Michigan Avenue Protest Urges Boycott, Awareness of Police Misconduct
For a second year in a row, protesters marched down North Michigan Avenue calling for a Black Friday boycott. The protest, organized by the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, also denounced the city's planned Civilian Office of Police Accountability on Nov. 25, 2016. (Alyssa Pointer & Abel Uribe/Chicago Tribune)
Christy Gutowski and Juan Perez Jr.Contact Reporters
Chicago Tribune
Protesters attempted to stop holiday shopping along parts of Chicago's Magnificent Mile for the second consecutive year, urging a Black Friday boycott to demand civilian oversight of city law enforcement amid high-profile police shootings and continuing neighborhood gun violence.
After organizing early Friday near the old Water Tower monument, as many as 200 demonstrators peacefully marched on sidewalks under a heavy police presence during an effort to block several Michigan Avenue storefronts on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
Activists focused their attention along a five-block stretch just north of the Chicago River while chanting, "No justice. No peace," and "Hey, hey. Ho, ho. Rahm Emanuel has got to go."
A protester and a passerby face off during a rally along Chicago's Magnificent Mile urging a Black Friday boycott to raise awareness of police misconduct toward minorities and other inequalities in the city's poorest neighborhoods.
The demonstration failed to gain the momentum of last year's Black Friday march, when a massive crowd of approximately 1,000 people shut down some retailers and halted traffic in the heart of the city's famed shopping district.
The earlier protest came just days after the city released police dashcam video capturing the fatal October 2014 shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald by a white Chicago police officer. The 17-year-old was shot 16 times as he appeared — with knife in hand — to be walking away from police.
Friday's protest followed three fatal Chicago police shootings in the past week, including that of 19-year-old Kajuan Raye. Police fatally shot Raye in West Englewood late Wednesday.
Many demonstrators also spoke about the fatal police shooting of Joshua Beal earlier this month in the Mt. Greenwood neighborhood. Beal's mother, Tiffaney Boxley, thanked participants for their activism.
For the second year in a row, protesters rallied along Chicago's Magnificent Mile urging a Black Friday boycott to raise awareness of police misconduct toward minorities and other inequalities in the city's poorest neighborhoods.
"We have a long fight ahead of us," she said.
This year's rally was planned by a network of groups that includes the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and the local chapter of Black Lives Matter. Organizers said they wanted to draw attention to a range of issues, including police treatment of minorities and economic inequalities in West and South Side neighborhoods plagued by gun violence, struggling schools and poverty.
But their main target was Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his new police oversight agency, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, which protesters argue falls short of their call for a civilian-led council to investigate cases of alleged police misconduct. Activists carried signs that promoted their proposal for an elected police watchdog group, the Civilian Police Accountability Council, or CPAC.
Demonstrators, gathering weeks after the divisive U.S. presidential election, also voiced their opposition to President-elect Donald Trump.
They locked arm-in-arm, formed a human chain and tried to keep shoppers from entering the Nike, Apple and Victoria's Secret stores, while police officers formed their own competing wall of bodies to usher people through.
Some minor scuffles broke out when shoppers tried to enter stores by pushing through lines of demonstrators, but the four-hour event was largely peaceful.
Some onlookers even snapped pictures and carried on undeterred with their shopping.
For the second year in a row, protesters rallied along Chicago's Magnificent Mile urging a Black Friday boycott to raise awareness of police misconduct toward minorities and other inequalities in the city's poorest neighborhoods.
Police reported no significant problems, and said three arrests were made for charges including trespassing and resisting arrest.
There also were a few lighter moments, including one outside Saks Fifth Avenue when demonstrator Calvin Jackson chanted, "Go home. Go eat turkey!" at would-be shoppers. Officers could occasionally be seen laughing with demonstrators and some passersby made a point of delivering high-fives or handshakes to police at the scene.
"For some, it's about the police; some it's about immigration. It's just all the people who are not (Trump supporters), and they're afraid," said protester Barbara Lyons, 79, of Jewish Voice for Peace.
"It just upsets me what kind of world my grandchildren will grow up in," she said.
Los Angeles resident Kirby Shaw, who was in town to visit his sister, decided to join the demonstration while taking in the sights along Michigan Avenue.
Shaw, 23, said he understands some will not be happy with the message to boycott Black Friday, but "for one day of the year you can not buy things and support your local retailers and help make a difference."
