Protests great Chicago Mayor’s apology over police shooting

Protester Aaron Clay, 34, said that while Emanuel’s speech may have been emotional, “I don’t think it was an apology to the community”.

The family of a man who died after being held in police custody in 2012 says Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s apology doesn’t go far enough.

City officials have released a number of videos revealing authorities encounters with the public, since dashcam footage revealing a white Chicago police officer shooting a black teenager 16 times was made public.

The video also highlighted inconsistencies with police reports from the incident. Police, who described Johnson as a known gang member, said they recovered a gun at the scene, but Oppenheimer contended that police planted the weapon after shooting an unarmed Johnson.

Some protesters have called for his resignation.

For a couple of years now, one expose after another has been produced demonstrating in vivid detail that the Chicago Police Department has been a terrorist cult for decades. He also has criticised the agency that investigates police misconduct for finding nearly all police shootings justified. Emanuel referred to a “code of silence”.

“What we’ve been seeing in these particular cases is they’re not Hollywood-quality videos”, she said.

That announcement won’t stop the demonstrations and the gatherings for justice from continuing, however. “And I’m really proud of the young people that are here today because they’re standing up”, she added.

McDonald was shot 16 times by police. “They don’t trust the cops”. At one point, a fight broke out. She kept reinforcing to the crowd that this would be a peaceful protest. “Sixteen shots!” in reference to the McDonald case. That video was released Monday during a presentation in which Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez said she would not charge the officer. The furor grew when the public learned about the other officers’ accounts. On Monday, reporters first saw video of his death, with Alvarez saying the officer who killed Johnson won’t face charges.

The McDonald footage – ordered to be released by a judge last month and made public hours after Van Dyke was charged – set off a chain of events that captured the attention of the country. Police have come under more scrutiny. “It is a whole other thing to build friendships and relationships, which are integral to fighting crime”.

Flowers was confident the proposal would get a vote in the state assembly, even if many Democratic politicians may conceivably be partial to Emanuel.

Within minutes of the mayor finishing his 45-minute speech – at times going off script and appearing to choke up with emotion – dozens began demonstrating outside council chambers.

One state lawmaker – a Democrat – introduced legislation that would allow for the recall of a Chicago mayor. The FBI’s 2014 statistics showed 411 killings, more than the 333 in NY and 260 in Los Angeles, two cities with larger populations.

“I could not be prouder of [Rahm] and the extraordinary service that he’s provided”, Obama said in a speech in February after Emanuel helped bring three national parks into the city.

Lightfoot announced that the application material for the position was posted to the police board’s website.

The embattled mayor addressed the City Council on Wednesday regarding the policing crisis that has led to a U.S. Department of Justice civil rights investigation. He says an insider would be the best person for the job. “It is in our self-interest, because we need (federal) assistance to make the fundamental and necessary changes”. The next election – should he seek another term – isn’t until 2019. Rep. La Shawn Ford told CNN affiliate WBBM, “Until he can regain confidence, we have to have something in place that we can try to bring the city together”. “It has to go to the Senate for passage and then on to the desk of the governor”, Ford said.