How the George Floyd protests reshaped public safety in Chicago
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Chicago raised its river's bridges during a 2020 protest against the killing of George Floyd. Photo: Jim Vondruska/NurPhoto via Getty Images
The murder of George Floyd five years ago set off not just protests but full-scale riots around the country, including in Chicago.
Why it matters: The protests fundamentally changed the way Chicago handles public demonstrations and protects communities.
- The city still uses some of the police tactics used in 2020, such as expressway ramp closures and curfews, to handle large-scale protests and celebrations.
Flashback: On the night of May 29, 2020, mass gatherings grew unruly across the city, with riots sparking up in neighborhoods like Chatham and the South Loop. In the days following, downtown protesters set fire to police cars and looted several businesses along the Mag Mile.
- Then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the Chicago police made the rarely-used call to bring in the National Guard and raise the bridges along the Chicago River to control protests.
What they're saying: "That horrible series of days is a big milestone in my time as mayor," Lightfoot told Axios at a recent event. "We were faced with the kind of crisis that this city hadn't faced in decades, since the death of Martin Luther King. I made a lot of decisions in the moment, some of which I never would have thought I'd make, like calling in the National Guard."
Lightfoot said the city knew major crowds were heading downtown but that the crowds were hijacked by people intending to fight the police and cause chaos.
- "I remember sitting at OEMC [911 Center] watching this mayhem play out all across the city," Lightfoot continued. "There was a CTA bus caught on Wacker Drive, going eastbound. The crowd was trying to flip the bus with passengers in it. That told me a lot about the moment we are in, which was part of why we had to raise the bridges to give our police department a chance to maintain public order."
Yes, but: Lightfoot and then-police superintendent David Brown also authorized questionable tactics to control protesters, including kettling.
- There were reports of physical altercations with batons.
- The city shut down expressway ramps to deter protesters from coming downtown and instituted a rarely used curfew.
- Over 100 protesters were arrested and several officers were injured on the night of May 29 alone.
Zoom out: Lightfoot used curfews again in 2022 to curb downtown teen gatherings, while Mayor Brandon Johnson and new police superintendent Larry Snelling used temporary curfews and kettling during the 2024 Democratic National Convention, according to protesters, but Snelling has denied using kettling.
- Expressway ramp closures and checkpoints have been utilized again for downtown celebrations, including the Mexican Independence Day caravans, while the City Council is debating "snap curfews" to give the police more power to deter large teen gatherings in the Loop.
- Since the looting on Michigan Avenue, many retailers have left the area or have hired extra security. The police just ended scarecrow policing — parking police cruisers on public roads with their flashers on to prevent crime — along the Mag Mile last year, after it had been used since the looting in 2020.
Between the lines: Lightfoot says the protests left a lasting mark on her political career.
- "You can't be the mayor of Chicago because you want everybody to love you," Lightfoot said.
- "You have to make decisions that are in the best interest of the well-being of the city, not by just following which way the political winds are blowing. I feel proud of my administration's legacy, but I think that cost me a lot."
The bottom line: Chicago still faces fallout from that chaotic weekend.