Chicago to Open Grant and Union Parks for Weekend Demonstrations

Chicago's Grant and Union parks will be open this weekend to accommodate crowds protesting against racial injustice and the death of George Floyd, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Friday.

Lightfoot made the comments at a news conference in the evening hours where she unveiled a safety plan ahead of anticipated weekend demonstrations.

The mayor said the opening of Grant Park in the Loop and Union Park in the West Loop will allow residents to express their "outrage and righteous pain" over the murder of Floyd, an unarmed black man who died after a police officer in Minneapolis knelt on his neck for several minutes.

"We want to make sure that you have the space to lift your voices and make yourselves heard," Lightfoot said.

Last week, several businesses were looted and damaged in the Loop many Chicago neighborhoods after tense protests turned violent.

Chicago's nightly curfew, which Mayor Lightfoot said Friday she hopes to lift soon, will begin at 9 p.m. and last through 6 a.m. Saturday.