Anti-violence protesters shut down part of Chicago freeway

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Sara Burnett, Associated Press
Updated 3:19 pm CDT, Saturday, July 7, 2018

CHICAGO (AP) — Thousands of anti-violence protesters marched along a Chicago interstate on Saturday, shutting down traffic to draw attention to the gun violence that's claimed hundreds of lives in some of the city's poorest neighborhoods and pressure public officials to do more to stop it.

Marchers chanted, "Stop the killing," and carried signs reading, "We need jobs," and other messages. Some stopped to scrawl on the road with chalk: "Enough is enough" and "Peace." Toward the front of the march the Rev. Michael Pfleger, a Roman Catholic priest on the city's South Side who organized the protest; Chicago police Supt. Eddie Johnson; and the Rev. Jesse Jackson linked arms.

"The people won today because the people showed up. They saw this many people out here, black and white and brown and young and old, and saying, 'We're tired of the damn violence in Chicago,'" Pfleger said after completing the roughly 1.5-mile (2.4 kilometer) route.

"We want the governor, the mayor, the elected officials and the community all to come together and say, 'We want peace now.'"

Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/education/article/Anti-violence-protesters-want-to-shut-down-13055847.php#photo-15835621

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Anti-violence protesters shut down part of Chicago freeway
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
JUL 07, 2018 | 1:20 PM
| CHICAGO

Thousands of anti-violence protesters marched along a Chicago interstate Saturday, shutting down traffic in an effort to draw attention to the gun violence that has claimed hundreds of lives in some of the city's poorest neighborhoods and to pressure public officials to do more to stop it.

Marchers chanted, "Stop the killing," and carried signs reading, "We need jobs," and other messages. Some stopped to scrawl on the road with chalk: "Enough is enough" and "Peace." Toward the front of the march, the Rev. Michael Pfleger, who organized the protest, Chicago police Supt. Eddie Johnson and the Rev. Jesse Jackson linked arms.

The march took place along the northbound lanes of Interstate 94, known as the Dan Ryan Expressway, after a roughly hourlong standoff between police and the protesters.

Illinois State Police, which had warned earlier in the week that any pedestrian entering the expressway would face arrest, said early Saturday that an agreement had been reached for protesters to march on a portion of the roadway. Officers and vehicles lined up, forming a barrier to keep protesters in two northbound lanes, allowing some traffic to pass in other northbound lanes.

More:
http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-chicago-anti-violence-protest-20180707-story.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. People Are Mad At The Illinois Governor For Calling A Peaceful Protest Against Gun Violence In Chica

"Delete your account," tweeted the Chicago mayor to the Illinois governor.

Posted on July 7, 2018, at 4:01 p.m.
Amber Jamieson
BuzzFeed News Reporter

Thousands of people protested in Chicago on Saturday morning against gun violence and in favor of new gun laws.

One of the aims of the protest was to shut down the Dan Ryan Expressway, one of the city's main arterial roads.

At first, police let protesters march down just one lane of the freeway.

. . .

However, the Illinois governor was not OK that protesters shut down the expressway. Gov. Bruce Rauner tweeted that the demonstrators "chose... to cause chaos."

More:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/amberjamieson/chicago-protests-dan-ryan-closed-governor?utm_term=.mlq9AGPzL#.epVDqe4yl