A record 83 percent of Chicagoans believe Mayor Rahm Emanuel has not been forthright with them about the city’s handling of a 2014 officer-involved shooting of a young black man, according to a new poll.
The Chicago Tribune survey indicates the mayor’s response to the October 2014 police shooting is still not sitting well with Windy City residents. Following the death of LaQuan McDonald, Emanuel had said he had not seen dash-cam video of the incident until a judge ordered it to be released to the public in November 2015.
Of the 1,000 locals surveyed, more than two-thirds — 68 percent — said the city was not justified in withholding the footage for 11 months and only charging the officer with murder after it was released to an outraged public. The mayor’s office has argued that the video was withheld because of a pending investigation into the incident.
But the public believes it’s being duped. Only 27 percent of respondents now consider Emanuel “honest and trustworthy.” A record-low 27 percent approve of his performance thus far, down from his previous record-low last August, which was 35 percent.
A Democratic state representative introduced a measure last month in the state legislature that would allow city voters to recall a mayor from office. Fifty-five percent of voters said they would support the bill.
