CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Protestors cleared out of the downtown area shortly after 10 p.m. Thursday night, following a march in response to the release of police body cam footage of the moments 13-year-old Adam Toledo was shot and killed by Chicago police.
After the march Thursday night, a few young men from the Southwest Side told WBBM Newsradio that they grew up with ties to a gang and that the police body camera footage of Adam Toledo being shot by a Chicago police officer hit home, as they imagined Adam may have been going through the same thing they did when they were his age.
"The moment he had his hands up, boom. That makes no sense. And obviously his training wasn't good enough," said one young man, in reference to the police officer who shot Adam.
"And looking deeper into it, even a kid - I am pretty sure that kid had no one really looking out for him. The mom said he ran away," said another man.
One of the men said the situation between the Chicago police officer and Adam Toledo was wrong on both sides, but also a product of the environment from which Adam was raised.
"I understand the kid's situation, because I was a 13-year old out there. I am not the type to look for trouble, but trouble always finds, so I am always prepared for it...
"I can't speak for somebody else. Everybody is their own person, but he was just looking out for himself."
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Growing up under similar circumstances, the men said that neglect from parents and teachers led them to look elsewhere for mentorship.
"If you're in a neighborhood with a bunch of broken homes and the poverty under the level, or whatever, and you're just trying to make the best out of the situation. You look at the older heads, you look at the people who are outside, driving nice cars, got nice clothes on, and you want to imitate that," one of the men said.
Among other suggestions to build a better environment for kids both neglected by parents and teachers, the men said the city should shift funding from police to schools, and to use the money for more after-school activities for staff to intervene in what they call a strong element of peer pressure that could lead down an unhealthy path.
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