Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times A view of Cloud Gate, aka “The Bean,” in Millennium Park from the 32nd floor of 8 S. Michigan Ave., Thursday, May 30, 2019. | Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times Four Wheaton College students who were repeatedly stopped from open-air preaching and passing out evangelism literature in Millennium Park are suing the city for allegedly violating their First Amendment rights. The students — all members of Wheaton College’s Chicago Evangelism Team, an outreach ministry sponsored by the college’s Office of Christian Outreach — announced the lawsuit Wednesday, claiming Millennium Park’s rules “severely hinder First Amendment rights for all within a public forum.” “Although an outdoor park is the quintessential public forum, the city’s rules purportedly transform the outdoor public park into a novel spatial concept with various ‘rooms’ that prohibit freedom of speech,” the complaint states. The students include sophomores Matt Swart, Jeremy Chong and Gabriel Emerson, as well as junior Caeden Hood. They’re represented by law firm Mauck & Baker. According to the complaint, Swart, Hood and four other members of the Chicago Evangelist Team met at Millennium Park on Dec. 7, 2018, to pass out free religious literature, but they were stopped by park security who said […]
