Cleanup efforts begin after night of chaotic Chicago protests
CHICAGO - Volunteers swept up broken glass and cleaned debris Sunday in Chicago after a night of tense protests rippled out in cities nationwide over George Floyd’s death.
Downtown demonstrations that drew thousands and started peacefully Saturday afternoon gave way to violence and destruction hours later prompting Mayor Lori Lightfoot to order a 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew and city crews to raise bridges, limiting access to Chicago’s business core.
Police used batons to beat back demonstrators as police cars were set ablaze and windows were smashed at businesses including neighborhood convenience stores and high-end Michigan Avenue shops. At least four people were shot, one fatally, amid the chaos. A 26-year-old man died after he was shot by a suspect who got out of a car.
Michelle Eleby, 42, joined other volunteers outside a downtown Macy’s store Sunday to clean up.
Protesters destroy police vehicles , on May 30, 2020 during a protest against the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died while while being arrested and pinned to the ground by the knee of a Minneapolis police officer. (Photo by Jim Vond
“I needed to do something,” she said. “We can’t sit back and hope the solution is going to come.”
The death of Floyd, a handcuffed black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes, has sparked days of unrest.
Chicago police arrested “multiple” demonstrators, but didn’t have specific details Sunday, according to police spokesman Michael Carroll.