Chicago mayor restricts vehicle, transit access

Chicago Mayor Lori Lighfoot says access to the city’s downtown is restricted to residents and essential workers, and the National Guard will have a presence in the city as officials seek to stem violence arising from demonstrations following the police killing of George Floyd.

Lightfoot again praises peaceful protesters, saying she stands “shoulder-to-shoulder” with those condemning Floyd’s death, after Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck during an arrest earlier this week.

But she says that in order to protect the city, the state has agreed to dispatch “a contingent of the National Guard” to take up a “limited presence.”

She says bus and train service to the downtown Loop is temporarily suspended. Drawbridges that span several stretches of the Chicago River in and out of the area are raised to limit vehicle access.

And Lightfoot says that a citywide 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew will remain in effect indefinitely. Officials say that there were 240 arrests Friday night and early Saturday, and that six people were shot, one fatally, in the Loop, during a four-hour span Friday evening.

— AP