http://socialistaction.org/shooting-by-chicago-cop-stirs-protests/
Shooting by Chicago cop stirs protests
Published November 29, 2015. | By Socialist Action.
Protesters march during a protest for 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, who
was fatally shot and killed in October 2014 in Chicago. Chicago police
Officer Jason Van Dyke was charged Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015, with
first-degree murder in the killing. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
Protesters march during a protest for 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, who
was fatally shot and killed in October 2014 in Chicago. Chicago police
Officer Jason Van Dyke was charged Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015, with
first-degree murder in the killing. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
By ADAM SHILS
— CHICAGO — On Oct. 20, 2014, Laquan McDonald, 17, was fatally shot by
Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke. McDonald, who had been suspected
of stealing car radios, was only armed with a knife.
The police car dash-cam video shows McDonald some yards from the police
officers and not moving toward them when Van Dyke opens fire. Although
McDonald has fallen to the ground and appears to be incapacitated by the
first shot, the officer fires 15 more times. Van Dyke had to be stopped
by other police officers from reloading at the end of the volley.
Over a year after the shooting, on Nov. 24, 2015, Van Dyke was charged
with first-degree murder—the same day that the dash-cam video was
finally released.
All this occurs in the context of the post-Ferguson attention to the
shooting of African Americans by police officers and the growth of the
Black Lives Matter movement. Demonstrations, mainly of young people,
started immediately after the video was made public. As protesters wove
through the streets, the chant rang out: “Sixteen shots!” Protesters
have expressed outrage that it took 13 months after the killing to
indict Van Dyke. He was allowed to draw a salary during the entire period.
Over the past several days, attention has focused on the possibility
that the police intentionally erased footage from a security camera at a
Burger King near the site of McDonald’s shooting. While the angle of the
camera would not have shown the actual killing, it would have shown the
events beforehand and, perhaps more importantly, police activity in the
minutes after the shooting. In addition, the Burger King manager has
charged that the FBI seized the video recorder, including all of its
surveillance footage.
On “Black Friday”, Nov. 27, the Rev. Jesse Jackson called for a
demonstration in the Michigan Avenue “Magnificent Mile” shopping area.
Despite rain and high winds, perhaps 1000 to 1300 people took part. The
march was predominantly African American, and much of the traditional
Black leadership of Chicago supported the march. Both Bobby Rush and
Danny Davis, long-term elected officials, were prominent, as was mayoral
contender Chuy Garcia.
At the assembly point, the Rev. Jackson raised the demand that an
independent prosecutor be assigned to the case, as well as federal
intervention. “Who knew what about the tape,” he asked, “When, and who
covered it up?”
Before the march even began, a contingent of perhaps 100 t0 200 people,
carrying the traditional red, black, and green flags of the Black
nationalist movement, split away. The main demonstration then marched
north through the Michigan Avenue shopping area. The march ended at
Water Tower Place, where a rally was to be held. Jackson and the other
speakers faced considerable heckling from the breakaway contingent. In a
confrontation, the platform’s sound system was disabled. This led to
Jackson and his entourage leaving the demonstration.
After some of the shops on Michigan Avenue had closed their doors to
protesters who were trying to get out of the rain, some demonstrators,
in groups of 10 to 20 people, linked their arms and began to block the
shop entrances. These blockades continued for several hours. While there
was a large police presence, there were only a small number of arrests.
One group of about 20 continued a blockade of Macy’s into the evening.
On Saturday, Nov. 28, three considerably smaller demonstrations took
place. One was at City Hall and one on Cottage Grove Avenue, with some
limited blockading of Michigan Avenue shops.
Photo: Chicago protesters take to the streets on Nov. 24. Paul Beaty / AP
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Posted in Actions & Protest, Black Liberation, Civil Liberties, Police &
FBI. | Tagged Black Lives Matter, Chicago, cops, Laquan McDonald, police.
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