At the 7th annual day of national protest against police brutality, 7 marchers were arrested and charged with mob action. They are most likely being held at 18th and State. More information will be posted as soon as it is available.

For the past two years, the October 22nd Coalition has taken State Street as a part of its march. As one O22 organizer put it, "They [those of the dominant culture who control the media and status assignments] honor everyone else [as in the firefighters who fell in the line of duty at Ground Zero]. But no one honors the families of those who were murdered by the police."

Since September 11th, 2001, the police forces across the country have been given extra freedom to exhibit various forms of repression and criminalization. At least 25 people just in Chicago have been murdered since 9-11 by the police.

O22 Coalition organizers see posing a strong presence on State Street as a way to bring attention to the enormity of police repression in the post-9-11 climate. The fact that 7 peaceful marchers were arrested seems to prove that the police, as an extension of a repressive state, have little or no respect for those who choose to exercise their First Amendment rights.