NOTE: The 10 a.m. press conference will be streamed live in the player above
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is set to provide an update Tuesday after another night of unrest across the city saw largely peaceful protests, as well as looting and vandalism, a heavy police presence and a state disaster proclamation across the city and suburbs.
The mayor is scheduled to speak alongside Chicago police and the city's Department of Public Health at 10 a.m. CST from the city's Office of Emergency Management and Communications headquarters.
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Chicago officials again put some measures in place Monday night in an effort to curtail the unrest of the days before: closing streets into the city's Loop, shutting down CTA service, enforcing a curfew and more.
Hundreds of people again gathered in Chicago to protest, with large demonstrations reported on the city's North Side, one even blocking both sides of Lake Shore Drive near Addison.
The night's unrest was again not limited to the city alone, but spread out to area suburbs, many of which instituted curfews, closed roads and warned residents to stay home.
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Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued a disaster proclamation Monday for several counties to help with recovery efforts following looting, vandalism and unrest over the weekend. The proclamation covers Champaign, Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Madison, Macon, Sangamon and Will counties, Pritzker announced.
Lightfoot will likely need to address whether or not Chicago can enter the next phase of its reopening plan amid the coronavirus pandemic as scheduled on Wednesday.
She has said repeatedly that city officials have not made a determination on whether the city can still begin the third phase of its plan, days after the rest of Illinois moved forward with loosening restrictions meant to curb the spread of the deadly virus.
Chicago's third phase of reopening is slated to allow several businesses to reopen with new guidelines and limitations, and small non-essential gatherings of up to 10 people. Some of the businesses allowed to reopen include restaurants for outdoor dining with appropriate social distancing and sanitary measures.
Lightfoot on Monday morning again denounced any looting or vandalism that took place over the weekend.
"It's completely heart wrenching to me personally. And I know to many of you who I've spoken to and heard from, updates that I received all day and night, from our aldermen, from local community leaders, about the attacks on local storefronts, and in particular our small, black-owned businesses, was nothing short of devastating," Lightfoot said at a news conference.
"I know that for many of you, your life's work went into developing these businesses and commercial centers," she continued. "I know that for many of you, your blood, sweat and tears went into recruiting businesses to come support the vibrancy of your communities. And I want you to hear from me. Not only do I know that I and we will be your partner in rebuilding, we will not let our city be in shambles."
She had previously alleged that the destruction and theft was planned.
“There's no question that both the people who were fighting who brought the weapons that was absolutely organized and choreographed,” Lightfoot said Sunday in reference to attendees bringing shovels, hammers and other objects to the protests.
“It seems also clear that the fires that were set both the vehicles and buildings- that that was organized. That wasn’t opportunistic.”
Lightfoot said the city is working with the FBI, U.S. Attorney’s Office and the ATF’s Bomb and Arson unit to find out who’s responsible.
The unrest in Chicago and many other cities unfolded after protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on Monday, which was captured on cellphone video. It led to the firing Tuesday of the four police officers who were arresting Floyd for suspicion of passing a counterfeit bill and to third-degree murder and manslaughter charges being filed Friday against the officer who used his knee to pin Floyd down for more than eight minutes, even as Floyd pleaded for air and went limp.
