News

Actions

Chicago protesters call for Mayor's resignation

Posted at 4:34 PM, Dec 06, 2015
and last updated 2015-12-06 16:34:08-05

These are the latest developments in the case involving the 2014 killing of a black teenager by a white police officer who shot him 16 times (all times local).

2:50 p.m.

About 200 protesters are demonstrating in downtown Chicago following the release of documents showing that police officers' accounts of the 2014 killing of a black teen differed greatly from what was captured on dashcam video.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson says he hopes the sight of protesters holding a disciplined and non-violent march will prompt the city to "dispense justice and fairness all across the city."

The protesters walking in the business district known as The Loop are counting to 16 to signify the number of times that Officer Jason Van Dyke shot 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. They also called for Mayor Rahm Emanuel to resign.

Police fought for months to keep the public from seeing the dashcam video but released it last month facing a court deadline and only hours after Van Dyke was charged with murder.

___

11:45 a.m.

The Chicago Police Department's interim superintendent is warning officers they face discipline if they don't make sure both the video and the audio of their squad car dashboard cameras are working.

The department was harshly criticized when it reported that the audio was not functioning on the dashcam that recorded the October 2014 fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald by officer Jason Van Dyke. Days later, the city released four more dashcam videos from other squad cars at the scene — none of which included audio.

Escalante told the Chicago Tribune (http://trib.in/1NAsbLk ) that he's sent inspectors to do random checks of dashcams. He says that when they've found technical problems preventing them from working they are disciplining officers who did not report those problems to their supervisors.

Information from: Chicago Tribune, http://www.chicagotribune.com

___

3 a.m.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson plans to lead a march through downtown Chicago in response to newly released police reports about last year's shooting of a black teenager 16 times by a white officer.

Jackson's Rainbow PUSH Coalition has called for a rally at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at State and Van Buren streets. Demonstrators will march to the Thompson Center.

Jackson says the newly released documents show police "misrepresenting" what happened the night of Laquan McDonald's death. Jackson has reiterated his call for "a full, thorough investigation with subpoena power" and says it's time to escalate the protests.

The city Friday released hundreds of pages of documents related to the October 2014 killing of McDonald by Jason Van Dyke, a white police officer. Van Dyke has been charged with first-degree murder.