Righteous Anger: Communities Respond To Chicago Mayor's Call For Calm
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Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) sparked uproar from community figures and activists Thursday after she urged the public to remain peaceful until authorities complete an investigation into the fatal police shooting of a 13-year-old boy last month.
“You can’t keep murdering people and then calling for peace. That’s not how anything works,” tweeted North Carolina activist and filmmaker Bree Newsome. “The fact that police, in the midst of all that’s happening with heightened scrutiny on policing, can’t refrain from killing more people is further proof that the institution can’t be redeemed.”
Body camera video released Thursday by a police oversight group showed Adam Toledo, who was Latino, being shot and killed by police on March 29 in the predominantly Latinx and Black neighborhood of Little Village in Chicago’s southwest.
In a news conference prior to the release of that footage and details of the investigation, Lightfoot called on people to withhold judgment until the Civilian Office of Police Accountability completes its investigation.
“This remains a complicated and nuanced story, and we all must proceed with deep empathy and calm and importantly, peace,” she said.
The only nuanced thing about this is the nuanced nature of evil, where a government can murder a child, attempt to cover it up by lying about the facts & then pretend to have empathy for the child’s family. https://t.co/vXcc5jRGgq
— DEFUND & ABOLISH POLICE (@BreeNewsome) April 15, 2021
Police called the encounter an “armed confrontation,” yet the video of the shooting shows no weapon in the boy’s raised hands. Lightfoot previously pledged to find the people responsible for “putting a gun into the hands” of a child.
The news follows the death of Daunte Wright, a Black man fatally shot by police in a Minneapolis suburb during a traffic stop on Sunday. The shootings have reignited and compounded the anguish of Chicagoans and others around the country fighting for an end to the repeated killing of Black and brown people at the hands of police.
The Chicago Police Department has a dark history of police brutality and coverups of that violence that have led to growing distrust of the mayor and police.
Tensions were especially high in Little Village, where community activists took to the streets to demand Lightfoot’s resignation.
“When I saw that video today, something inside of me died. I couldn’t even bear to watch the whole video myself. I felt like my childhood just died,” youth organizer Kristian Armendariz told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Other activists and community leaders spoke up on social media following Lightfoot’s address. Some reminded her that peace and calm serve the authorities who killed Toledo, not those seeking justice for him.
To be calm before a murdered child is to choose inhumanity.
Be human. Protest is public lament: A proclamation that Adam Toledo matters. https://t.co/xzi6uCbfNY— Rev. Jacqui Lewis, PhD (@RevJacquiLewis) April 15, 2021
next time a mayor, police chief, councilperson, or anyone in power calls for "calm" or "peace" in the face of another state murder, I'd love for someone in the room to force that person to make their argument for why "calm" is acceptable. Make them be clear on who it serves.
— Hanif Abdurraqib (@NifMuhammad) April 15, 2021
Tell your cops to model empathy, calm and peace. https://t.co/QEcVWF48xk
— Puff the Magic Hater (@MsKellyMHayes) April 15, 2021
You can’t keep murdering people and then calling for peace. That’s not how anything works.
— DEFUND & ABOLISH POLICE (@BreeNewsome) April 15, 2021
Chance the Rapper, born and raised in Chicago, retweeted a message he first shared last June.
Defund the Police. Chop the tree down.
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) June 2, 2020
Other community members also begged for police reform.
Adam Toledo was loved. He was one of ours, and we are keeping his memory and his Gary ES family in our hearts, along with his mother, family and the people of Little Village. We wish them healing and comfort right now.
Love your children. Love your communities. Love yourselves.— ChicagoTeachersUnion (@CTULocal1) April 15, 2021
— GPLXC (@GageParkLatinx) April 6, 2021
Tax dollars. Interesting how everything owned by the city becomes a tool for policing Chicagoans. https://t.co/FQbhG6YrBw
— Charles Preston (@_CharlesPreston) April 15, 2021
It’s so fucked up that CPD will get millions in overtime on top of their $1.8 billion dollars after killing #AdamToledo #DefundCPD disarm, dismantle & then#AbolishPolice #JusticeForAdam #justiceforadamtoledo pic.twitter.com/WECIZdvMMd
— GoodKidsMadCity (@GKMC18) April 15, 2021
Chicago police killed a 7th grader with his hands in the air but y’all want police in schools? Y’all think kids feel safe? Y’all don’t understand what defund means? I’m not trying to hear no more excuses, we not safe with CPD in our streets.
— Ja'Mal Green (@JaymalGreen) April 15, 2021
So many children are not safe in this country.
— Charlene #Defund2AbolishPolice Carruthers (@CharleneCac) April 15, 2021
Adam Toledo had his hands up.
— Dwayne Reed (@TeachMrReed) April 15, 2021
How do we help Adam Toledo’s classmates heal from this tragedy?
CPS says the district offers grief resources for school communities after the death of students or staff, but the crisis support team only has 4 crisis coordinators for the 514 schools.https://t.co/Q8nwsw5Gu8— The TRiiBE (@TheTRiiBE) April 15, 2021
— #IntersexJoy (@Pidgejen) April 15, 2021
Raised bridges and police barricades are not peace. Justice for Adam Toledo is peace.
If you want peace, work for justice.— Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa ✶ (@CDRosa) April 15, 2021
A number of Democratic lawmakers, too, demanded justice. These included Illinois Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth and Reps. Brad Schneider and Marie Newman; Missouri Rep. Cori Bush and California Reps. Karen Bass and Ro Khanna.
Adam Toledo was 13 years old and had his hands in the air and police killed him.
The prosecution said that he had a gun in his hand. He did not.
How many more Black and brown babies have to die before you realize that the policing system is designed to kill us with impunity?— Cori Bush (@CoriBush) April 15, 2021
Adam Toledo was 13 years old.
His hands were up. He was unarmed.
This footage is heartbreaking for any parent. Like other major democracies, we must adopt a standard that force can only be used as a last resort.— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) April 15, 2021
Adam Toledo was 13 years old.
Those responsible for taking the rest of his life away from him must be held accountable.
We have to get the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act signed into law.— Congressmember Bass (@RepKarenBass) April 15, 2021
He was 13 years old.
My heart is w/ the Toledo family & w/ our communities of color who face racial injustice every day.
Reform alone can’t fix this. Public safety MUST be about funding for housing, schools & so much more than just police alone.
The current system failed Adam.— Congresswoman Marie Newman (@RepMarieNewman) April 15, 2021
Every 13-year-old should be able to dream of a bright future.
The death of Adam Toledo is a tragedy for his family and our community. We, as a society, failed him. We can’t bring Adam back, but we can strive for a world where no 13-year-old meets such a tragic end. https://t.co/BvY6f7ey4H— Rep. Brad Schneider (@RepSchneider) April 15, 2021
My deepest condolences go out to Adam Toledo's family. No parent should ever have to lose a child like that and no child's life should end like that.
Ever.
If we're to truly be the Land of the Free, every single American must feel safe, must be able to live.— Tammy Duckworth (@SenDuckworth) April 15, 2021
Adam Toledo was a seventh grader at Gary Elementary School in Little Village. His whole life was ahead of him. My heart breaks for his family and friends, who are grieving the loss of his young life. https://t.co/LyQ35ZVtvd
— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) April 15, 2021
Far too many Black and Brown men and women have lost their lives to brutal acts of racial injustice. All the evidence shows that we are dealing with a system of justice that isn’t being applied equally—and we need to change that.
— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) April 15, 2021
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.