Substance News

Six Years Later: Reflections on the Social Justice Destruction in McKinley Park

SubX.News® History Report | June 3, 2026

To this day, many neighborhoods never recovered from the riots, looting, and destruction and most of them were in Black areas of the city.

It has now been six years since the killing of George Floyd was used as an excuse by some to destroy property and commit crimes in the name of justice.

In Chicago’s McKinley Park neighborhood, we refused to let that happen.

After the first night of destruction in late May 2020, neighbors came together and decided we would protect our businesses and our homes.

We watched out for each other the old-fashioned way, block by block, the way Chicago neighborhoods used to do.

Looking Out for the Neighborhood

One thing stood out at the vandalized and looted buildings in McKinley Park: there was a noticeable lack of protest-related or anti-police graffiti.

Nothing indicated that the crimes were connected to demonstrations over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

It looked far more like opportunistic looting and arson than political protest.

John Kugler, a longtime McKinley Park resident, was direct about what he saw:

“The [attempted home invaders] didn’t seem to be protesters. I’m very upset about what happened to George Floyd, and I support the protesters, but I don’t support the destruction of private property.”

Kugler encouraged neighbors to stay vigilant.

“Now that people are seeing damage locally, there is going to be more of a presence in the neighborhood.”

Image ... The remains of an arson fire set early in the morning of Monday, June 1, 2020, rest in an alley between South Paulina Street and South Hermitage Aveue, just north of West 38th Street.

Looting, Arson, and Attempted Home Invasions in McKinley Park Published June 1, 2020 by Justin Kerr
Original story
https://mckinleypark.news/news/604-looting-arson-attempted-home-invasions-mar-mckinley-park-neighborhood

It looked far more like opportunistic looting and arson than political protest.

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Last updated: 2026-06-03 01:17:19
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