Chicago residents pushed back against activists gathering in support of those who were arrested during a night of widespread violence and looting.
“None of these motherf—ers are gonna be here tomorrow. That’s why I got a problem,” lifetime resident of Englewood, Duane Kidd, said of the Black Lives Matter activists.
Black Lives Matter members and others organized a rally Tuesday in the neighborhood in support of the more than 100 people who were arrested Sunday night and Monday morning amid the unrest. Englewood was the site of a police-involved shooting this weekend, which is believed to have sparked the looting.
Residents of the South Side neighborhood took issue with the Black Lives Matter rally, partially because they were not warned it was going to take place.
“They didn’t let the community know. They didn’t put flyers on peoples’ doors,” Kidd said. “If they would’ve gotten something incited with the police, who’s gotta deal with it tomorrow? The community. Not them. They’ll be somewhere sipping sangria somewhere. I’m telling you like it is.”
“If you are going to do something, do it right. And you put other people’s lives at risk when you coming into someone else’s neighborhood you don’t know the dynamic,” said Kidd.
The rally was organized by Black Lives Matter, the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, South Siders Organized for Unity and Liberation, and Good Kids/Mad City, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
“If your issue is with the police, take it to 35th and Michigan [where the Chicago Police Department headquarters is located]. Don’t come in Englewood with it,” Darryl Smith, president of the Englewood Political Task Force, said. “If the people on 56th Street want to come over and protest the police, they can do it. But no one from the North Side or Indiana or any place other than Englewood can come here and do that.”
“Y’all don’t come out when a kid gets shot. Y’all come out when it’s got something to do with the f—ing police,” Smith added.
The widespread destruction in Chicago early Monday reportedly left an estimated $60 million in damages and 13 police officers injured.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot condemned the violence and told criminals that the rule of law is “coming for you.”
“To our residents, I want to make sure we’re doing everything we can to restore your homes and businesses,” she said. “And to those who engage in that criminal behavior, let’s be clear: We are coming for you.”
