chicago<u+2014>a catholic high school cancelled classes friday as tensions grew following a fatal police shooting that sparked competing protests and racially charged texts by students. the unrest began with the saturday shooting of a 25-year-old black man by a white off-duty chicago police sergeant in the predominantly white neighborhood of mount greenwood on the city<u+2019>s south side. after protesters came to the neighborhood sunday, a string of texts by several female marist high school students upset with the demonstrators<u+2019> presence were shared widely on social media, adding to tensions in the enclave of mostly irish- and italian-american city workers. on saturday night, joshua beal was fatally shot by the police sergeant after an altercation with an off-duty chicago firefighter. according to an initial statement from chicago police, the sergeant came across the fight and saw that mr. beal had a gun in his hand. a screenshot from a private cellphone video of the incident authenticated by police shows that mr. beal was armed. in its statement, the chicago police said the sergeant stopped and exited his vehicle before displaying his weapon and announcing himself, but after mr. beal <u+201c>failed to drop his weapon, shots were fired.<u+201d> the sergeant is on administrative leave while the incident is investigated, police said. mr. beal<u+2019>s family, which couldn<u+2019>t immediately be reached for comment, has disputed the police account. activists from black lives matter and other groups came to visit with the family, but the demonstrators were met by competing protesters. sunday, the marist students exchanged texts that referred to the protesters with racial slurs. the school said it was taking disciplinary action against the girls. a faction of black lives matter had planned a friday protest but canceled their plan after receiving threatening messages. <u+201c>this town has the largest amount of trump supporters in my city and i<u+2019>m scared for my people,<u+201d> said yahaira tarr, an activist with the group and co-organizer of the canceled protest. marist high school also canceled friday classes, citing safety concerns, as roads surrounding the school had been blocked off. in a statement on its website, the school encouraged the community <u+201c>to use this day as [an] opportunity to reflect and pray that our school, city and nation come together in peace and mutual respect.<u+201d> chicago superintendent eddie johnson, officials at chicago public schools and protesters from the black lives matter faction planned to meet friday afternoon to discuss the situation. chicago police spokesman anthony guglielmi said police <u+201c>have been working closely with both groups to urge peaceful demonstrations.<u+201d> write to shibani mahtani at shibani.mahtani@wsj.com
shooting of black man by off-duty white police officer sparks protests in chicago - wsj
shibani mahtani