‘Today we got attention’: Anti-gun-violence protesters shut down Chicago motorway
‘Today we got their attention,’ Reverend Michael Pfleger said, sayying that the next step is an ‘aggressive plan’ to address the violence
Thousands of anti-violence protesters marched along a Chicago interstate on Saturday, shutting down traffic in an effort to draw attention to the gun violence that has claimed hundreds of lives 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”.
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Toward the front of the march the Reverend Michael Pfleger, who organised the protest, Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson and the Reverend Jesse Jackson linked arms.
The march took place along the northbound lanes of Interstate 94, known as the Dan Ryan Expressway, after a roughly hour-long stand-off between police and the protesters.
Illinois State Police, which had warned earlier in the week that any pedestrian entering the motorway 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.
But Pfleger and protesters insisted there was no agreement and that they would shut down the entire northbound roadway, with Pfleger noting the city closes major roads for parades and other occasions.