The officers’ calls come one day after Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and the Chicago Urban League asked for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division to investigate the department’s practices.
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This week, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced he’s setting up a task force to examine his city’s video-release policy, among other issues, amid public and political outcry over white Officer Jason Van Dyke’s shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times in 2014.
Hillary Clinton supports an independent investigation into the Chicago Police Department, her campaign spokesman said Wednesday, days after the department released video of the Laquan McDonald’s shooting death at the hands of police.
It requires that we act, that we take more concrete steps to prevent such abuses in the future, secure the rights and safety of all Chicagoans, and build stronger bonds of trust between our police department, the men and women,”Emanuel said”.
Officer George Hernandez fatally shot 25-year-old Ronald Johnson III on October 12, 2014, while he was allegedly fleeing from police on foot.
“We’ve been wanting [Cook County State Attorney] Anita Alvarez to be fired”, one protester told CBS Chicago. In the video, Van Dyke is seen firing a volley of shots at McDonald, many of them after the teenager had already fallen to the ground.
In Chicago, the outrage has been focused on the killing of McDonald. After the release of the video, social tension has flared up in Chicago.
Rev. Ira Acree, pastor of Greater St. John Bible Church, said the officers who stood by and watched Van Dyke shoot McDonald also need to be investigated. Johnson’s family has been pressing officials to release the squad vehicle video of the shooting.
Holmes says that her son was a father of four daughters and a son and she wants to clear her son’s name.
Alvarez says she will not resign, despite calls for her to do so.
Emanuel said in brief comments to reporters on Thursday that he planned to release the dashcam video of Johnson’s shooting death next week.
“People will fill the void with something if they don’t see the videos – with speculation or rumors”, added Michele Earl-Hubbard, a Seattle-based attorney and staunch advocate of government transparency.
Emanuel on Tuesday fired his police superintendent, Garry McCarthy, saying public confidence in police leadership had been “shaken and eroded”, making it untenable for McCarthy to continue to serve as the city’s top cop because of the controversy surrounding the McDonald case.
The Lopez family filed a lawsuit against the Chicago police department, claiming there was no justification for the killing and that the police made up a story about self-defense. Attempts by media organizations, including the Tribune, to gain access to the recordings were blocked for months by Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration.
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As it relates to a longer-term review of our police department and efforts to improve police accountability, I am open to anything that will help give us answers and restore the trust that is critical to our public safety efforts. “The voters spoke. I’ll be held accountable for the decisions and actions that I make”.
