Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Anti-violence protest leads to arrests
CHICAGO — Police arrested a dozen people as well as the organizer of an anti-violence protest that sought to shut down part of an expressway near Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport on Labor Day.
Live television reports Monday showed the Rev. Gregory Livingston speaking calmly to an Illinois State Police trooper as other protesters and dozens of other troopers stood nearby.
When the trooper explained to Livingston that he would be arrested if he didn’t leave an area close to the expressway, Livingston responded politely: “Arrest me.” The trooper tapped him on the shoulder before leading him away. Authorities have not said if he will be charged.
Earlier in the day, as several dozen protesters gathered, Livingston told reporters that he wanted to highlight the inequities in the nation’s third-largest city. Poverty and a lack of investment in minority neighborhoods underpinned much of the deadly violence, he said.
“What we’re trying to do is end the tale of two cities in Chicago,” he said. “We think that so much of this violence is generated by Chicago’s legacy of segregation.”
Troopers successfully blocked access to Interstate 90, also known as the Kennedy Expressway, and no protesters appeared to reach it. The demonstrators had planned to march westbound on the interstate for about a mile.
Some protesters carried signs that read, “End StateSanctioned Violence.” Other called on Chicago’s mayor to resign, chanting, “Hey, hey. Ho, ho. Rahm Emanuel has got to go!”