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Read the press release here.

Humboldt Park Gathers Tuesday Night for Peace Vigil

By Darryl Holliday | December 23, 2014 7:30am
 Residents gathered Wednesday in the 4100 block of West Crystal Street to remember the 168 people killed in Humboldt Park since 2007.
Humboldt Park Vigil
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HUMBOLDT PARK — A grassroots collection of neighbors will gather once again on a Humboldt Park intersection to remember those lost to Chicago’s gun violence and advocate for peace ahead of the holiday season.

Block club members, area residents and community organizations will gather at the intersection of Grand and Springfield avenues Tuesday at 7 p.m.

The public gathering is the second weekly show of support at Grand and Springfield avenues — part of a series of gatherings at the intersection where Rolando Leon was shot and killed Dec. 12.

The 28-year-old was in a car with a female child in the 1300 block of North Springfield Avenue, a block from his home, when a gunman came up to the car and fired shots, striking him in the  head, according to Officer Bari Lemmon, a Chicago police spokesman.

Tuesday's vigil follows similar community-led anti-violence gatherings in Humboldt Park, like a set of three consecutive vigils this past summer after 34-year-old Sam Walker Sr. was gunned down on July 31, one a week after his 13-year-old son was shot and killed in East Garfield Park.

“It’s not about this community; it’s the whole neighborhood,” former Humboldt Park Block Club resident and Noble Neighbors member Sam Day said in August.

The Christmas vigil is meant to “remember the fathers, moms, sons, daughters, children, friends, neighbors, and loved ones who have lost their lives in the streets off of Chicago, Division, Grand, Central Park, Pulaski, Augusta, North Avenue,” according to an announcement.

“We will not relent until we have peace in our streets,” it continues. “Please join us.”

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