blessing.
"When a mayor endorses a protest, it's no longer a protest, it's a parade," said Rev. Ira Acree, an activist from the city’s West Side.
Emanuel, who is up for re-election next year, has faced criticism from some city activists for bringing little investment in black and Latino communities on the South and West Sides, while Chicago’s downtown and North Side flourishes.
The mayor’s standing in the black community also took a hit following the 2015 release of chilling police dashcam video showing a white police officer fire 16 shots at Laquan McDonald, a 17-year-old black suspect who was wielding a small knife but appeared to be walking away from police.
The footage of the fatal shooting was released under court order 400 days after the incident, and spurred weeks of peaceful protests on the streets of Chicago. Van Dyke, who was charged with first-degree murder, is scheduled to go on trial next month.
Emanuel rolled out a series of reforms for the police department in the aftermath of McDonald shooting, including equipping all officers with body worn cameras, tightening the department’s use of force policy and improving mental health training.
Last week, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Emanuel announced that they had come to an agreement on a draft consent decree laying out a plan to implement further court-monitored reforms for the Chicago Police Department.
WSOC