Chicago Tribune's Ally Marotti contributed.
cmgutowski@chicagotribune.com
jjperez@chicagotribune.com
Christy Gutowski and Juan Perez Jr.Contact Reporters
Chicago Tribune
Protesters attempted to stop holiday shopping along parts of Chicago's Magnificent Mile for the second consecutive year, urging a Black Friday boycott to demand civilian oversight of city law enforcement amid high-profile police shootings and continuing neighborhood gun violence.
After organizing early Friday near the old Water Tower monument, as many as 200 demonstrators peacefully marched on sidewalks under a heavy police presence during an effort to block several Michigan Avenue storefronts on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
Activists focused their attention along a five-block stretch just north of the Chicago River while chanting, "No justice. No peace," and "Hey, hey. Ho, ho. Rahm Emanuel has got to go."
A protester and a passerby face off during a rally along Chicago's Magnificent Mile urging a Black Friday boycott to raise awareness of police misconduct toward minorities and other inequalities in the city's poorest neighborhoods.
The demonstration failed to gain the momentum of last year's Black Friday march, when a massive crowd of approximately 1,000 people shut down some retailers and halted traffic in the heart of the city's famed shopping district.
The earlier protest came just days after the city released police dashcam video capturing the fatal October 2014 shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald by a white Chicago police officer. The 17-year-old was shot 16 times as he appeared — with knife in hand — to be walking away from police.
Friday's protest followed three fatal Chicago police shootings in the past week, including that of 19-year-old Kajuan Raye. Police fatally shot Raye in West Englewood late Wednesday.
Many demonstrators also spoke about the fatal police shooting of Joshua Beal earlier this month in the Mt. Greenwood neighborhood. Beal's mother, Tiffaney Boxley, thanked participants for their activism.
For the second year in a row, protesters rallied along Chicago's Magnificent Mile urging a Black Friday boycott to raise awareness of police misconduct toward minorities and other inequalities in the city's poorest neighborhoods.
"We have a long fight ahead of us," she said.
This year's rally was planned by a network of groups that includes the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and the local chapter of Black Lives Matter. Organizers said they wanted to draw attention to a range of issues, including police treatment of minorities and economic inequalities in West and South Side neighborhoods plagued by gun violence, struggling schools and poverty.
But their main target was Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his new police oversight agency, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, which protesters argue falls short of their call for a civilian-led council to investigate cases of alleged police misconduct. Activists carried signs that promoted their proposal for an elected police watchdog group, the Civilian Police Accountability Council, or CPAC.
Demonstrators, gathering weeks after the divisive U.S. presidential election, also voiced their opposition to President-elect Donald Trump.
They locked arm-in-arm, formed a human chain and tried to keep shoppers from entering the Nike, Apple and Victoria's Secret stores, while police officers formed their own competing wall of bodies to usher people through.
Some minor scuffles broke out when shoppers tried to enter stores by pushing through lines of demonstrators, but the four-hour event was largely peaceful.
Some onlookers even snapped pictures and carried on undeterred with their shopping.
For the second year in a row, protesters rallied along Chicago's Magnificent Mile urging a Black Friday boycott to raise awareness of police misconduct toward minorities and other inequalities in the city's poorest neighborhoods.
Police reported no significant problems, and said three arrests were made for charges including trespassing and resisting arrest.
There also were a few lighter moments, including one outside Saks Fifth Avenue when demonstrator Calvin Jackson chanted, "Go home. Go eat turkey!" at would-be shoppers. Officers could occasionally be seen laughing with demonstrators and some passersby made a point of delivering high-fives or handshakes to police at the scene.
"For some, it's about the police; some it's about immigration. It's just all the people who are not (Trump supporters), and they're afraid," said protester Barbara Lyons, 79, of Jewish Voice for Peace.
"It just upsets me what kind of world my grandchildren will grow up in," she said.
Los Angeles resident Kirby Shaw, who was in town to visit his sister, decided to join the demonstration while taking in the sights along Michigan Avenue.
Shaw, 23, said he understands some will not be happy with the message to boycott Black Friday, but "for one day of the year you can not buy things and support your local retailers and help make a difference."
Chicago Tribune's Ally Marotti contributed.
cmgutowski@chicagotribune.com
jjperez@chicagotribune.com
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