Thousands of demonstrators have marched in the US city of Chicago to pressure public officials to do more to stop gun-related violence.
The protesters marched on Saturday on all five northbound lanes of Chicago’s Dan Ryan Expressway, bringing the interstate to a standstill to draw attention to the problem that has claimed hundreds of lives in some of the city’s poorest neighborhoods.
Some of the demonstrators stopped to write on the road with chalk: “Enough is enough” and “Peace,” with some others calling for “national common sense gun laws.”
They also demanded more public resources, more jobs, better schools and economic development for their communities.
A line of police officers and their parked vehicles initially split the northbound highway in half, planning to allow marchers to walk in the right two lanes while keeping two left lanes open to traffic.
However, demonstrators, including Rev. Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina Catholic Church…