REOPEN THE CASE! RENAME WASHINGTON PARK PLAYGROUND AT 53RD & KING TO RONALD JOHNSON PARK!

On October 12th, 2014 Ronald “RonnieMan” Johnson was shot and killed by George Hernandez, Chicago police officer, on the city’s South Side. He was 25 years old and a father of five. On the night of the murder, witnesses have said that police officers did not identify themselves before opening fire on unarmed Johnson, killing him from multiple gunshot wounds. His death has been ruled a homicide.

his murder by the hands of the state was captured on police dash-cam video. The lawyer representing RonnieMan’s mother, Dorothy Holmes, was forced to file a Freedom of Information Act request with the Chicago Police Department for the dash-cam video that captured the shooting after multiple attempts at retrieval were denied. Only after a lawsuit was filed by Chicago activists which forced the City of Chicago to release video footage of the murder of Laquan McDonald by CPD officer Jason Van Dyke, did the City finally release the video of the murder of Ronald Johnson. Immediately, following the release of the video, the former state’s attorney, Anita Alvarez, announced that she would not press any charges against police officer, George Hernandez.

Alvarez represents the face of deep seated corruption that pervades every aspect of government in Chicago. Alvarez, CPD and the entire City government are guilty of covering up evidence of the murder of Ronald Johnson. The inept and corrupt handling of both Laquan McDonald’s and Ronald Johnson’s cases, reveal complicity in cover ups that go all the way to the Mayor’s and State’s Attorney’s offices.

We demand the case be reopened.

Why A Playground?

RonnieMan was killed on 53rd and King Drive, in front of a playground at the entrance of Washington Park. To commemorate RonnieMan’s life, reclaim the land on which his blood was lain, and permanently memorialize his and all lives taken by police and state violence, we are are seeking to rename the park in his honor.

For too long, those killed by police and state violence have been erased, invisibalized rendering their lives disposable. By reclaiming the land in which RonnieMan’s last breath was taken, we seek to disrupt the pattern of sweeping Black death into the annals of history, and instead will create a public permanent memorial to celebrate his life, Black life and our full humanity.