Two pro-Palestine protestors were arrested during a NASCAR event at Grant Park in Chicago last Sunday.
The penultimate race of the season took place around the Chicago street circuit, but was reduced from 75 laps to 58 due to the darkness at the track.
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It was Alex Bowman who secured victory at the Grant Park 165, ending an 80-race win drought.
Tyler Reddick and Ty Gibbs completed the top three, whilst championship leader Kyle Larson failed to finish the race after crashing into the wall.
Pro-Palestine protestors taken into custody
During the event two protestors allegedly chained themselves to a fence holding signs that read: “Pritzker: We Charge Genocide,” and “Bombs for Gaza, Prisons for Illinois”.
These signs referred to the Governor of Illinois J.B. Pritzker’s $900 million plan to tear down and rebuild two state prisons, and Israel’s ongoing bombardment of Gaza.
According to the Chicago police, the protestors were arrested 40 minutes after they entered the track on grounds of criminal trespass.
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The group claiming responsibility for the demonstration revealed that the protestors were released early Monday morning, after sending a statement to media outlets on Sunday.
“Pritzker’s policies in Illinois mirror the same policies of mass death and imprisonment of presidents Biden and Trump,” the statement read.
“Chicagoans will not allow our city to operate as normal while you invest in our people’s mass incarceration and genocide. Pritzker and Johnson are not fit to host any major events in Chicago, including the Democratic National Convention, because the people will not allow them to.”
