Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot will have a press conference on the George Floyd protests at 11 a.m. I will live tweet it.

Follow for updates and let me know if you have questions. https://blockclubchicago.org/2020/05/30/chicago-curfew-set-at-9-p-m-amid-protests-for-george-floyd/

The press conference has been delayed to 11:15 a.m.

You can watch here: https://www.pscp.tv/w/1djGXQVpqNRJZ 

Lightfoot: "I want to begin again by acknowledging the thousands of people who engaged in non-violent, peaceful protest throughout our city on Friday and yesterday. And who didn't allow themselves to be sidetracked by the devastation that we've seen. And it is ...

"devastating; absolutely devastating. ..."

Lightfoot: This is about Floyd, but it's also about Laquan McDonald, Quintonio LeGrier and others. "It's about a system that demands change, and we must re-commit ourselves in this moment to fundamentally changing the things that have plagued us for way too long, including our...

"original sin of racism. So I stand shoulder to shoulder with those who have come out peacefully to express our righteous indignation, as we should and as is our right. And that's why I'm also hurt and angry at those who decided to try to hijack this moment and use it as an ...

"opportunity to wreak havoc, to loot and to destroy. You should be ashamed of yourselves. What you have done is to dishonor yourself, your family and our city, and its long and proud legacy as a leader of bold and vibrant peaceful protests. I urge you — and you know who you ...

"are — to think long and hard about what you can and should do to devote the passion and the energy that you showed last night in wreaking havoc in our city to doing something different with your life and your talents."
"I know you can do better than what I saw last night, ...

"and I pray to God you will find it in your heart to embrace something better for yourself and your lives."

"... I just have to wonder: Where were their parents? And what are we teaching them? We don't need to hand anyone a gift to point to us and say, 'That's what they do.'"

Lightfoot: "This chaos and destruction is not the right tactic to bring change. How do we transform the systems of institutional racism that have stolen the lives of our loved ones over generation? Certainly not be setting businesses on fire and smashing windows. Not by ...

"setting people's cars on fires. Not by swinging hammers and shovels and throwing urine at the police. We saw four shootings in the Loop last night from 7-11 p.m. Six people were shot; one person killed. Is that how we bring social justice? How we seek change? No, it certainly...

"is not. Any true and last change toward justice, toward the betterment of our country that has ever happened came from the hard work of organizing in our communities with love, not hate. The hard work of peaceful, non-violent protest — as espoused by no less than ...

"Mahatma Gandhi and the Rev. Martin Luther King — they sent their life and their blood striving to better all of us through peace and transparency, fervently, passionately, to be sure. But always with an eye toward peace."

Lightfoot: People must engage in democracy, vote and work in the legal system, "and above all through the hard work to build and grow and inspire our consciousness for change."
"Seeing the murder of George Floyd sickened me, and it still does. But rather than respond to his ...

"death as we should and focus our energy toward doing the hard work to create the change we need, we have instead been forced to turn our focus and energy toward preventing wanton violence and destruction. Violence and destruction that is disgusting and obscene and that ...

"threatens public safety, public places and people's basic freedoms. More than that, violence and destruction that tarnishes the legacy and the moral credibility of pain and justice that peaceful protesters sought to express."

Lightfoot: "We need to protect people's rights to life, liberty, property and employment. It is for these reasons that today the city of Chicago is taking new precautionary measures to further ensure the health and safety of our residents."

Lightfoot: "In addition to our 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew that will remain in place until further notice, Gov. Pritzker, at my request, has ordered a contingent of the National Guard to maintain a limited presence in support of our police department in order to ensure we don't ...

"have a repeat of what we saw last night. This wasn't an easy decision; I did it at the request of and in consultation with Supt. Brown. But it's surely the right decision in this moment."

Lightfoot: Only residents can go into Loop. They've suspended buses and trains going into and out of the Loop.

Lightfoot says the city is working with organizers to form alternative routes so marches and protests can "peacefully take place."

Re, this:^^^ I asked a prominent organizer with BLM Chicago if they'd been contacted and he said no.

