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A few hours before the start of the event scheduled for the closure of the Dan Ryan Highway, the Illinois State Police announced Saturday that she would be working with the protesters to allow access while keeping some lanes open to traffic. . Michael Pfleger, a priest from the St. Sabina Catholic Church, and other anti-violence protesters aimed to close the Dan Ryan Expressway's northbound lanes Saturday morning in an effort to put pressure on those responsible. to combat violence, unemployment and access to weapons. But according to a statement from the state police, their agency officials will work alongside those of the Chicago Police Department and the Illinois Transportation Department to provide "a safety barrier between motorists driving on the highway and the "
Protesters began their slow walk on the highway shortly before 10:30 am, entering the Dan Ryan at the ramp on 79th Street.Thousands of walkers were walking slowly on the grassy shoulder beside Dan Ryan's northbound lanes Some ducked under the sign of Chicago Skyway.
"The blood of Jesus!" shouted Delores Bailey, the mother of Demario Bailey, 15, who was shot in 2014. "Put the weapons, keep the Bible! "
" Teenagers put themselves forward! "Shouted someone else."
A contingent of Chicago police and Illinois state soldiers stood in line in front of the crowd. Illinois corrections also blocked the road
Cars were allowed to pass through the two outermost lanes
Protesters must walk on the highway for about a mile and a half until At 67th Street.
Protesters gathered near the 79th and the streets of the state.Some hoisted signs indicating "NO DRUGS WAR" and "NO GUN", with an illustration of Another sign said: "They do not care about us: with pictures of Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Governor Bruce Rauner on either side, some of them holding placards with the names of the victims of murder, a person struck a drum
Crowd also included several elected representatives, including US representative Danny Davis, whose 15-year-old grandson, Javon Wilson, was shot in the South Side in 2016.
Inside a fenced area along 79th street east of State Street, while representatives of St. Sabina were riding on bullhorns, protesters were pleading to penetrate inside
Rev. Harolynn McIntosh, dressed in bright white dresses, was sitting in her wheelchair on the ground near the highway, waiting for the march to begin
"Whenever I open the news and that's it. a child caught a bullet … it hurts my heart, because they're not going to fulfill their dreams, "said McIntosh, who has worked at Chicago Public Schools for about 30 years and serves as reverend to South Side Church
McIntosh was joined by Charles Taylor, a 17-year-old Evanston, who met her by chance as protesters gathered in. Taylor agreed to push her wheelchair on the Dan Ryan
"I'm just showing my support and making sure the change happens," he said "ongoing discussion," but also says the decision was made Thursday. Even after the latest state police announcement, the protest could cause massive headaches to law enforcement and to thousands of Chicago motorists, especially those who are trying to cross the South Side.
For protesters, disrupting a Saturday morning is part of the point. For others, it is a useless and dangerous intrusion on one of the busiest arteries in the city. City officials tried to persuade the organizers not to go ahead with the expressway protest plan.
Pfleger said this week that civil disobedience is what makes authorities and governments aware and listen. He stressed that the march is only the first step "to draw attention to the urgency of the problem."
The next step, Pfleger said, is for concerned citizens of the communities most affected by the violence to sit down with Mayor Rahm Emanuel and other officials to discuss how to get around. get more jobs and other resources in these neighborhoods
Anti-Violence Protesters to Close the Dan Ryan Highway Saturday: 5 Things to Know »
How to move Saturday so anti The Illinois State Police, the agency responsible for patrolling the highway, warned Pfleger and other activists that they would risk to be arrested when they proceeded to the closure of Dan Ryan.Jesse Jackson remained provocative, on Tu "When people co If you do not know, you take a step, "said Pfleger earlier in the week.
State police, meanwhile, warned pedestrians "not to come in" The Cook County Public Defender's Office announced that it would make lawyers available to the public Saturday in case of arrest.The public defenders will be able to help the Chicago area police stations and the Leighton Criminal Court Duties Court
The Reverend Jackson said on Friday that the inconveniences for motorists would be temporary, while conditions the site – the loss of jobs, closed schools and the collapse of industrial and manufacturing facilities – is permanent
"The nonviolent demonstration is sometimes the only one way to attract attention that will help change things, "said Jackson." I am perfectly willing to be stopped to draw attention to this crisis. The stoppage of traffic is less detrimental than shooting, killing and imprisonment. "
Jackson said the protest was intended to spur further reinvestment in the poorer parts of the southern part of the city, where weapons and deserts were rife.
" We have an obligation to "re-enforce. address those who have been abandoned, "said Jackson
.The Chicago police said she was ready to ensure only crowd security and traffic control functions. Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Friday that the department would play a supporting role to the state police.Hundreds of Chicago police will conduct crowd control and traffic on the streets outside Dan Ryan and its overpasses, said Guglielmi, adding that these officers will ensure that buses carrying protesters can come in and out safely.
Pfl eger said that it should not be a big order for the state police to plan a disruption on the highway considering that such highways are closed for presidential and general visits. other special occasions.
"This is not rocket science," Pfleger said. "They need to understand."
Armed violence in the city remains a stubborn problem, although the number of gunfire victims in Chicago has dropped since it reached its highest level in 20 years in 2016.
At least 1,378 people have been photographed so far this year in Chicago, data compiled by the Tribune show. And at least 61 of this year's victims were children 15 and under.
If walking arrives on the highway, it will not be the first time that a Chicago highway will be disrupted by protesters. In July 2016, protesters marched on the south lanes of the Dan Ryan Expressway for about five to ten minutes in response to the deaths of two African American men killed in clashes with police in Minnesota and Louisiana. Last year, homeless activists and protesters briefly stopped traffic on Lake Shore Drive to protest the city's decision to clean the areas beneath the Uptown viaducts. There were also some closures of Lake Shore Drive by protesters after grand juries decided not to charge the police during the police shootings in New York and Ferguson, Mo.
jgorner @ ch icagotribune.com
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