Anti-violence protesters arrested before they reach Kennedy Expressway

State police arrested 12 people about 12:30 p.m. Monday when they tried to walk onto the Kennedy Expressway on-ramp at Cumberland Avenue as part of an anti-violence protest.

Police, who outnumbered protesters about three to one, told the 30 to 40 protesters who had congregated that it is illegal for people to enter the expressway on foot.

The rest of the protesters dispersed from the area after those willing to be arrested had stepped forward. The protesters never got anywhere near the expressway, and passing drivers ignored the protest. The confrontation was over within a few minutes.

The I-90 westbound and eastbound ramps to Cumberland were temporarily shut down. Those arrested were cited for illegally walking on the expressway, fined $120 and then released "without incident."

State police officials said they met with protest leader the Rev. Gregory Livingston before the planned march, presenting him with safe, alternate sites for the march. And protesters were given multiple warnings before being arrested, an Illinois State Police statement said.

"It is very dangerous and against the law for pedestrians to enter the expressways. Protests on the expressway endanger the lives of the protesters, as well as neighboring communities by backing up traffic onto other arterial routes, and create extremely hazardous conditions for motorists," state police Director Leo Schmitz said in the release.

Dozens of members of the media gathered around the participants, and a wall of law enforcement personnel lined and blocked parts of the intersection and the expressway on-ramp.

"We hate to put them in this position," Livingston said of the law officers, "but it's something that we have to do, and we're trying to help, not hurt."

Livingston called the protest "an act of civil disobedience" aimed at disrupting airline schedules and bending the ears of Chicago politicians to allocate resources more equitably.

"One side (of the city) gets assets and resources, the other side doesn't," Livingston said. "When they don't have access to a legitimate economy, they create an illegitimate economy. ... The currency of that illegitimate economy is violence. We don't want any more plantation economics. Let's desegregate the resources ... desegregate the people. It is difficult to inspire the uninspired ... the broken, the downtrodden."

Livingston said he expected he and other protesters would be arrested when they started walking onto the on-ramp, and he advised anyone who was unprepared for the consequences to back out before it was too late.

Protesters said they are seeking the resignation of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, economic investment on the South and West sides of Chicago and a renegotiation of the Chicago police officers' union contract, among other changes.

The march is the third of recent roadway actions related to violence in Chicago; others were on Lake Shore Drive and the Dan Ryan Expressway.