Five years after George Floyd murder, Chicago won’t back down

Chicago, IL – On the five-year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd, May 25, 300 activists and community members gathered in the streets of Chicago to protest against Trump’s Executive Order 14288 and demand community control over the police.

A broad group of forces was represented in the crowd, including the labor, immigrant rights, students, anti-war, Black, Palestinian and Filipino movements. Several elected officials joined in support as well.

The “Strengthening and Unleashing America’s Law Enforcement to Pursue Criminals and Protect Innocent Citizens” Executive Order is an attempt to take back the progressive gains in police accountability fought for and won in the wake of the George Floyd Rebellion. But organizers made it clear that Chicago will not go back to the way things were.

According to Faayani Aboma of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, “In response to George’s murder here in Chicago, the Chicago Alliance and our allies were able to convert the cry for justice in the historic uprisings into the passage of the 2021 Empowering Communities for Public Safety (ECPS) ordinance, to date the most progressive police accountability ordinance in the country.”

The crowd responded enthusiastically to calls for the city council to pass new legislation, the Civilian Power Over Policing referendum (CPOP), which would strengthen the movement’s wins gained from the ECPS ordinance. “CPOP-Fight back!” was the call of the day.

Trump’s EO was signed on April 28 and provides a premise for further militarization of the police, including promoting the distribution of non-lethal weapons, surveillance technology, tactical vehicles, and training support from military to local police departments.

Rania Salem, of the United States Palestinian Community Network, reminded participants of the connection between struggles for liberation at home and abroad. “As Palestinians we recognize the knee on George Floyd’s neck. It is the same pressure on the necks of our people in Palestine who are facing the first live-streamed genocide in human history. The same police who murder [civilians] here train with Israeli occupation forces that massacre Palestinians and Arabs on a daily basis.”

The executive order also prioritizes raising officers’ salaries and benefits, while in Chicago the police force account for nearly half of the entire city budget. Not only is this executive order an attack on the people, it also serves to quash dissent by local politicians, as it emboldens the Department of Justice to pursue prosecution of state and local officials who fail to yield to Trump’s witch hunt against all DEI initiatives.

Chicago’s own progressive mayor, Brandon Johnson, has continued to stand up to Trump’s racist policies, and has become a target of the administration as a result. “Together we will make it through,” said Anton Adkins from 290 Independent Political Organization of Chicago’s 29th Ward.

The protest then marched from Federal Plaza to Trump tower, uplifting calls covering a diverse range of issues, including, “From Chicago to the Philippines, stop the U.S. war machine!” and “CPD, KKK, IOF they’re all the same!”

While it remains to be seen what the enforcement the Executive Order will look like, Chicagoans have made it clear, chanting, “No Trump, no KKK, no racist USA.”

#ChicagoIL #IL #InJusticeSystem #CPOP #NAARPR #CAARPR