Chicago Cops Shooed Activists Off Pritzker's Gold Coast Block

CHICAGO — Activist Marlon Watson learned something Saturday: "Somebody" didn't want anything that looks like a protest in front of Gov. J.B. Pritzker's Gold Coast mansion.

Watson, leader of American Descendants of Slavery Chicago, invited the media to show for a sidewalk news conference outside Pritzker's mansion Saturday morning in an attempt to call attention to the "hypocritical lip service" the governor gives to racial injustice and equity in the Black community.

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Since reporters didn't show up, the three people and two signs on the sidewalk was neither disruptive nor, technically, a news conference. Gold Coast denizens didn't seem to mind.

One of Pritzker's friendly neighbors was kind enough to let Watson know that they'd set up next to the Toilet Gate mansion — the one the governor "took the toilets out of" to get a property tax break — rather than the billionaire's actual residence.

And Watson explained to a curious lady on a bicycle who stopped on Astor Street to chat that what they want is for the governor to stop ignoring their calls for an executive order to create an "African American Rapid Relief Task Force" proposed by Chicago state Rep. LaShawn Ford that could respond to the underlying causes of gun violence — institutional racism, government disinvestment and neglect in Black communities — and treat the loss of life as a public health problem.

"I hope this goes viral," she said before peddling away.

In the absence of TV cameras, Watson and his two-person crew took their demands to Facebook Live. ADOS Chicago board members Arthur Ward and Cynthia McDonald held up handwritten signs demanding Pritzker "release emergency funds for the Black community."

MORE ON PATCH: Gov. Pritzker All Tweet No Action On Violence In Black Community

And just as they were wrapping up, at least four Chicago police vehicles showed up, and a handful of officers — including a woman in plain clothes who said she was the "police" — gathered on the sidewalk. Watson spoke directly to his camera phone. "I'm expressing my rights as a citizen," he said. "And I ain't going nowhere."

One officer told Watson that police had responding to a call of illegal protesting in a residential area — the same city ordinances and state laws that prohibit protesting in residential neighborhoods that Mayor Lori Lightfoot cited after cops put the kibosh on hundreds of people demonstrating outside her Logan Square house.

"I felt like the police were telling us we can't exercise our rights. It wasn't a protest. There were three people there. It was press conference. The press were supposed to come, like they have before when we've had press conferences there, but [Saturday] we were told they didn't have staff to send," Watson said. "The police response seemed strange."

Gov. Pritzker's office didn't respond to questions about who called the police to shoo away Watson, and the governor's take on the call for an executive order to bring equity to the Black community that he continues to ignore.

Watson surmised the only thing different from the group's previous media events outside Pritzker's mansion was that I wrote about it in advance. I also quoted Watson's not so flattering reaction to the governor's comments following the lack of murder charges related to the police shooting death of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky.

MORE ON PATCH: Gov. Pritzker Pledges Racial Equity, Activists Hear 'Lip Service'

On Wednesday, Pritzker said he would "not rest until the state of Illinois and this country treat [Black people] with the respect and equality that is your most basic human right."

In Watson's opinion, the governor's public comments were "clearly bull----. Hypocritical lip service," and part of a trend for Pritzker: "When something happens, he's out giving the perception that he cares about the Black community. But he won't do anything legislatively. We're tired of it. It's just bull----."

On Saturday morning, Watson talked to officers outside Pritzker's mansions for about 20 minutes. At times, Watson told me, he worried that those conversations might turn into a conflict leading to his arrest, or worse.

"It just seemed strange. We handled it well, but I felt like things could have went wrong," he said. "A Black dude dealing with the cops ... ain't no telling what could have happened."

In the end, though, he walked away as peacefully as he arrived providing commentary as he filmed his sidewalk view.

"This sure is a nice neighborhood, ain't it. The governor and them living high on the hog. Boy, look at this joint. ... Look at how these jokers living, man," he said.

"You would think this ain't even Chicago. This is a little piece of heaven. ... And we're on the South Side and West Side of Chicago living in squalor. And they ignore our requests to ... treat us like citizens."

While filming the Astor Street architecture, Watson spoke as if Pritzker was walking alongside him.

"Sign an executive order like you did for the Hispanics. Sign an executive order like you did for the asylum seekers," Watson said on his Facebook Live post.

"[Pritzker] done signed executive orders for everybody but Black folk. And we voted for you at a 98 percent clip. ... So, he went and picked him a Black lieutenant governor as cover, so he don't have to do anything for us. Having a Black lieutenant governor is fine, praise the lord, but we need legislation, man."

On Monday, Watson told me he won't stop talking until Pritzker stops ignoring him.

"This ain't over. No way," he said. "We're not going away. We're not gonna quit."

Mark Konkol, recipient of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting, wrote and produced the Peabody Award-winning series, "Time: The Kalief Browder Story." He was a producer, writer and narrator for the "Chicagoland" docu-series on CNN, and a consulting producer on the Showtime documentary, "16 Shots
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