There’s been a lot of conversation online about Club Jroy, the name for a series of large Chicago street parties organized by a young local TikTok sensation who goes by the name Jroy. Early morning on Aug. 10, a string of shootings happened in areas near Club Jroy, which took place in an abandoned lot near North La Crosse Avenue and West End Avenue on Chicago’s West Side. Multiple people were injured in the shootings; two died.
Although Chicago police have not directly linked the shootings to the party thrown by Jroy, media reports and people online are linking the two. An investigation is still ongoing.
Last week, a Change.org petition began circulating online with the title “Justice For JRoy!” The petition names JRoy as Jamal Williams, “a loving and dedicated educator.” With nearly 4,800 signatures as of today, signers are rallying their support for Jroy, who they say should not be held accountable for others actions. The goal is 5,000 signatures.
“This event was supposed to be fun, safe, and a community gathering but unfortunately people from outside of the community ruined the night for everyone,” the petition reads. The organizer of the petition is listed as John Jones.
Parties thrown outside on the block or inside someone’s house, sometimes called Fe Fes, are nothing new in Chicago. What makes Club Jroy stand out is its social media reach. Jroy can post a party flyer to his 700,000 followers on TikTok and word instantly travels across social media platforms, the city and beyond. A Club Jroy flyer posted to TikTok on June 26, advertising an upcoming July 5 party, has about 16,500 likes and 2,700 shares. On the flyer, Jroy encourages people to DM him for the party location.
In July, Williams began posting teasers about a party scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 9. In the comments, his followers showed support, excited about the event, with requests to “share the location.” A few days before the party, Jroy addressed a girl who claimed she had beef, and was coming to Jroy’s party with 30 friends, ready to fight. “Shorty, if you got opps, you are not invited,” Jroy said in a TikTok video posted on Aug. 5. On the flyer for the Aug. 9 party, titled “Club Jroy: End of Summer Bash,” Jroy lists the start time as 10:00 p.m.
The TRiiBE reached out to Jroy for an interview; he initially agreed but didn’t share his contact information when we followed up. Rumors circulated online that Jroy is a teacher at Chicago Public Schools (CPS). The TRiiBE reached out multiple times to CPS to confirm this detail, but have yet to receive a response.
On Aug. 13, Jroy took to TikTok to pay his respects to those who passed away in the shootings. He emphasized that he was suspended with pay from his role at a local school.
“I was removed from the school due to me being under investigation,” he said. “I am not under investigation because I threw a party. I am under investigation for my safety and the school’s safety because people was posting where the f–ck I worked. So me throwing the party is not a f–cking issue. I’ve been throwing parties for the past three years and it has never been an issue with my job.”
He also addressed concerns that he had thrown the party on a block that he was unfamiliar with. He said he grew up in the area, and knew the people who lived on the block.
To address those blaming him for the aftermath of the party, Jroy said there were multiple parties taking place in the Austin neighborhood that night. “Every party in that area was not my shit,” he said. “People were saying it was Jroy shit to get clout, so people would gravitate to they block.”
Chicagoans have been debating whether an educator should be throwing large street parties.
@jroyy__ clearing up everything! #clubjroy ♬ original sound - Jroy
West Side native Aisha Oliver said she first heard about Club Jroy because his party was trending on Facebook. She’s a mother with teenaged children and the founder of Root2Fruit, a nonprofit born from her own passion to empower young minds and create engaging initiatives. She said information about Club Jroy was being dropped into groups on Facebook, warning parents to take precaution.
“People were saying, ‘Hey, if your kid is saying they’re going somewhere Saturday, make sure they’re not going to this event.’ It could possibly, you know, turn into something else,” she recalled.
Oliver said she let her guard down about the parties when someone on Facebook shared that Jroy is an educator, and that his previous parties were safe.
“So it kind of just fell off my radar, because I assumed it was an educator having a block party, and I didn’t see where the issue was,” Oliver said.