STORY: https://blockclubchicago.org/2020/05/31/chicago-calls-in-national-guard-after-night-of-protests-damage-downtown/

Lightfoot: If you're protesting, please wear face coverings and maintain safe social distancing. "We all need to remember our children are watching: my child, your child. We need to be the example we want them to follow."

Lightfoot: "This disease is still ravaging our Black and Brown communities, and our public health officials are gravely concerned that yesterday's action could turn out to be a super spreader event."
"The decisions I've had to make in the last 24 hours are not decisions I'd ...

"wish on any leader. None of them were easy; they were all hard."

Lightfoot: "I'm always going to make the tough but necessary choice if it means protection people. ... This is a city we built with our blood, sweat and tears. This is a city that we must protect so it can provide for us. We know it's not perfect but if it gets destroyed, we ...

"are all left to pick up the pieces. In this city, we care for each other. We've seen that over and over again. This is a time for us to unite. We have to turn our pain into purpose in order to get through this moment together and do the work needed to unite our city and move ...

"us forward in a way that is more equitable, inclusive and just. And I hope that you will join me today all over Chicago at 5 p.m. for a moment of silence, for a moment to reflect on what we have lost but also to reflect on what we have gained. I know in my heart and my soul ...

"we will be able to learn from this moment and move forward together. That is who we are as a city. That is the values we share. And we must, must never forget our sense of who we are as Chicagoans and as a city. Our sense of community, this is what will carry us through."

Brown: "Our First Amendment rights are sacred ... and should not be used as a ruse for criminal behavior. What was meant as a peaceful protest devolved quickly into looting and property damage and violence.
"Chicago Police officers showed professionalism, restraint and patience."

Brown: Officers were assaulted verbally and physically. There are officers "with broken bones and bruises. More than 20 officers went to the hospital. At least two of these required surgery. Many who were badly beaten and bruised never even bothered to seek medical ...

"treatment; rather, they finished their shift ... ."
"Police vehicles were spray painted with graffiti, had their windows broken, were flipped over and burned. Businesses and buildings that have existed in Chicago for generations were vandalized."

Brown: "This is a nation of laws, and lawlessness has no place in Chicago or anywhere else."
"I want to commend our officers for maintaining their composure during this whole ordeal. We should be proud, proud of our police officers ... ."

Brown: "Let me be clear: Last night was not a protest. The people that came Downtown were not there to exercise their First Amendment rights. These criminals arrived in the Central Business District prepared to damage property and steal. That will not be tolerated."

Brown: "This was a mob destroying everything in sight. In all, Chicago PD made 240 arrests ... ."
Six people were shot and one man, 26, was killed.

Brown: They've requested the National Guard. Major city trucks will "block all access to the Central Business District." No CTA buses/trains Downtown.

Brown: "We need to protect our storefronts, and people will be working to clean up.
"Chicago Police are busy trying to bring a sense of calm and safety back to our shifts." All days off are canceled and they're working 12-hour shifts.

Brown: "We will not sacrifice our local democracy to lawlessness. We will not. Today we begin to heal. I suspect this wound will take a long time to close. But let me end by reminding you of a story I thought about while I was on the ground with officers watching them being ...

"pelted and showing great restraint.
"I'm nearly 60 years old now. But when I was 21 years old, like those kids out yesterday, I wanted to make a difference ... . I came home from college excited to tell my parents I wanted to be a cop to help change what's happening ... . I ...

"wanted to help people. My dad, my old man, said, 'Why do you want to associate with people who mistreat us?' ... He had been mistreated by police all of his life. He asked me, he lectured me ... . I remember this to this day, I told my dad, 'How will it ever change if we ...

"don't serve and get involved?' That was my 21-year-old self. So I challenge the 20-somethings in that crowd that, instead of serving, instead of expressing their anger through being involved, to change what they want to see. They chose to burn and destroy. That's easy. Anyone...

"can throw a fire bomb and burn a car. I challenge you to put down your weapons and get involved and serve this country to bring forth the change you want to see."

Rich Guidice from the Office of Emergency Management and Communications: They're working with feds, state and local authorities to "monitor the situation."

