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Black Lives Matter Occupies Sidewalk Of South Bend Government Building For 24 Hours

South Bend Black Lives Matter activists rally at the conclusion of a 24-hour occupation of the sidewalk in front of the County-City Building.
Justin Hicks/IPB News
South Bend Black Lives Matter activists rally at the conclusion of a 24-hour occupation of the sidewalk in front of the County-City Building.

Black Lives Matter activists occupied the sidewalk in front of the South Bend County-City building for 24 hours over the weekend. They continue to demand the firing of the police chief more than a month after the fatal police shooting of Eric Logan.

Starting at noon on Saturday, activists held workshops about citizens’ rights in police interactions and wrote slogans with sidewalk chalk. As the evening drew on, they also read from the Bible together. 

Mmoja Ajabu came with others from Indianapolis representing Economic Freedom Fighters of Indiana. He says Mayor Pete Buttigieg should fire or at least demote Chief Scott Ruszkowski because the officer who shot Eric Logan didn’t turn on his body camera. 

“So the buck should stop at the mayor’s office," Ajabu says. "Mayor: If you’re not going to hold the police chief accountable, then you need to resign.”

According to activist Jordan Geiger, they’ll continue to demonstrate until the Eric Logan case is resolved or their list of demands is met. 

Justin Hicks is a workforce reporter for IPB News based at WVPE in Elkhart. He comes to Indiana by way of New York. He has a master's degree from the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University and earned a Bachelor of Music Degree from Appalachian State University where he played trumpet. He first learned about Elkhart, Indiana, because of the stamp on his brass instrument indicating where it was produced. Justin was born and raised in Mt. Olive, North Carolina. He currently lives in South Bend with his dog, Charlotte.
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