Hundreds of protesters are being held  after they were arrested in a crackdown where police brutally arrested people and violated the rights of people across the city. On Saturday evening, Mayor Lightfoot also issued a curfew order with half an hour’s notice, shut down public transportation and road access out of the Loop, and then had people arrested for violating the curfew. Across the city, police are terrorizing communities, escalating the type of state violence that caused these demonstrations.

These protests are happening because our system is devaluing and disregarding Black lives. Police do not keep people safe – to the contrary, Black people are being murdered by police with impunity even after years of protest and countless commissions, hearings, and hollow promises to reform a system of policing that is inherently racist and destructive. Jails and prisons do not keep people safe. Creating true community safety requires investing in schools, health care, mental health services, living wage jobs, food access, housing, and more. Instead of addressing these underlying issues, Chicago police responded to protests triggered by the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery by doubling down on the same racist violence that led to this crisis in the first place.

Echoing the demands of other organizations

Call Mayor Lori Lightfoot at (312) 744-3300 and email at Letterforthemayor@cityofchicago.org to demand 1) the immediate release all protesters in custody; 3) A moratorium on arrests and an end to police attacks on protesters; 4) Defunding of the Chicago Police Department.

Email State’s Attorney Kim Foxx at statesattorney@cookcountyil.gov to demand that she drop charges against protesters and people who were arrested with charges connected to curfew violations.