500 march on Chicago police headquarters demanding justice for Breonna Taylor

Chicago, IL – Many who arrived at 35th Street and Michigan Avenue on September 24 were visibly upset, given the failure of Kentucky’s attorney general to indict and prosecute the Louisville cops who murdered Breonna Taylor.

A statement by the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression declared that the decision “meant to serve notice on Black and brown people everywhere in the United States that they are not safe from police murderers, even in their own homes.”

The voice of Tanya Watkins, an organizer with Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation, was shaking as she took the mic. “The mayor said she supports our right to protest, but when we show up in the street, she blocks us off. That doesn’t look like support,” she said, gesturing toward the three city-owned salt trucks parked in front of police headquarters to keep protesters from the street in front of the building.

Cassandra Greer-Lee also took the mic. Her husband, Nickolas Lee, died of COVID-19 while awaiting trial in Cook County Jail in April. Referring to the many cops present, Greer-Lee said, “You cannot move me. No matter how many ‘back the blue’ shirts you have, you will not intimidate me!”

The protesters vowed to continue to struggle for justice for the many victims of police crimes, and to intensify their demand for an elected, civilian police accountability council (CPAC) to be enacted by the city council.