Black Lives Matter protesters made their way to the south side of Chicago Tuesday evening and into the neighborhood of Englewood.
The protestors were gathered outside Englewood police station to protest the police, when a group of older residents charged in and demanded they leave.
The situation devolved into a shouting match with threats and insults being hurled back and forth before finally calming.
Even residents in one of the roughest neighborhoods in Chicago recognize that BLM is bad news.
TheNew York Post has the story:
A largely black group of Chicago residents infuriated by looters blighting the city pushed back against a Black Lives Matter protest.
As access was again blocked to downtown overnight to stop more marauding — with bridges raised and expressway ramps closed — protesters turned to the South Side, where a man allegedly started a shootout with cops in an arrest that sparked chaos.
The Englewood locals resisted, kicking out the protesters from BLM and groups campaigning to defund the police, according to Fox 32.
“If you ain’t from Englewood, get the f–k out of here,” longtime local resident Darryl Smith shouted at protesters during tense confrontations.
“Y’all don’t come out when a kid gets shot. Y’all come out when it’s got something to do with the f—ing police,” he yelled through a loudspeaker, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
“If your issue is with the police, take it to 35th and Michigan,” he shouted, referring to Chicago police HQ. “Don’t come in Englewood with it.”
The rally made its way to the police station for the officers involved in Sunday’s shootout with Latrell Allen — but again was quickly dispersed after angry pushback by locals who said the looting was nothing to do with the neighborhood.
“None of these motherf—ers are gonna be here tomorrow. That’s why I got a problem,” lifelong Englewood resident Duane Kidd, 42, told the Sun-Times.
“If they would’ve gotten something incited with the police, who’s gotta deal with it tomorrow? The community. Not them.
“They’ll be somewhere sipping sangria somewhere. I’m telling you like it is.”
The march dispersed after less than an hour following the standoff, with an organizer saying they did not feel safe.
“We refuse to let anyone come to Englewood and tear it up,” one local, Charles McKenzie, told the station.
The residents in Englewood called out the hypocritical message of Black Lives Matter, pointing out that they only care about black lives when it serves their cause.
they also pointed to the fact that many of the protesters weren't even from the area, and were only planning to stir up trouble and then leave.
National Review has more on the pushback from Englewood residents:
“They were…gonna come to Englewood, antagonizing our police, and then when they go back home to the North Side in Indiana, our police are bitter and they’re beating up our little black boys,” Smith told Fox. Charles McKenzie, of a community violence-prevention group called God’s Gorillas, concurred, saying “We refuse to let anyone come to Englewood and tear it up.”
Protesters maintained that they had come to demonstrate peacefully in favor of defunding the police. Organizers from one of the protest groups, GoodKids MadCity, said that they were themselves residents of Englewood, but that others in the neighborhood did not support eliminating the police entirely.
Englewood has long been plagued by gun violence, including this year as Chicago sees a spike in shootings and homicides. Chicago police recorded 440 homicides and 2,240 shooting victims in the first seven months of 2020, up from 290 homicides and 1,480 shooting victims the previous year.
On Sunday, police shot and wounded a 20-year-old who allegedly fired on officers, an incident that sparked confrontations with police after rumor spread that the wounded suspect was a child. That night, what appeared to be organized looters ransacked Chicago’s downtown.
“A lot of people saying the looting sparked from Englewood. We’re not having that. It didn’t spark from Englewood,” Smith said. “Those [looters] are opportunists, and we’re tired of Englewood getting a black eye for any and everything that happens.”
Hopefully this can serve as a small beacon of hope for cities like Chicago, whre the situation worsens every day.
These protests only incite more violence, and seemingly never end peacefully.
More citizens need to stand up to the bullies in BLM, who clearly care nothing about their fellow citizens.
Join the conversation!
Please share your thoughts about this article below. We value your opinions, and would love to see you add to the discussion!