When the black 17-year-old was shot by officer Jason Van Dyke, city officials initially claimed he had lunged at Van Dyke with a knife before he opened fire.
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CHICAGO – Mayor Rahm Emanuel ousted Chicago’s police superintendent on Tuesday, responding to an uproar over a white officer shooting a black teenager 16 times and anger at the Police Department for resisting, for more than a year, to release a video of the fatal shooting.
In a press conference, Emanuel said that it was “time for fresh eyes and new leadership”, and that McCarthy’s plagued image posed an “issue” for the city and a “distraction” from the work at hand.
“No matter who was in that position, they probably wouldn’t have stopped Van Dyke from doing what he did”, Burnett said. Protesters called for the immediate punishment of McCarthy, Mayor Emanuel and Cook County States Attorney Anita Alvarez for the murder and the cover-up of the crime.
He says he takes full responsibility for the police department, but would not say he was stepping down.
An investigation by the USA attorney’s office in Chicago into the shooting is ongoing.
Emanuel said that he asked for McCarthy’s formal resignation Tuesday morning.
After spending the Thanksgiving holiday in jail, Van Dyke, 37, was freed on a $1.5 million bail Monday.
“We have oversight, through our independent police review authority, the police board, as well as our investigative internal affairs
bureau”, Ade said.
Emanuel praised the leadership of outgoing police Superintendent Garry McCarthy. And was able to use that experience to head up the police departments in Newark and Chicago.
Emanuel, who also announced the creation of a task force on police accountability, said Chief of Detectives John Escalante will oversee the Police Department until a permanent replacement is named. Emanuel also said he was creating a new police accountability task force. If Chicago is ever to secure its rightful place among world-class cities, it must overcome the violent image conjured by its endonym, Chiraq, and rid itself of the yoke of decades of questionable police conduct.
Chicago’s police superintendent resigned at the mayor’s request following days of unrest over the alleged murder of a black teenager by a white policeman more than a year ago.
Johnson’s mother, Dorothy Holmes, said Tuesday that wasn’t the case and he was running away from police.
After the release of the video, social tension has flared up in Chicago.
In addition to the criticism of the the timing of the video’s released, there have been accusations of police tampering in the case.
Jay Darshane told reporters that several police officers entered his restaurant and viewed surveillance video. The panel’s recommendations will be presented to Emanuel and the Chicago City Council by March 31.
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It’s common for high schools to close in response to threats, but rarer for universities because of the logistical complexities of shutting such large institutions, said Georgia-based campus security expert Michael Dorn.
