Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel urged Windy City residents to protest peacefully after a police officer was charged on Tuesday with the fatal shooting of a teenager last year.
“I understand that the people will be upset and will want to protest when they see this video. We as a city must rise to this moment,” Emanuel said.
Ja’mal Green & Jedidiah Brown met w/ @RahmEmanuel on #LaquanMcDonald shooting. Tonight they speak w/ @donlemon 10p https://t.co/2FzOD668IJ
— CNN Tonight (@CNNTonight) November 24, 2015
Following today’s arraignment, dash-camera video from the October 24, 2014 incident was released to the public. The video shows Laquan McDonald, a black teenager, walking in the middle of the street with a knife in his right hand when he was shot 16 times by Jason Van Dyke, a white police officer.
Van Dyke turned himself into authorities on Tuesday and was charged with first-degree murder. He is being held without bond.
Protesters have gathered on Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago to draw attention to McDonald’s wrongful death. Police monitoring the event are on bikes and not wearing SWAT gear.
People chanting "Let our people go!" At #LaquanMcDonald protest right now in Chicago pic.twitter.com/NTdBzXYds1— Michael Gold, Psy.D. (@drmichaelgold) November 25, 2015
A female protester who appeared on Fox News’ “Kelly File” repeatedly called for Emanuel’s impeachment, claiming the mayor delayed the trial.
Over the past two years, a number of police shootings have attracted national attention. In 2014, looting, arson and protests erupted in Ferguson, Mo., after a grand jury found a police officer was not guilty in the death of Michael Brown.
The death of Eric Garner while in custody by the New York Police Department sparked new protests later in 2014. This year the police-related deaths of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, Md., and Walter Scott in North Charleston, S.C., also spurred protests up and down the east coast.
