Leader Arrested as Protesters Attempt Highway Shutdown

The Rev. Gregory Livingston calmly told Illinois State Troopers: 'Arrest me'
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Sep 3, 2018 4:00 PM CDT
Leader Arrested as Protesters Attempt Highway Shutdown
Organizer of an anti-violence protest the Rev. Gregory Livingston, center, is arrested while protesting.   (Tim Boyle/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Police arrested 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. Per the AP, the Rev. Gregory Livingston spoke 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 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 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 State-Sanctioned Violence." Others called on Chicago's mayor to resign, chanting, "Hey, hey. Ho, ho. Rahm Emanuel has got to go!" Troopers deployed megaphones to warn some protesters that they were too close to the expressway, saying: "The arrest process has begun. Please leave the roadway or you will be arrested." Livingston also organized a protest last month that briefly shut down Lake Shore Drive on Chicago's North Side.
(More protests stories.)

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