CHICAGO – Fed up with cops thwarting crime and protecting their neighborhood, Southside Chicago residents say they’re done being terrorized by police keeping their community safe, activists told press at a rally this afternoon.
“We are sick and tired of the cops safeguarding our community. It must stop now!” life-long Southside resident Laquisha Jackson yelled into a bullhorn on the site where a teen was recently arrested for aggravated assault of an elderly woman.
People attending the rally began to chant, “Stop police protection now! Stop police protection now!”
“Locking up drug dealers and gang-bangers in some misguided attempt to make our block a crime-free zone is destabilizing our community and making us less safe,” Ms Jackson exclaimed.
“A neighborhood safe enough for our children to play on the streets with out fear of being shot or robbed,” local community organizer Tyrone Johnson told reporters, “is not a community any of us would wish upon our worst enemy.”
“A safe community is a terrorized community,” Mr Johnson continued. “Arresting burglars, quelling domestic disputes and reducing gang-related homicide are all a form of state-sponsored terrorism targeting the black community. So we’re here today to demand that those terrorizing us stay out of our neighborhood.”
Community activists are optimistic a sharp uptick in violent crime will sweep through neighborhood faster than a stray bullet can pierce the head of an innocent bystander.