Guidice: The 911 and 311 call centers are active and available to help.

Guidice: The boundaries are Division Street from Lake Shore Drive and North Halsted from Division and Milwaukee. Milwaukee from Grant and Kedzie to Canal. Kedzie to 26th Street to Lake Shore Drive.

Guidice: CTA will provide regular service updates. You can get emergency updates by subscribing to the text/email alert system.

Police Board Pres. Ghian Foreman: "There was a lot of professionalism displayed last night. This is especially tough for me because, as a young Black man being the president of the Police Board, the buck stops with me when it comes to accountability for police." He commends ...

officers: "I would not have had the same restraint that many officers showed last night. And at the same time, I understand the frustration of the community. People are tired. People are tired of this. Mayor, yeah, our kids are watching, but so are our ancestors. I can't help ...

"but think about my grandmother telling me stories of her house being bombed and what they fought for to get me in a position to stand up here today. I'm not here because I'm the Police Board president; I'm here because I love you. ... One day I won't be the Police Board ...

"president but I'll be a dad, I'll be a son. I want to see the same superhuman strength to flip over a car to come help me build up the community."

Foreman: "Mayor, I would like to see some resources — when we talk about Invest Southwest, that's what I think a solution is. Janice Jackson, that's what I think a solution is."

Foreman: "Let's hold down our communities. That's what I'm asking for."

A South Side pastor whose name has not been shared: "America is dealing with two viruses: one being COVID-19, and the other is COVID-1619. One virus we have specialists and epidemiologists, virologists, who understand what we need to do. But, unfortunately, with the older ...

"virus, America has ignored the cries, the pain and the anguish that has come from the lips and the lives and the hearts of many people of color in this nation. We are not all responsible for some of the actions taken yesterday. But as a city, we are all accountable. We are ...

"all accountable to build a city and to build a nation, a yet-to-be United States of America. This is not new. The protests that happened yesterday, I am proud of many of the young people who heard the whisper of our ancestors say that we cannot sit back. We cannot allow a ...

"small group to focus us in a different direction. The pain that we have witnessed over and over and over again. And we must work to stamp out COVID-1619. Looting doesn't lead to liberation, and breaking windows has never stopped the brutality. ... If we must break something, ...

"we must break racism, racial terror and white supremacy. If we are to see something destroyed, we must destroy this particular violence in this nation."
"I am tired of Black-recorded death. I am tired of our voice not being heard. ... We have work to do, and the thing that ...

"this virus is cared of is organizing. Using your superpowers, as was already stated; using the gift that you have been given. We need organizers."

The pastor: "This is not a South Side issue, a West Side issue, a North Side issue. This is a Chicago challenge that we must meet together as citizens in this city. We need to organize if we are to defeat white supremacy and literally perform Last Rites upon it. We have work ...

"to do. For those who are in unions, join your union and tell your union organizer, 'You must speak out.' For those who are funeral directors, organizer together ... . For those who are entrepreneurs, make sure you have a moral root and a moral compass that speaks to this."

Pastor: "We are the city of Big Shoulders, and may we carry this weight together."

Pastor: "It's time for us to organize. It is time for us to continue to fight. It is time for us to rise up and continue to be the City of Big Shoulders ... ."

Gov. Pritzker's press release on the National Guard being called into Chicago.

Jahmal Cole from My Block, My Hood, My City: "It's not normal for law enforcement to be empowered to think something like [the killing of George Floyd] is OK. ... It's not normal to watch a Black man choked out on national TV. It's not normal that we get criminalized, ...

"victimized and we get broadcasted as (?) people for hundreds of years. That's not normal. It's not normal we don't ever get the benefit of the doubt. It's not normal that even when we're the victims we get blamed."

Cole: "It's not normal every week is a new hashtag. ... We all got a role to play in fighting against injustice in Chicago; some activists, they don't got no solutions. Their speciality is making sure causes ain't forgotten. That's OK ... because they put pressure on ...

