Nitaawe Banks does not dispute that they sat down on the pavement the morning of April 15, 2024, to block the main highway to O’Hare International Airport, the words “Free Palestine” written on the PVC pipes they used to link arms with other protesters. But Banks argues that this action was born from a deeply held sense of duty to stop a harm far greater than clogged traffic: US support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
“You have to have hope that you can stop the mass extermination of people,” Banks, 21, said on November 4 from a pale, wooden witness stand in a small Chicago courtroom. Banks was wearing a red-and-gray keffiyeh draped over a floral scarf designed by an Anishinaabe artist, a reference to their own Indigenous ancestry. They spoke calmly as they addressed the jury of 12, plus one alternate. “If there is any minuscule possibility of an action that I take making it so that harm is not incurred on another human being, it is incumbent upon me to take that action.” …..more