On Aug. 10, the day after Club Jroy, Oliver posted a TikTok video in which she talked about receiving phone calls from residents complaining about the party.
In the video, Oliver called out Jroy, city officials, parents and violence prevention programs, saying that precautionary steps should have been taken to prevent the shootings.
“Chicago spends millions, MILLIONS, on nonviolence and street intervention,” she said in the video. “Multi millions to organizations led by white people who don’t know what the f–ck they talking about.”
Oliver told The TRiiBE that everyone should have been more proactive instead of reactive
“From my understanding, [Jroy] was trying to have a peaceful party,” she told The TRiiBE. “When things get that big, it can get out of control. So you have to have structure to things. When you know you can’t control something that big, then you have to pull it back.”
According to Block Club Chicago, there was a community meeting with Chicago police officials scheduled for Aug. 11 at Zoe Life Ministries International to address the shootings and community safety concerns.
In an Aug. 14 email to The TRiiBE, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s press secretary Cassio Mendoza said they cannot comment on ongoing investigations. However, they explained that city officials do try to reach out to organizers when they become aware of large-scale events, permitted or not, to discuss public safety concerns and coordinate resources.
Mendoza said the Mayor’s Office of Community Safety and the Mayor’s Office of Community Engagement collaborated with the Institute for NonViolence to canvas the area where Club Jroy took place and disseminate information on support services to residents.
“Unfortunately, when event organizers refuse to work with the City or take precautionary measures, it can often result in tragedy, so the City pursues all available avenues of collaboration whenever possible. The City strongly discourages individuals from hosting large, unauthorized events because of the significant public safety concerns,” Mendoza wrote.
In May, The TRiiBE published a story about the lack of third spaces for teens and young adults in Chicago. Well-connected South Side native Larry Legend talked about the impact of Chicago not having those spaces.
“In my days, we used to hang out [in] many places, but remember, there wasn’t any social media really,” he said. “You had to be invited, which also controlled the crowd. We didn’t post online and say ‘Hit me for the info’ too often.”
Legend said he believes today’s social media culture is part of the problem. “I think posting online is a huge part of the problem, you are inviting anybody to your events,” he said.
Legend said Chicago teens don’t have much to look forward to when it comes to party spaces. In cities like Atlanta and Houston, he said, there’s a thriving and popular culture around partying and clubs.
“I also think we glorify the violence entirely too much, promoting too much murder music, too much opp dissing,” Legend said. “We can’t play a part of flaunting the bad parts of the city and then turn around and ask for prayer. We have to be the examples.”
Oliver said people with power and influence should support Jroy’s efforts to host events for Black teens and young adults in Chicago. She said people should come to the table with resources and solutions.
“There needs to be somebody that can really connect and help him to understand how he could use that influence and provide a space. Even if y’all want to do something outside, do it like they did it at the Bellwood Fest,” Oliver said.
She’s referring to the Taste of Bellwood, which took place on Aug. 8-10 in the western suburb, and offers food from local vendors, live music, carnival rides, and fireworks.
Oliver suggested Jroy secure his party area with gates and add security. She also suggests making some sort of curfew for those attending who are under 18, or make it where parents have to come with the kids after a certain time.
The Chicago Department of Transportation website has a list of requirements to apply for and receive permits to host neighborhood block parties. Among those requirements are:
- Block Party applications should be submitted through your local aldermanic office
- Block Party permits are for the use of Chicago residents and can only be applied for the street on which they reside. Businesses or outside organizations should apply for a festival permit.
- Requests for Block Party Permits from the Aldermanic Offices must be received by the Department of Transportation within three (3) business days prior to the event to insure the permit is issued for the event.
- Applicants must provide evidence that a majority of the residents on the affected block(s) approve of the block party.
“I think that with the right people assisting him, this can be something that he can bounce back [from] with the proper guidance and things in place,” Oliver told The TRiiBE. “Instead of wanting to point the finger and just put things in place, let’s find ways to utilize the spaces that we have, but in a safe and structured capacity.”
