CHICAGO (WLS) Demonstrators march to draw awareness to virus of violence in Chicago
Demonstrators marched down Michigan Avenue Thursday afternoon to bring attention to the number of annual homicides in the city as 2020 drew to a close.
Carrying Chicago flags with bullet holes, dozens of people came together on Michigan Avenue to remember the lives lost to gun violence in 2020 and to hold local leaders accountable. Unfortunately, while we have been working on COVID-19, we have ignored the virus of violence in the city of Chicago, and violence continues to rise, said Father Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina Church.
“While our city has been aggressively focused on the virus of Covid-19, as we should, we have ignored the virus of violence reaching numbers greater than years past. We will not and must not let this violence become normalized while our children’s blood flows and mother’s cries fill our streets, Pfleger said.
Over the past year, 4,115 people have been shot in Chicago, according to the Chicago Tribune, which is 1,412 more than 2019.
The Tribune reported that 768 people have been killed in Chicago this year, which is 252 more than 2019.