BY YUE WANG
Several hundred demonstrators, many of them mental health clinic workers and patients, gathered in front of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s house Saturday in a rally against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and plans to shut down many of the city’s of mental health clinics.
The protestors met in Horner Park at noon and marched nearly two miles to the mayor’s North Side house, chanting slogans including “You say cut back, we say fight back.” They then sat in the middle of Hermitage Avenue, demanding the mayor and President Obama be responsible for healthcare problems.
“Hey Rahm. Come on out. See what American is all about,” they shouted.
The mayor didn’t appear at the time of the protest.
The demonstrators said hosting the NATO summit has diverted Chicago’s resources away from where they are most needed. In a controversial move last December, Chicago officials proposed to shut down half of its mental health clinics to slash city spending in a fragile economy.
“I am tired of Rahm Emanuel cutting everything for poor people. Cut, cut, cut,” said Zakiyyah Muhammad, a homecare provider and community activist in Chicago.
“I wish NATO had never come here because the money that the mayor and others have put into welcoming NATO, that money could have been put into a budget to keep the mental health clinics open.”
“I wish NATO would go home ASAP,” she said.
Police used bikes as barricades between the Mayor’s place and the protestors. One protestor went up to a police officer, asking him to shake hands and make a sign of peace. The police didn’t respond.
The three-hour protest today is the third major rally against NATO. The first one started on Friday, with people demonstrating outside the Canadian consulate to protest construction of the Keystone XL pipeline in the ecologically sensitive Sand Hills area in Nebraska. Thousands of people also gathered in Daley Plaza in downtown Chicago calling for a “Robin Hood Tax” on Wall Street.
The biggest rally may be yet to come – protestors from all over the country are expected to meet downtown on Sunday . The Occupy Chicago movement, environmentalists, anarchists, anti-war supporters and numerous other groups seek to get their voices heard when world’s most powerful leaders gather in Chicago.
So far, three self-identified anarchists from other parts of the country have been accused of planning bomb attacks on places including the mayor’s house and Obama’s re-election campaign headquarters in Chicago’s Loop district.