"institutions ... . Do you know the fundamentals of community organizing? C'mon, man, did you bring an extra battery pack since you like going Live so much? Did you bring water? Do you know that if you get arrested Downtown they're gonna take you to 18th and State? ... Is ...

"people ready to bail you out? There's levels to this, man. We got people breaking in to Nike. OK, you broke into Nike, make sure you wear those Nike shoes to the next City Hall meeting and City Council meeting. Whoever broke into the Gucci store, make sure you create an ...

"agenda and put that agenda in your purse and bring it to the next" meeting. "I want to say to the police officers, man, having that police badge gives you a platform to amplify who you really are. If you're a good person, having that badge amplifies your message of goodness; ...

"but, man, if you're a bad person, that badge can be a platform to amplify wickedness."

Cole: People should remember and ask themselves: What's something simple I can do to have a positive impact on my block?

A speaker who has not been identified: Officers stood with courage and professionalism while being dragged through the street and being pummeled. "They showed great restraint yesterday."

Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd), whose ward covers Downtown: "For the last 24 hours, I haven't slept. ... I think it's important to distinguish there were several things that happened yesterday, not just one thing. We're reading news reports and some members of the media are ...

"conflating protesting with rioting and looting. Protesters protest and looters loot. And for many of us, we witnessed a respectful and peaceful and righteous protest run by organizers, and that was appropriate. It's outrageous what occurred in Minneapolis. ... It's tragic ...

"what's occurred here and what's occurred in Minneapolis. 'Devastation' is the word I would use to describe most of the streets and frontages Downtown. River North received the brunt, if you can believe it, considering how much the Loop absorbed right now. It's also important ...

"to remember that after the peaceful protesters finished and left the area, what remained was rioters and looters. Their only interest was in creating havoc, criminal property damage and theft. This was not — to what I saw and many of my neighbors witnessed — these were not ...

"crimes of passion. In many cases they were very carefully thought-out. You don't go to a peaceful protest having rented a U-Haul truck." He claims he saw a number of trucks pulling up to stores with organized crews that targeted specific stores.
"Nearly ever branch bank in ...

"Downtown Chicago was vandalized and broken into." Nearly every ATM in the wall of buildings was removed and cracked open.
Pharmacies were targeted. A cannabis dispensary was targeted.

Reilly: It's "heartbreaking" to see small businesses damaged, though it's been "heartwarming" to see residents come out and help clean up.

Reilly: "From all of this awfulness we're going through right now, we can find a few rays of hope ... ."

Reilly: "The entire city must be protected. Looters aren't just focused on Downtown."

Lightfoot on National Guard: "I don't want to give away a lot of details for the obvious reasons. We want to make sure those resources are strategically deployed and that they're effective."

Lightfoot: "It's not an easy decision to call in the Guard ... . I trust, implicitly, the judgment of the superintendent when he called me in the early morning hours and said, 'We think we need this additional resource.'"

Lightfoot: "They will be primarily providing perimeter line in support. They will not be doing patrol in the city; that will remain the sole province of the Chicago Police Department."

Lightfoot: "That's not a resource you enter into likely. The National Guard obviously has certain optics to it, and they come with a certain level of equipment and presence. And we don't want to squander that resource, and we want to make sure we only use it when truly there ...

"is a time of need."

Brown: "It became clear to me that the case had been made that this was not a First Amendment protest, that this was a synchronized strategy to loot, burn and destroy, and not express your First Amendment rights."

Brown: National Guard will also serve as a "relief factor" since there's only so long you can have officers working.

Brown: "Let's put the blame on what happened last night squarely on the people that did the looting. Let's put the blame right there and leave it there. Let's don't switch the blame to the cops who showed great restraint and professionalism and did all they can to protect ...

"First Amendment rights because you chose to come and destroy. That's who has the blame."

Lightfoot: It's "completely and utterly false" that gang and tactical units weren't activated. "It's always easy to secondguess when you're not in the moment, when you don't actually have the complete facts. In what we saw last night and the harm that, that caused and lingers ...

"today and will in the future, let's put the blame where the blame squarely belongs: the people who decided they were gonna choose this moment in an organized fashion to loot and burn and pillage and destroy."