CHICAGO — Faith leaders from across Chicago will launch a litany of protests and vigils at all 25 police district stations in Chicago as a part of a "Palm Sunday Takeover" on March 20.
The protesting churches are calling for an end to police brutality along with the passage of the FAIR COPS ordinance, which stands for the Freedom through Accountability Investigation and Reform for Community Oversight of Policing Services.
The protests will occur from 12 p.m.-3 p.m. on Palm Sunday. A group of community and religious leaders will hold signs, stage "die-ins" and deliver palms to the police stations.
While protests are planned for all 25 district headquarters, larger protests are scheduled to occur at the following police stations at:
• 1 p.m. at the Rogers Park District, 6464 N. Clark St.
• 2 p.m. at the Near West District, 1412 S. Blue Island Avenue
• 2:30 p.m. at the Chicago Lawn District, 3420 W. 63rd St.
The coalition of churches are led by the Community Renewal Society.
Michelle Page, who works with the Community Renewal Society, plans to protest on Palm Sunday. She says that she was so afraid of the violence in Chicago that she sent her 23-year-old son Patrick to take a job at a resort in Utah.
"He doesn't understand the fear is real. I was constantly living in fear. I gave him a car and I wouldn't let him drive it," Page said. "I'm in fear of the police and the gangs. I didn’t want him to be a Blair Holt or a Trayvon Martin."
Page, a lifelong West Side resident, says a meeting she and other community members had with Mayor Rahm Emanuel was one of the reasons she decided to protest.
"I told him that that he ought to understand since he's a parent. He went off on me," Page said. "He told me I didn't have the right to bring his kids up. If I wasn't sitting in a room with preachers, it would've gotten ugly. He was rude and obnoxious. I was really upset."
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