CHICAGO — It was seven years ago yesterday that 21 people died and scores more were hurt when panic seized those in the E2 nightclub on Chicago’s South Side.
The families of those who died said they are looking to the federal government for help.
Photos of those who died were laid out on a table in front of family members who gathered at an Austin neighborhood restaurant to plead for assistance, although they were hazy on the specific help they believed the U.S. Justice Department could provide.
The families have no lawyer. Instead, they are beginning an effort to pass petitions at local churches and outside nightclubs, asking the Justice Department to review the case.
They are especially interested in obtaining access to security video from the nightclub, and said much of it appears to have disappeared over the intervening seven years.
Sheretta Patterson-Pennington lost her 22-year-old daughter Nicole in the stampede. She broke down in tears as she said that every conceivable door locally has been slammed in their faces.
“Security team – not responsible. DJ – not responsible. The promoter – not responsible. But we have 21 lives that we still have to account for,” she said. “And you mean to tell me that no one’s responsible? Are you kidding me?”
Patterson-Pennington and fellow parent Howard Ray, who lost his 24-year-old son DaShand Ray, said they would like to see the shuttered nightclub, at 2347 S. Michigan Ave., transformed into a memorial for those who died and a safe haven for troubled young adults.
“We’re not going to go away quietly,” Ray said.
Bob Roberts reporting
Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.
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