Jun 4

Jun 4 Father Pfleger

Last weekend in Chicago, four people were shot to death and another 30 were wounded. Included in the tally is an 11-year old boy, which is really difficult to fathom, particularly because the boy was shot in the head while at home. Year to date, there have been 178 people shot and killed, and another 927 wounded according to the Hey Jackass, a website that tallies the statistics in detail.

Given all these senseless shootings, it was good to see Father Michael Phleger, a longstanding community activist from Saint Sabina Church, lead a protest in Daley Plaza, hopefully increasing awareness of Chicago's gun violence problem. He and a group of 40 or so people arrived in a school bus shortly before the end of Sharon Lewis' Chicago Blues Festival noon set. As far as I can tell, Pfleger and the group were respectful of Lewis, not starting the chants before she had completed her set--at least I heard nothing during the set.

The group left as quickly as it arrived. The demonstration could not have lasted more than 30 minutes. On command, everyone boarded the yellow bus parked in front of the County Building on Washington, including the two kids who had been sliding down the Picasso statue as events unfolded.

I can only wonder whether any one in City Hall or the Daley Center noticed.