By Mark Weyermuller -
I was amazed and inspired to see Reverend Jesse Jackson walk about a mile while being held by Father Michael Pfleger in a “Peace Walk” last Sunday in Chicago. Jackson, now 80 years old, is suffering from Parkinson’s disease and also tested positive for Covid 19 early in the year. Jackson and Pfleger were joined by over 400 people marching along downtown Chicago's Michigan Avenue from the Tribune Tower to the historic Water Tower for a prayer vigil. Then they returned back to the Tribune Tower for more prayers.
In 2021, 4542 Chicagoans were shot, with 845 resulting in homicide. Last Sunday's marchers carried miniature Chicago city flags modified with bullet holes and blood stains on them.
The marchers also carried 80 photos of the murder victims who were under 18 years old.
In 2020, 792 people were murdered in Chicago. I wrote this article last year about a similar march HERE.
In 2017, I joined the march on Michigan Avenue where the participants carried 793 wooden crosses, one for each victim of murder that year. The wooden crosses were hand built by Greg Zanis, who passed away in 2020. He was a carpenter who made it his mission to hand build crosses for shooting victims across the country. The 2017 IR article I wrote is HERE.
One of the 843 murder victims was Chicago Police Officer Ella French who was shot and killed in a traffic stop. Read about her funeral which I attended along with over 4000 police officers from around the country HERE.
Weyermuller (l) with GOP candidate for LG Stephanie Trussell (r)
Stephanie Trussell joined me at the March as she has in years past. Trussell was a conservative talk radio host for over the seven years on the 50,000 watt WLS 890-AM. I was a regular guest on weekly with a man in the street report.
She is currently running as Lieutenant Governor in Illinois with Darren Bailey in the Republican primary in June. Trussell was given a photo to carry on the march of Kentrell McNeil. He was a freshman at Simeon High School who was shot and killed on Tuesday, September 22, 2021 four hours after school in front of a McDonalds at 52nd and Lake Park in Hyde Park. Earlier in that day, Jamari Williams, a sophomore at Simeon was shot and killed a few blocks from the school just after school let out. It appears no one is in custody in those murders from last report.
Each of the 845 murders has a story which should be told. More than half the homicides of 2021 remain unsolved.
I’ll be talking about solutions to slow the crime in Chicago in future articles. For now we remember and grieve for the 845 victims of murder in Chicago in 2021.
We can only hope that in 2022 our elected and appointed leaders like Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Police Superintendent David Brown, States Attorney Kim Foxx, 50 Chicago Aldermen, head of Cook County Courts Tim Evans, and others will step up with new solutions. We need to give our full support to the brave men and women of the Chicago Police Department.
The policies of 2021 are not working and many are saying we need new direction and new leadership,
Mark Weyermuller is a lifelong Chicagoan, small business person, retired real estate professional, law & order supporter, tax payer advocate, and conservative activist in Chicago. He is a citizen journalist, frequent guest on talk radio, and regular contributor to Illinois Review.
