Mayor Sets Early Weekend Curfew For Minors After Shooting Near 'Bean'

CHICAGO — Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Monday announced plans to sign an executive order requiring minors to be off the street citywide by 10 p.m. on weekends.

The decision to roll back curfew by an hour came a day after Lightfoot banned unattended kids from visiting Millennium Park after 6 p.m. between Thursday and Sunday starting this week.

The curfew and ban came after a teenager was shot and killed by another teen near The Bean as a massive crowd of young people turned into a murder scene Saturday night. Two other people were shot and wounded, authorities said.

"I'm urging parents, guardians, and responsible adults in the lives of children to make sure that you know what the rules are, and that you make a plan with your children and young people, to make sure that they safely abide by this curfew that's been in effect for a very long time," Lightfoot said at a news conference. "You need to make sure that you understand what your young people are doing, who they are with, and where they are going."

Lightfoot said the new restrictions are not aimed at arresting young people. She said police "will exhaust all other efforts before they take law enforcement actions to make sure that our young people are safe."

A spokesman from the American Civil Liberties Union criticized the move, saying it could lead to police making "unnecessary stops and arrests and further strain relations between CPD and young people of color."

City officials said signs will be posted at Millennium Park regarding the new rules prohibiting unaccompanied minors on the weekend.

"The mayor’s announcement suggests that our City’s showcase park should not be available for all residents of Chicago. Curfews and bans create group culpability for all young people — whether they are there to enjoy the sights and sounds of downtown or something else. The vague description — relying on an undefined ‘responsible adult’ — allowing young people to be present in the park and the promise of strict enforcement will result in unnecessary stops and arrests and further strain relations between CPD and young people of color," ACLU policy director Edwin Yohnka said. "We will continue to monitor this situation closely."

Lightfoot said she has a lot of respect for the ACLU but that her administration must take action to respond to violence perpetrated by minors, which she called a "crisis in our city."

"Doing nothing is simply not an option," the mayor said. "So I will listen, I will engage with them, but doing nothing is not an option; and I think the modest, very surgically narrowly defined actions that we're taking make sense."