Helping them with their street cred.
Via Chicago Tribune:
Illinois State Police on Monday arrested a dozen anti-violence protesters who were trying to march onto the Kennedy Expressway near O’Hare International Airport.
Eight men and four women were arrested, given $120 citations for being a “pedestrian on a highway,” and released, according to State Police Major David Byrd. Among those arrested was the Rev. Gregory Livingston, who organized the protest.
Livingston and about 60 other protesters were met by dozens of state troopers who lined the Cumberland Avenue entrance ramp to Interstate 90. A trooper on a megaphone repeated: “This is the Illinois State Police. It is against the law to be a pedestrian on the roadway.”
Police told the protesters to turn around, and Livingston replied, “We understand. No.” Protesters then chanted, “Ain’t nobody going to turn us around.”
A trooper asked protesters to leave the ramp entrance and warned that arrests would be made.
Afterward, Byrd said the protest was peaceful, with no injuries to protesters or police.
“At the end of the day it was respectful on both sides,” he said. “We were prepared for all contingencies, including making arrests.”
Demonstrators left the entrance to the expressway ramp and marched toward the designated protest area at the intersection of Cumberland Avenue and Higgins Road. After stopping at the CTA’s Cumberland Blue Line station, they headed back to the protest area.
By 1:45 p.m., the 15 to 20 remaining protesters had dispersed.
The protest in 85-degree heat was the third attempt to disrupt a major Chicago roadway since July.
Thomas Cook, a 38-year-old from Edgewater, held a sign that read: “Dear Rahm, Do more 4 the South & West Sides or Resign Now.”
“We need to bring attention to the vast inequalities between the North Side and the South Side,” said Cook, who said he wished Monday’s protest were bigger.
“I wish the whole city was out here, the North Side especially. But you’ve got to do something,” he said.
Kim Costello, of Oak Park, carried a sign that read, “Racism is wrong.” She said it was important that white people like her join the protests to draw attention to racial inequality.