Following police shooting of Jacob Blake, Chicago students continue to call for defunding CPD

CHICAGO - Black Lives Matter Chicago issued a statement following the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. They tweeted, “This is why we won’t be silenced and this is why we are fighting to defund the police.”

Demonstrators in Chicago on Monday gathered for two rallies in the city. Students from Loyola University took to the streets of Rogers Park, hoping university officials and the community would hear their plea that they want the university to defund the Chicago Police Department.

“A lot of Black students talk about how they have been targeted by the police. How the police will stop them and ask them for their badges. So we are trying to get our school to stop funding the Chicago Police Department and put that money into our own campus safety officers,” said student Dorien Perry-Tillmon.

For the past four days, students have marched, saying school President Jo Ann Rooney has been silent on issues surrounding Blacks on campus and across the country.

“Loyola University has said nothing about Black Lives Matter and if Jo Ann Rooney won’t make noise, than we will,” Perry-Tillmon said.

From the North Side to 13 miles away on the South Side at Chicago Police Headquarters, more protesters were calling for defunding CPD after all of the police shootings of Black people, with the most recent happening in Kenosha where Jacob Blake was shot at point-blank range multiple times.

“If you are seeing these murders all over the place and you aren’t upset that this is happening, something is wrong with us. We got to be on the streets and demanding justice,” said Rabbi Michael Ben Yosef of Chicago Activist Coalition for Justice.