Darrius “Das” Lightfoot, leader of the Fearless Leading by the Youth (FLY) activist groups, chants in front of protesters who chained themselves together at a University of Chicago Medical Center construction site at East 56th Street and South Cottage Grove Avenue, blocking the entrance to the site and delaying work.
Locking Arms for a Trauma Center
Members of the Trauma Center Coalition in Chicago gathered Monday morning, May 19th, 2014, to protest for an adult Level I trauma center at a construction site owned by the University of Chicago Medical Center. The protestors were forcibly removed after trespassing and blocking concrete trucks.
Update:
In December 2015, the University of Chicago Medical Center announced that the hospital, in partnership with Sinai Health System, will open a level one trauma center at Holy Cross Hospital on the South Side.
After blocking the entrance did not halt construction at the site, the chained protesters divided, entered the site, and prevented concrete trucks from entering or leaving the site.Protesters were able to temporarily halt construction and their efforts drew attention from workers. With their newfound audience, protesters were quick to remind workers that if they were hurt on the job, they too would have to travel to the nearest Level I trauma center 10 miles away.
Shortly after the protesters relocated to inside of the construction site, workers closed entrances and obscured fences to prevent more protesters and reporters from entering or viewing the site.
Protesters outside the site tore sections of the green fabric lining the gate to see the protesters -- especially as the campus police arrived on the scene.
Approximately 50 minutes after entering the site, University of Chicago police forcibly remove the second group of protesters from the construction site.
Harris (right) comforts Morris-Moore after she was removed from the premise by UCPD officers. Morris-Moore said that she could not feel her encased hand and was taken to the emergency room by ambulance.
