Demonstrators stage a die-in in front of City Hall during march through downtown Chicago, calling for the resignation of Mayor Emanuel.
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Several prominent Chicago pastors have rejected Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s “olive branch of peace” and are demanding that his administration release yet another video in which a white police officer fatally shot a black teenager. The city suppressed the dash-cam video for 13 months until a judge ordered its release.
The Department of Justice announced this week that is has launched a civil rights investigation into the Chicago Police Department’s pattern and practices and will focus on the use of force and accountability within the police department.
On Monday, during a lengthy news conference in which she outlined why Hernandez was justified in shooting Johnson in the back, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez released the video.
And he said he is calling for a national summit to be held in his community – one of the most unsafe in Chicago – and hoped that President Barack Obama would dispatch someone from the White House to attend.
Critics argue the prosecutors took too long to criminally charge the officer, Jason Van Dyke. Alvarez blamed the delay on the complexities of investigating a police shooting.
McDonald’s mother was not in attendance because she’s “hurting and traumatized by the constant reminder and senseless death of her son”, Hunter said, referencing the video, which has been replayed on TV frequently.
Hunter said McDonald was raised by his great-grandmother and, despite a tough life, was gentle, loving and fond of telling jokes. “Laquan was the kind of kid when he saw you, he greeted you with a hug”.
But indignation has mounted over the McDonald shooting and police misconduct overall.
Michael D. Robbins, center, attorney for the family Laquan McDonald, speaks at a news conference Friday, Dec. 11, 2015, in Chicago.
An analysis by the Chicago Tribune notes that as of Friday, there have been 2,818 shootings in the city this year.
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Joel Weisman and his panel discuss Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s apology in the wake of the Laquan McDonald crisis and other top stories of the week. In the early weeks after the killing, police insisted McDonald had lunged at Van Dyke with a knife – something the video proves to be untrue.
