May 01--Seventeen women who were protesting and blocking Lake Shore Drive near Jackson Drive have been arrested and the street has been reopened Saturday afternoon in the Loop, city officials said.
Traffic is being allowed through that intersection as of about 1:05 p.m., according to the city's Office of Emergency Management and Communications spokeswoman Melissa Stratton.
At 12:42 p.m. police were notified that people who were protesting near the NFL draft were obstructing traffic, said police Officer Janel Sedevic, a spokeswoman for the Chicago Police Department.
The demonstrators caused Lake Shore Drive at Jackson Drive to be closed, Sedevic said.
Seventeen women were arrested and charges are pending, according to Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the Chicago Police Department.
In part, layoffs at the predominantly African-American Chicago State University -- fueled by the ongoing state budget stalemate -- on the South Side served as a springboard for the protests, according to members of Black Lives Matter Chicago and Fearless Leading by the Youth.
"Resources are constantly taken from (African Americans) while places like downtown Chicago continue to be invested in," said Veronica Morris Moore, a youth organizer for FLY.
"It is important that when we take action we're not just visible. We're disruptive," she added.
Shortly after protesters were arrested, some of their friends and fellow activists gathered in the lobby of the Chicago Police Department's Central District police station, just south of downtown. They munched on snacks they brought along as they waited for news.
Black Lives Matter Chicago member Aislinn Pulley said she was disappointed by the arrests, as protesters have a right to express their grievances.
"Education is a human right. It's clear that state and local governments aren't invested in protecting that," she said.
