JUSTICE
School Cited for Feeding Protesters The Chicago Freedom School opened its doors to people who were trapped in the Loop after George Floyd protests and ordered pizza. Then police showed up. BY JIM DALEY AND KIRAN MISRA ESSENCE-JADE GATHERIGHT (LEFT) AND JACQULYN HAMILTON. PHOTO BY JERMAINE W.
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ate in the evening of May 30, as unrest swirled across the Loop and River North and reports of violence and looting blared from police scanners, a squad of CPD officers and investigators from the Department of Business and Consumer Protection (BACP) stood in the doorway of the Chicago Freedom School, demanding entry. The officers said they had received a complaint that the school was illegally preparing and serving food without a retail food establishment license. The investigators, Joseph Sneed and Ira Navarro, inspected the school’s offices and tiny kitchenette and gave school staff a cease-and-desist letter. The letter threatened them with arrest if they were caught serving food again. Several hours earlier, following protests that devolved into clashes with police, the city had raised bridges over the Chicago River, closed CTA train stations, and hastily 20 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY
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declared a curfew. Hundreds were trapped in the Loop. Chicago Freedom School (CFS) opened the doors of its office at State and Polk to young protesters so they could shelter from the mayhem and avoid arrest while arranging rides home. The nonprofit South Loop school, founded in 2007 and inspired by Civil Rights–era freedom schools in Mississippi, offers leadership training and educates youth aged fourteen to twenty-one on social justice movement history. Staff sent word through social media and the school’s community networks that it was a safe haven. Then they ordered pizzas for the hungry arrivals. Jacqulyn Hamilton, the wellness coordinator at CFS, headed to the school to help. “We have a history of opening up and being a safe space for young people of color downtown,” she said. “In the past we’ve offered our space as a warming center, healing space, bathroom, and place where
you can decompress and figure out next steps.” As she walked down State Street towards the school, Hamilton saw police blocking young people from leaving the Loop at multiple intersections. “You could see police in riot gear and in formation advancing [on] the crowd, essentially pushing them back and forth,” she said. She had trouble reaching the school herself because of the blockades. Essence-Jade Gatheright, a member of the CFS youth leadership board who had attended the protest earlier in the day, also made her way to the school. Shortly after 6pm, Gatheright tweeted that the school was open and had food, water, and phone chargers for protesters who couldn’t get home. The tweet was shared over 21,900 times. People soon began arriving, and before long, dozens of youth were sheltering there.
Hamilton posted up at the school’s front door to let people in, distributing masks and gloves and reminding them to practice social distancing. She said she lost count of how many eventually took refuge there. Because rideshare services were unavailable, staff sent word through the school’s wideranging community network to find people who could give rides home to those stranded there. Community allies came through, and drivers “were dropping people at home and coming back for more young people” all evening, she said. Around 11pm, at which point the office had been emptied of protesters, the officers showed up. “They said that they were investigators, but they were dressed in riot gear,” Hamilton said. “They looked like police, but the police officer that I was speaking to was insisting he was not a police officer.” A source at the BACP who spoke off the record confirmed that CPD
