In Gompers Park, organizers gathered on a crisp Friday morning as they talked about how to get encampment residents someplace warm after Chicago Police and city workers removed tents and yurts around Pulaski and Foster, within the park’s borders.
The removals were ahead of a planned Accelerated Moving Event on March 5th, a decision by Alderperson of the 39th Ward, Samantha Nugent, in order to give encampment residents one-day accelerated housing services. Earlier removals began on Wednesday morning on the 19th, according to Chicago broadcast station WGN9. The reason the city gave for the clearing of tents in the park was due to fire hazards as some residents had propane tanks, as there were at least three fires in the encampment.
Bob Black, one of the organizers, told the Independent that the community organizing around the park goes there regularly.
“As folks who come to the park regularly, we don’t yet have a group name,” Black said. “We’ve been coming out pretty much every Sunday to distribute food and chat with the folks who live here. A lot of us, some of us have had relationships with the people who have been living here for years, at least have been coming to the park for years.”
During the interview, conflict arose between officers in an unmarked vehicle and the organizers there, with one organizer asking the cops “Why are you still here? You did your fucking job!” referencing the removal of some of the yurts this morning.
Another person, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Independent, “There were about at least 30 cops, probably like 20 something other city officials with the park and they had this humongous crane and this huge ass dump truck.” When asked if there had been any violence towards protesters, they said that the cops had pushed people and arrested one, as later reported by Block Club Chicago.
“I’m part of the community, and we come here every Wednesday to give people food and check in and see what people need,” one organizer told the Independent.
“These are my neighbors, these are my friends, and I see them every week, so we are here to try to protect their housing.”
At the time the Independent was on site, police were seen sitting in one unmarked and one marked vehicle, talking with each other through their windows. Organizers were in talks about plans for a possible march within the next couple of weeks.
