Two police officers approach the 17-year-old from his left, guns drawn. “When you go home and put on clothes like me, you’re black and they’re going to pull you over because you’re just like me”, Steverson shouted.
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Protest leader Michael Pfleger said, “I would like to see Michigan Avenue stores take a big hurt. 16 shots!” and stopped traffic for blocks to express their anger over the October 20, 2014, shooting and the subsequent investigation, which they say was mishandled. Some even snapped photos of the crowd.
Aside from suppressing the incriminating video for a year, Chicago police also lied about the shooting, and reportedly erased surveillance footage from a nearby restaurant.
In Chicago- Black Friday – is being overshadowed tonight by economic and racial politics – in one of America’s most upscale shopping areas. And they have asked why Van Dyke continued to collect a paycheck for more than a year after he shot McDonald near 41st Street and Pulaski Road. “Shut this down! Shut this down!”
“Our caucus has vowed to work with other caucuses and other of our colleagues to review the FOP contract to make sure there are tougher policies and sanctions against police officers who do egregious or illegal acts”, said Alderman Pat Dowell.
A mass march on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile. “There is some hope, but the success of these efforts require funding, which is lacking as the state and city are broke – yet Jon Burge continues to receive $3,000 per month”.
After announcing that Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis would attend the Friday event, CTU officials later said she was not on hand.
Discussing how Chicago avoided the violence that followed controversial cases of police killings of young black men in other cities, WBEZ’s Natalie Moore spoke to Veronica Morris-Moore, a protest organizer who said, “I think people expected Chicago to burst in flames because the dominate narrative out there is that black people are reckless and we don’t care about our communities or neighborhoods”.
Several hundred demonstrators have gathered in the drizzling rain, many with umbrellas and plastic-wrapped signs.
Black Friday 2015 for Chicago was marred by protests over the deadly shooting of black teen Laquan McDonald by a white police officer a year ago.
He says his organization, the Chicago Alliance Against Racism and Political Oppression, is pushing for an elected, civilian police accountability council. Police had initially said that McDonald, who was high on PCP, lunged at Van Dyke while brandishing a knife.
John Curran is vice president of the Magnificent Mile Association, which represents 780 businesses on North Michigan Avenue. Bill Howard, 51, a professor from Macomb, Illinois, shopped in the Nike Store with his wife, in-laws and two daughters.
Paralyzing traffic on Chicago’s famous Michigan Avenue, demonstrators used Black Friday’s prominence to declare that the mayor, police commissioner and prosecutor must step down.
Shouting, 16 shots! Its a cover-up! they called for a broader federal investigation to explain why it took authorities 13 months to indict a white police officer shown onvideotape fatally shooting a black teenager.
The other demonstrations have been largely peaceful.
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To Kalven, the most important issue here is not just the shooting but how governmental institutions – from the police to the mayor’s office – responded to it, he says.
