Chicago-based reverend, Marvin Hunter, who is also the great uncle of McDonald, told reporters during a press conference on Friday that, “what we’re feeling in Chicago is the real feeling of America itself, and that’s injustice against people of color”.
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As he sang “Sunday Candy” with The Social Experiment, he acknowledged Van Dyke, who was charged with first-degree murder last month in the October 2014 shooting death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.
Carson, though, stopped short of calling for Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel to step down.
Chicago police spokesman Thomas Sweeney says he hasn’t been notified of any arrests related to the protests as of Friday evening.
Hunter requested that President Barack Obama hold a summit on gun violence, urban poverty and police brutality. That delay was blamed on Emanuel and the top local prosecutor, and has prompted more than two weeks of protests in the nation’s third-largest city.
Ms. Lynch said she hoped that the investigation would not only examine whether practices in Chicago violated constitutional practices, but also deter abuses elsewhere.
“He didn’t fit in his personality the profile that Jason Van Dyke had of him, and all black boys, in his mind”, Hunter said.
The family has stayed largely out of the spotlight since the video was released November 24, but about a dozen of them stood behind Hunter on Friday. “Had to say something on Saturday; see you at church on Sunday”.
Prosecutors chose to charge Van Dyke because he was not facing an immediate threat from McDonald, and because he continued to fire at the teen as he lay on the ground after being shot.
For days, hundreds of protesters have shut down the streets of Chicago to rally for the resignations of Emanuel and Alvarez.
Bishop Tavis Grant said they plan to deliver the petition to the mayor “so he can feel the pulse of the community”.
Seventeen-year-old Cedrick Chatman was killed in January 2013 by police during an investigation into his suspected involvement in a vehicle theft.
Chicago officials fought the release of the video, arguing that it could interfere with any resulting court case.
Hey it’s only been a day since the last awful news about Chicago governance and police corruption, so here’s a little more. Protesters allege a cover up and have called for the resignation of Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez. Emanuel apologized this week.
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The Department of Justice is investigating the circumstances of the shooting, as well as the police department as a whole.
