“Half the time, these babies [black teens] probably do have guns, so it's like, ‘[I'm going to] shoot first before I get killed.’”
By Grace Wong and Megan Crepeau
Chicago Tribune
April 15, 2016
CHICAGO -- A vigil for a 16-year-old boy killed by police turned into a protest Tuesday night that resulted in two arrests and the brief closing of the Eisenhower Expressway.
More than 100 people gathered around 7 p.m. in the 3400 block of West Grenshaw Street, where Pierre Loury was shot Monday evening after he allegedly threatened a Chicago police officer with a gun.
Metallic red and blue balloons were tied to a black iron fence as the crowd chanted "Justice for Pierre." Some people held up a fabric poster with the faces of young black people killed be police.
Shortly after 8 p.m., protesters began to walk onto the nearby Eisenhower Expressway. Police sirens went off immediately and officers jumped out to try to stop them, but some were already too far ahead. Police vehicles stopped traffic on the expressway, causing a backup on lanes headed toward downtown.
Other protesters walked away from the entrance to the highway, some shaking their heads and questioning the leadership of the group.
"I don't condone what they did out here," said Tatiana Balogun, 18, who lives on the 3400 block of West Grenshaw Street. She was marching with the protesters but ran the other direction when the group went onto the expressway.
"I don't condone what they did to the rest of the black people out here but I'm not getting killed for nobody," she said. "You don't take innocent kids on the expressway. You're an adult. You don't take kids on that expressway. That's wrong."
Protesters split into groups throughout the night. but a main group stayed near the intersection of St. Louis Avenue and Grenshaw Street.
"It's been hectic," said Deshawn Nelson, 17, a friend of Pierre Loury. "Stop the violence, we're too young."
Two people, including a teenage girl, were arrested during the protest, police said.
They were near the headquarters of the Harrison District police station in the 3100 block of West Harrison Street when a 17-year-old girl climbed on top of an unmarked squad car and start jumping up and down, police said.
As officers tried to get her down, 33-year-old Shimron Robinson of Blue Island came up to an officer from behind and knocked him over, police said.
Robinson was charged with aggravated battery to a peace officer, a felony, and misdemeanor resisting arrest. He was expected to appear in court Wednesday.
The teenage girl, whom police did not identify because she is a juvenile, was charged with misdemeanor criminal damage to property.
Loury lived about two blocks from where he was shot. Police say an officer was chasing him down an alley after the boy jumped out of a car that was stopped because it matched the description of a car in an earlier shooting.
During the chase, Loury turned and aimed a gun at the officer, police said, citing a preliminary investigation. He was shot once in the chest as he was climbing a fence and pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Hospital.
Bionca Johnson, who lives on the 3400 block of West Grenshaw Street where the shooting occurred, said Loury had brought her groceries home for her before. Many people in the neighborhood have a "kill or be killed" mentality, she said.
"It's the story of the police [that] everybody has a gun," Johnson said. "Half the time, these babies probably do have guns. They're probably scared with everything they're seeing on the news, so it's like, '[I'm going to] shoot first before I get killed.'"
She said people need to stop "knocking down" teens and put more funding into youth programs to create hope for a better life.
"When you look around, what do you got to look forward to?" Johnson said. "Like, am I going to have to live here my whole life?"
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