Evanston Township High School students, faculty and administrators headed a “Stop the Violence” rally on April 26. City and community leaders joined the march of about 50 persons, who walked the few blocks along Dodge Avenue from the high school’s Lake Street corner past the McDonald’s restaurant on Dempster Street, where a young man was shot earlier this month. Some wore T-shirt that read “Stop the Violence, Stop the Funerals, Start the Peace, Start the Love.” The rally was sponsored by the ETHS chapter of the NAACP.
Alderman Mark Tendam said he attended the rally because “the violence with handguns is so alarming, and we’re losing in the courts. We need to find a way to get rid of guns, a way that won’t be objectionable to the National Rifle Association.” After the U.S. Supreme Court held that handgun ownership was legal under certain conditions, the NRA sued the City because of its gun ban.
George Mitchell, president of the Evanston/North Shore NAACP said he was “glad to see that the students of the school here want to take a stand against violence. It’s important that they recognize what is and what is not acceptable and then get back to what their main mission is – education.”