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In this December 31, 2016 file photo, the Reverend Michael Pfleger, in the center, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, is gone. Jacqueline Collins, on the right, led hundreds of people in a march on Michigan Avenue, carrying crosses for all those who were killed by the Chicago violence in 2016 and calling for an end to the violence in Chicago.
(Ashlee Rezin / Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
A group of protesters planned Saturday to descend a major highway in Chicago as part of a broader effort to increase pressure on government officials to fight gun violence that claimed the lives of hundreds of people. people in the city.
The Dan Ryan Expressway – a highway that incorporates portions of Interstates 90 and 94 – was chosen for its historical significance, having been a symbol of racial segregation in the 1960s.
Chicago police said that the city saw 252 homicides and 1,100 shots in the first six months of this year, a decrease compared to the same period last year. But these crimes have been heavily concentrated in predominantly black and low-income neighborhoods.
Reverend Michael Pfleger, a Catholic priest and anti-violence activist on the south side of the city who will lead Saturday's march, said that a banner with a list of applications. They include: more resources, jobs, better schools, and tougher firearms laws – things that Pfleger says they've been looking for for years.
"When people keep ignoring you, you take a step. keep taking a step until we get answers. "
– Reverend Michael Pfleger
" When people continue to ignore you, you take it a notch, "said Pfleger." We will continue to take a notch up to this point. that we get answers. "
Hundreds and possibly thousands of people, including other clergy, residents, and community leaders, had to join the march despite warnings from the police
Illinois State Police, which has jurisdiction over highways, said the march could put lives in "grave danger", including protesters, motorists and those in need
"This call to protest Dan Ryan, even though he is well-intentioned, is reckless," said Leo Schmitz, director of the state police. from Illinois,
Pfleger and Reverend Jesse Jackson. have walked the streets of the neighborhood, outside churches and along Michigan Avenue, and nothing has changed.
Jackson said that the city still had "ghetto borders" – real or imagined – signed to keep "guns and drugs in and jobs and schools on."
L & # 39; Associated Press contributed to this report
Bradford Betz is a publisher for Fox News Follow him on Twitter @bradford_betz.
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