Chicago protesters will attempt to overrun and shut down the city’s Michigan Avenue shopping district on Black Friday.
Mark Carter, one of two dozen demonstrators assembled outside Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s City Hall office Wednesday, called people to “rise up” and protest at the Magnificent Mile the day after Thanksgiving on behalf of a black teenager who was killed by a white police officer in 2014.
National activism group Stop Mass Incarceration urged people to attend the “massive” protest 11 a.m. at Michigan and Pearson near Water Town Place, according to its website.
Tuesday evening a judge charged police officer Jason Van Dyke with first-degree murder for fatally shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. Soon after, authorities released dash-cam video of the October 2014 incident, which sparked protests on the streets of the Windy City.
Hundreds gathered for the mostly peaceful demonstrations that continued into Wednesday. Unlike other protests that followed similar incidents in Baltimore, Md., and Ferguson, Mo., Chicago’s did not turn into a riot. Police made a handful of arrests, but stated there was no damage to private property.
Carter said activists will march on the Board of Trade and other landmarks in the near future. The Urban League of Chicago told the Associated Press the goal of the movement is to trigger a federal investigation into an alleged pattern of “discriminatory harassment” against black people.
