Family of Slain Teen Calling for White House Summit

Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez is our guest this week on Newsviews.

McDonald was shot 16 times in October 2014 by police Officer Jason Van Dyke, who has been charged with first-degree murder.

Carson, after meeting with religious leaders at a Near North hotel, did not directly contend the release of a video of the shooting more than a year after the incident was the result of a cover-up.

McDonald’s mother was not in attendance because she’s “hurting and traumatized by the constant reminder and senseless death of her son”, Hunter said, referencing the video, which has been replayed on TV frequently.

They are expected to thank the public for demanding justice in the case and change in the culture of the Chicago Police Department.

Since the video’s release, McDonald’s death became another example in the debate over gun violence and the treatment of African-Americans by the police.

For days following the video’s release, hundreds of protesters have shut down the streets of Chicago to rally for the resignations of Emanuel and Alvarez in response to the shooting video.

McDonald family attorney Jeff Neslund warned the city in a letter to the Corporation Counsel’s office on March 6th of this year: “This case will undoubtedly bring a microscope of national attention to the shooting” and “the City’s pattern, practice and procedures”.

The city had refused to release the video to a journalist, saying doing so could affect an ongoing investigation into the shooting.

The family has stayed largely out of the spotlight since the video was released November 24, but about a dozen of them stood behind Hunter on Friday.

“Dreads doesn’t mean awful”, said Hunter, referring to McDonald’s hair style. That delay was blamed on Emanuel and the top local prosecutor, and has prompted more than two weeks of protests in the nation’s third-largest city. He fired the police chief and named a new head of the independent body that investigates police conduct.

Most black voters in Chicago also disapprove of the embattled mayor by 53 percent, while 56 percent of white voters in the city said they disapprove of his job performance. This includes the preparation of derivative works of, or the incorporation of such content intoother works.

Other Chicago black religious leaders on Friday called for a “no confidence vote” against Emanuel over his leadership. “Had to say something on Saturday; see you at church on Sunday”.

Emanuel has lately taken steps to reform the police department, including setting up a task force to review accountability and firing the police superintendent.