Chicagoans Show Solidarity With Puerto Rican Protesters Attacked On May Day
Dozens of demonstrators rallied and march through the Loop downtown Monday evening to show solidarity with protesters in Puerto Rico and condemn the violent repression demonstrators in the territory faced on May Day. “We stand here in Federal Plaza united in opposition to these criminal tactics and stand in solidarity with the Puerto Rican people against the repression of the Puerto Rico Police, which the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has labeled the most corrupt police force under the the US flag,” wrote the Chicago Boricua Resistance, the group which organized the demonstration. “The real criminals are not the Puerto Rican people out in the streets protesting but the Puerto Rican government, the vulture funds, the Fiscal Supervision Board, and those in the US congress who undemocratically imposed the Fiscal Supervision Board on the island.” On May 1st, which is celebrated internationally as a worker’s holiday, demonstrators in Puerto Rico were beaten, arrested, and tear gassed by police while protesting austerity measures leveled by officials as the island, which still has not recovered from the devastating Hurricane Maria.