Several of the players involved have either stepped down from their posts or resigned-including Garry McCarthy (CPD superintendent), Scott Ando (head of Chicago’s Independent Police Review Authority), and Constantine “Dean” Andrews (CPD chief of detectives).
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Mayor Rahm Emanuel, under heavy criticism for his handling of a police shooting that resulted in the death of a black teenager, gave an emotional apology on Wednesday, hours before angry crowds closed city streets while demanding his resignation. Many activists and analysts say the steps Mayor Rahm Emanuel is taking to hold Chicago police officers accountable for abuses are way too timid.
More than anything, according to Emanuel, there needs to be a culture change in how police see and deal with citizens, and vice versa.
The protest happened at exactly 7:44 a.m. Thursday.
She invited “tons of people” and expected it to bounce around the web as a viral “joke”, she said.
“We are going to send a message until we get justice, until we get the resources for the poor areas of the city, we are going to come to the rich areas of the city”, Carter said.
“This system is designed for us to be dead or in jail, and we’re exhausted”, said protester Jamal Wayne, 20.
Protesters are critical of Emanuel, saying his office tried to keep details about the death from the public and only took action after the release of a video of the death caused a scandal.
Some protesters have called for his resignation.
Dorothy Holmes, mother of Ronald Johnson, told protesters she didn’t accept Emanuel’s apology or “fake (expletive) tears”.
Suspicion about reforms initiated by City Hall runs deep in Chicago, especially among blacks, who have heard similar pledges every couple of years, whenever allegations of police brutality arose.
In his speech, Emanuel noted the problems are ones that have plagued Chicago for decades, and that there are no simple solutions.
Many viewed the speech as Emanuel’s effort to sway the populace to his corner.
Speaking at a news conference, Emanuel said the police department’s challenges go beyond one case and he’s making several reforms, including appointing a new leader for the Independent Police Review Authority, which investigates shootings by police.
“It is the kind of thing that I think the President intends to speak about more freely once he is the former President of the United States”, Earnest said. They also called for Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez to step down.
The same day, Illinois State Rep. La Shawn Ford filed a bill to create a recall election.
Marcher Jay Payne, a 41-year-old paralegal with a civil rights law firm, said Emanuel and Alvarez need to resign because they’ve lost the support of the community.
The “die-in” lasted 16 minutes, one minute for each time 17-year-old McDonald was shot by a Chicago police officer last year. Another election would have to be scheduled to elect a new mayor. Longstanding practice has been to release such material only after prosecutors and city investigators have finished their investigation.
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Alvarez has been criticized for not filing charges earlier in the McDonald case, in which the video shows the teen veering away from officers on a four-lane street when Van Dyke, seconds after exiting his squad auto, opens fire from close range.
