Kennedy Expressway Protesters Thwarted From Highway
CHICAGO (CBS)--Police arrested 12 anti-violence protesters this afternoon, but the march never made it onto the Kennedy Expressway as planned.
About 50-60 marchers had planned to block traffic in and out of O'Hare, but did not get past the Cumberland onramp, police said.
Chicago police disbanded "several hundred officers," according to First Deputy Superintendent of Police Anthony Riccio. Illinois State Police added another 250 officers and the city of Park Ridge also had a police presence.
The media and police heavily outnumbered the protesters. Riccio said the event's proximity to the airport prompted police to beef up security.
"We cannot allow an airport to be shut down," Riccio said. "It is a big terrorist target, and there are federal implications and charges involved for anyone that would try to obstruct commerce. We had a holiday weekend in place and were not going to let the airport get shut down."
The march was led by Reverend Gregory Livingston of New Hope Baptist Church in West Humboldt Park, and was patterned after two other anti-violence protests that took over the Dan Ryan Expressway and Lake Shore Drive.
"We're going to continue to protect the First Amendment rights of those people who want to protest, and that was a big part of our function out here today, but we have to balance that against the rights of people who want to get to the airport--who use these expressways to drive down the street," Riccio said.
Illinois State Police Major David Byrd said that despite the arrests, conflict was kept to a minimum.
"When arrests did occur, there was no resisting," Byrd said. "It was appreciated by all law enforcement on the scene."
Protesters were demanding action from the city to address Chicago's gang violence epidemic. They also called on Mayor Rahm Emanuel to resign.
The protest comes just a few days ahead of the murder trial of Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke, who killed 17-year-old Laquan McDonald in October 2014. Van Dyke is the first police officer charged with a fatal on-duty shooting in decades.
By 12:30 p.m., police had asked protesters to leave their gathering place at the Cumberland entrance ramp and the group had cleared out a short time later.
Monday's protest is the third of its kind in recent months, and is being held to bring attention to Chicago's violence problem.
People are tweeting about the protest with the hashtag #ohareshutdown.
