Chicago protests continue over police shooting black teenager

A new round of protests on Wednesday at the Chicago’s criminal courthouse and City Hall were sparsely attended, though members of the City Council’s black caucus again demanded the resignation of Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy.

Judge Peggy Chiampas said the state’s attorney’s office recommended dropping the charge against 22-year-old Malcolm London and told London he was free to go.

Van Dyke had been on site less than 30 seconds, and out of his auto for six seconds, when he started shooting, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez said.

The powerful Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) is supporting a Black Today march along Michigan Avenue, an upscale shopping street, organized by civil rights leader Reverend Jesse Jackson.

President Barack Obama has said he is “deeply disturbed” by a police video that shows a white officer shooting a black teenager 16 times in Chicago.

“Prosecuting police officers is always very challenging and I’m certain they wanted to know if there were other witnesses that’d seen what happened before and maybe had it from a different angle”, he said.

The Tribune said that they were given no explanation as to why police only provided video for just five of the eight cop cars present at the scene. McDonald spins around and falls to the pavement as Van Dyke keeps shooting.

The new footage from dashboard cameras on squad cars, sent to Reuters and other media in response to public record requests, does not show the actual shooting.

Chicago police said Thursday they will continue to protect demonstrators’ First Amendment rights.

NBC5 Investigates asked former Independent Police Review Authority investigator Lorenzo Davis to watch the dashcam video of McDonald’s shooting. Police say nine people have been arrested, and a charge of aggravated battery of a police officer was dropped against one person on Wednesday.

The Chicago Police Department had argued that releasing the video would taint multiple investigations.

Van Dyke’s lawyer, Daniel Herbert, did not return a message left Wednesday by The Associated Press.

Charged with murder… Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel was re-elected to a second term in an April runoff after failing to win a majority in the February election.

Mitts said McDonald’s family had not wanted the video made public but now wants action taken.

Several people were arrested during the protests.

A number of police killings of black men over the past year have given rise to the nationwide “Black Lives Matter” movement, pushing the issue to prominence during the 2016 presidential campaign.

“We need as a city to get to a point where young men see an officer and don’t just see an officer with a uniform and a badge… and for police see a young man not as a potential problem, as a risk, but also an individual worthy of their protection”, he said. Chicago police initially said that McDonald was high on the hallucinogen PCP, acting erratically, and that he lunged at officers with a knife when he was shot 16 times in October 2014. “There’s a wide, wide gap between the Chicago Police Department and my community”.

Ten minutes after police spotted Laquan, authorities reported that Officer Van Dyke had opened fire on the teen. One, however, shows McDonald bleeding on the ground after being shot.