Protesters planning to shut down a major interstate (I-94) on Saturday July 7 say that they're trying to increase pressure on public officials to address the gun violence that claims hundreds of lives in the city's most desperate neighborhoods.
There's also a historical significance to the "Dan Ryan Expressway" that divided to the west Comiskey Neighborhood and to the east Robert Taylor Homes, a high-rise public housing complex notorious for gang violence. . .
It was the kind of racial and economic segregation that still exists in Chicago today.
Chicago police said the city saw 252 homicides and 1,100 shootings in the first six months of this year, a decrease from the same period last year. But those crimes have been heavily concentrated in predominantly black, low-income neighborhoods.
The Rev. Michael Pfleger, a Roman Catholic priest and anti-violence activist on the city’s South Side who will lead Saturday’s march, said the protesters will carry a banner with a list of demands. They include: more resources, jobs, better schools and stronger gun laws — things Pfleger says they’ve been seeking for years.
“When people keep ignoring you, you take it up a notch,” Pfleger said. “We are going to continue to take it up a notch until we get responses.”
Hundreds and possibly thousands of people, including other clergy, residents and community leaders, are expected to join the march, despite police warnings that any pedestrian who enters the expressway faces arrest and prosecution.
Illinois State Police, which has jurisdiction over expressways, said the march could put lives in “grave danger,” including protesters, motorists and people needing access to emergency services who may be blocked or delayed.
“This call to protest on the Dan Ryan, however well-intentioned, is reckless,” Illinois State Police Director Leo Schmitz said.
https://apnews.com/93705445c1d44d5b9b029f19359e5e6a
