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Chicago Mayor Tightens Curfew for Minors After Shooting Near ‘the Bean’

Lori Lightfoot also limited minors’ weekend access to Millennium Park, the popular tourist attraction where a 16-year-old was recently shot and killed.

After a 16-year-old boy was shot and killed in Chicago’s Millennium Park on Saturday evening, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced a stricter citywide weekend curfew for young people. Rather than starting at 11 p.m. as it has since the 1990s, the weekend curfew will now begin at 10 p.m. Lightfoot also limited young peoples’ access to Millennium Park, which is home to the city’s characteristic “The Bean” statue. From Thursday to Sunday, unaccompanied minors won’t be allowed into the park after 6 p.m., and those who break the new laws will be arrested. “I’m urging parents, guardians and responsible adults in the lives of children to make sure that you know what the rules are, and that you make a plan with your children and young people to make sure that they safely abide by this curfew,” Lightfoot said. Chicago recently reported a jump in homicides, cataloging 797 in 2021, the highest annual number recorded in the past quarter century.