The annual Little Village Cinco de Mayo parade was rerouted and then cut short Sunday after shots were fired along the parade route, officials said, though paradegoers still reveled the chance to celebrate Mexican culture and history.
The Chicago Fire Department responded to the scene near Cermak Road and Washtenaw Avenue, but they found no one with injuries to take to the hospital.
Chicago police worked with parade organizers to reroute the celebration, which was scheduled to start at noon, heading west along Cermak from Damen Avenue to Marshall Boulevard. Instead, the parade started closer to 12:30 p.m. south on Damen to Blue Island Avenue.
At 1:30 p.m., the Chicago Police Department announced in a statement that the parade had been canceled “out of an abundance of caution.”
Police, elected officials and parade organizers decided to cancel the rest of the parade following “gang violence in the area,” the CPD statement said. Multiple people have been arrested, according to police.
Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th), who was at the parade, told the Sun-Times the act of violence was an unfortunate incident, especially on a day of joy for the Mexican community.
“The city needs to do something about the stream of guns into our communities,” Sigcho-Lopez said.
The shooting “can’t take away from our celebration today,” said Hector Escobar, who has helped organize the annual parade for 40 years. “We are still going to honor and celebrate our Mexican heritage today.”
The holiday commemorates Mexico’s victory over Napoleon’s French army in the Battle of Puebla in 1862.
“We’re celebrating the most important battle,” said Escobar, who is also the president of the Cermak Road Chamber of Commerce. “Napoleon tried to take our country, but he never stood a chance. He was going for all of North America, so if it wasn’t for us, we’d all be speaking French right now.”
“This holiday is about celebrating our identity, culture, heritage, our music, families and honoring traditions,” Sigcho-Lopez said. “Cinco de Mayo also is about independence from imperialism, which is very relevant today.”
The parade, although brief, still featured a steady stream of horses dancing, mariachi bands performing from the beds of trucks, countless Mexican flags waving, girls in colorful dresses dancing and vintage Ford trucks and motorcycles rumbling down the street.
Jessica Rizo and Rudy Bandermeer brought their three young kids out to watch the parade.
“This was great, except for all the violence,” Rizo said. “It’s just sad, especially that it happened near where so many people came out today to celebrate with their families.”
But the family still enjoyed themselves. Her sons, ages 10, 6 and 4, especially liked the low-rider motorcycles and the free candy given out to kids.
“It’s nice how the parade brought together so many people and their families,,” Rizo said.
Julia Teresa Bukovatz, 25, also appreciated the strong sense of community.
“There’s a lot of division among people right now, so it’s nice that so many people came together today to celebrate,” she said. “And to bring people together to celebrate and honor Mexican culture and heritage is very special.”
Bukovatz, who has spent her whole life in Pilsen, takes any opportunity to honor her Mexican heritage. Her grandfather, who was from Mexico, used to regularly come out for the Cinco de Mayo parade.
“This is our first year without him, so I thought I would come out to honor him,” Bukovatz said.
“I love the chance to come together with the community and celebrate being Mexican.”
