Police Issue Citations to 43 Occupy Chicago Protesters

By Samantha Abernethy in News on Nov 7, 2011 11:30PM

Chicago Police issued citations to 43 Occupy Chicago protesters, who blocked the intersection of Jackson Boulevard and Clark Street downtown. About fifty members of the group Jane Addams Senior Caucus sat in the intersection near Federal Plaza around noon today and chanted "The people, united, will never be defeated."

Occupy Chicago says the group of seniors -- at least one was 100 years old, four of those cited were in assisted mobility devices -- were protesting possible cuts to federal programs, including social security, medicare/medicaid and HUD programs. About 1,500 people participated in rallies outside Senators Mark Kirk and Dick Durbin's offices today. The Tribune writes:

The protests lasted about an hour, and while there were some claims at first that people had been arrested, police said protesters were cited for impeding the flow of traffic and let go without arrest.

Durbin and Reps. Jan Schakowsky, Danny Davis, and Mike Quigley all joined the morning rally, and they pledged to oppose cuts to program funding and to try and make Kirk (R) do the same.

There are four videos of the protests and police interactions on the Occupy Chicago YouTube site.