The calls for Alvarez’s resignation come as Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan asked the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division to investigate the Chicago Police Department. In her letter, she cites the recently released Laquan McDonald shooting video and several other cases of officers who engaged in abusive and sometimes criminal behavior.
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On Tuesday, Emanuel fired police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, saying the public had lost faith in his ability to lead the department after the McDonald shooting.
Asked if President Obama’s former chief of staff should step down as mayor, White House press secretary Josh Earnest replied, “That’s a decision for Mayor Emanuel and the voters of Chicago to make”.
Surrounded by officers and suspected of breaking into cars on October 20, 2014, Laquan McDonald, 17, was attempting to walk away from a group of Chicago cops when Officer Jason Van Dyke exited his patrol auto. Police said Johnson had a gun and turned toward officers before being shot, while Oppenheimer said Johnson was unarmed.
“It is unacceptable that it took over a year to file these charges against Officer Van Dyke”, Crump wrote in a statement reported by Mashable.
If Emanuel approved that payout without seeing the video that contradicted the official “justified shooting” posture of his Police Department then he was irresponsible with the purse strings of cash-strapped Chicago. Protestors accuse the mayor of keeping the video hidden so it wouldn’t endanger his election chances. McDonald was armed with a knife, and investigators say he had taken PCP.
Emanuel’s reversal comes after Hillary Clinton’s campaign indicated Wednesday night that the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination would call for a federal investigation of the Chicago Police Department. Emanuel defended the city’s handling of the matter, saying the timing of the video’s release – more than a year after the shooting – had nothing to do with his 2015 re-election campaign.
Emanuel and Allen also had an awkward exchange when Allen revealed that Emanuel planned to vacation with his family in Cuba later this year, information that was apparently not yet public.
Pat Camden, at the time a police union spokesman, described McDonald lunging at officers before shooting began.
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“We have a long road ahead of us as a city”, Emanuel said. “An investigation into whether there are patterns and practices of civil rights violations by CPD is vital to bringing about the systemic change that is necessary here”.
