Illinois National Guard met with comfort, fear

Authorities in a Chicago suburb where two people were fatally shot in unrest following George Floyd's death issued fresh safety precautions Tuesday.

Officials warned residents of Cicero, Illinois, to "stay home and stay off the streets" a day after violence and destruction erupted in the town of about 84,000 west of Chicago.

Police, who responded to 41 calls of gun fire, said most of Monday's chaos stemmed from residents trying to defend businesses. Roughly 60 people were arrested, mostly for burglary and weapons violations. Two people were fatally shot around 6 p.m. in separate incidents related to the violent clashes.

Cicero residents are divided on having the National Guard being called in to maintain order in their city.

Cesar Bautista, a 41-year-old pastor, says having the National Guard there makes him feel safer, but adds: "What gets me angry that it gets to that point."

Cicero resident Lydia Villagrana, 23, is against having the National Guard there. "They encourage negativity, they encouraged the hysteria, they encouraged the fear," she said.

Floyd, a black man, died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed Floyd's neck with his knee as the man pleaded he couldn't breathe. Protests over his death and wider issues of race and police brutality have been followed by chaos in Cicero and in Chicago neighborhoods, including Little Village, where community activist Raul Montes Jr. says he welcomes help from the National Guard.