'Black Christmas' Protesters Will March On The Mag Mile Christmas Eve

By Kate Shepherd in News on Dec 23, 2015 5:01PM

Protestors are planning to take over the Magnificent Mile again on Christmas Eve, in response to the Laquan McDonald shooting.

Anyone planning on doing last-minute shopping downtown tomorrow should be ready. The demonstrators are planning to mimic their Black Friday protest, which blocked stores and hurt merchants' bottom line on the biggest shopping day of the year:

This Thursday, Xmas Eve, 12 noon, MagMile. #BlackChristmas #DumpRahm #RecallRahm pic.twitter.com/Q0zV13vEAK

— Dump Rahm (@DumpRahm) December 21, 2015

"We know there will be a lot of last-minute Christmas Eve shoppers," Gregory Livingston of the Coalition for a New Chicago, one of the groups organizing the demonstration, told the Tribune. "We hate to be disruptive, but we hope to once again affect economics on Mag Mile to appeal to the merchants, and appeal to (Mayor Rahm) Emanuel on his cover-up and sequent actions that he needs to step down."

The "shutdown" will start at noon at the DuSable Bridge at Michigan and Wacker and continue up to Oak Street:

The protestors have been calling for the resignations of Emanuel and Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez for nearly a month. But the mayor, who's on a family vacation in Cuba, won't be in town to witness the demonstration.

Activists have protested on the Mag Mile several times since Black Friday including a sit-in on Dec. 18:

#Chicago protesters holding a sit-in on Mag Mile outside Water Tower Place #LaquanMcDonald pic.twitter.com/fPMuO6EaZn

— Progress Illinois (@progressIL) December 18, 2015

'No justice, no profits,' activists chant outside Water Tower Place #ResignRahm #LaquanMcDonald pic.twitter.com/dm6Tmkf6TL

— Progress Illinois (@progressIL) December 18, 2015