Protest threat prompts high school to cancel Friday classes

CHICAGO (AP) — A Chicago Catholic high school has canceled classes after a protest was announced targeting the institution for alleged racial slurs following demonstrations over a police-involved shooting of a black man.

Marist High School Principal Larry Tucker says he canceled Friday classes after Black Lives Matter activists announced plans to gather at the school to denounce the alleged racist response of Mount Greenwood residents to the death of Joshua Beal of Indianapolis. The demonstration was canceled over safety concerns and protesters plan to meet Friday with city officials and Tucker.

The 25-year-old Beal was shot to death after he pointed a gun at an off-duty police officer and others during a Saturday traffic dispute in the largely white Mount Greenwood neighborhood.

Since Beal’s shooting, Black Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter supporters have verbally clashed during protests.
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