The murder of George Floyd five years ago set off not just protests but full-scale riots around the country, including in Chicago.
Why it matters: Theprotests fundamentally changed the way Chicago handles public demonstrations and protects communities.
- The city still uses some of the police tactics used in 2020, such as expressway ramp closures and curfews, to handle large-scale protests and celebrations.
Flashback: On the night of May 29, 2020,mass gatherings grew unruly across the city, with riots sparking up in neighborhoods like Chatham and the South Loop. In the days following, downtown protesters set fire to police cars and looted several businesses along the Mag Mile.
- Then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the Chicago police made the rarely-used call to bring in the National Guard and raise the bridges along the Chicago River to control protests.
What they’re saying: “That horrible series of days is a big milestone in my time as mayor,” Lightfoot told Axios at a recent event. “We were faced with the kind of crisis that this city hadn’t faced in decades, since the death of Martin Luther King. I made a lot of decisions in the moment, some of which I never would have thought I’d make, like calling in the National Guard.”…