Seven people were arrested Saturday during a Black Lives Matter protest near Loyola University’s Lake Shore campus as a separate demonstration closed part of Michigan Avenue in the city’s downtown.
In Edgewater, Loyola students marched through the campus before stopping at Sheridan Road and Kenmore Avenue, where they locked arms and blocked the roadway.
Police officers ordered the group to disperse, leading to the arrest of seven people — including one who allegedly struck an officer — for refusing to comply about 7 p.m., Chicago police said.
About eight miles south, a group of protesters calling for police reform marched on a Michigan Avenue sidewalk and held a 45-minute standoff with police at Ohio Street when demonstrators tried to enter the roadway.
Officers gave organizers of the march at least four options of where they could go, but told them they were barred from entering the Magnificent Mile.
March organizer and activist Michael Ben Yosef said police told him the demonstration was not large enough to be allowed access to the street — the same reason given to Yosef earlier this month when he hoped to lead demonstrators onto the the Dan Ryan Expressway but was rebuffed.
Eventually, police allowed about 200 demonstrators to enter Michigan Avenue, where they marched south before stopping outside the Wrigley Building.
After about 20 minutes, the protest continued south on the sidewalk, but at times protesters re-entered the street, leading police to call the march an “illegal action” because organizers didn’t have a parade permit.
After another brief standoff, protesters obliged and the demonstration ended outside the Harold Washington Library.
Chicago police said no arrests were made at the downtown protest.
Contributing: Sam Kelly
