Mayor Rahm Emanuel in political trouble for handling of McDonald police shooting

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel apologized for the 2014 shooting of a black teenager Wednesday during a special City Council meeting that he called to discuss a police abuse scandal at the center of the biggest crisis of his administration, and promised “complete and total” reform to restore trust in the police. “And if we’re going to fix it I want you to understand it’s my responsibility with you”, Emanuel said. McDonald had been killed in October 2014 after being shot 16 times by Officer Jason Van Dyke while moving away from police officers, the majority of shots fired as he lay motionless on the ground.

President Obama’s former chief of staff has a reputation for being a savvy political operator – a real tough guy who plays politics like chess.

Last week, Earnest said that “by commenting on this at great length, I think would be viewed by some as improperly interfering with an ongoing independent criminal investigation”.

With the release of the video the IPRA has announced that the investigation will be reopened.

La Shawn Ford (D-Chicago) would amend the “Revised Cities and Villages Act of 1941” by establishing procedures to recall the Mayor of Chicago. The judge intimated in his ruling that prosecutors should have charged Servin with murder, not manslaughter. The Chicago PD is also facing a Department of Justice investigation.

During the chase, Hernandez, at the time a tactical officer in the Wentworth Police District, pulled up in an unmarked squad vehicle and jumped out with his gun drawn, Oppenheimer said.

Just as it had in McDonald’s shooting, the city had argued in court filings since the shooting 14 months ago that releasing the video would inflame the public and jeopardize the officer’s right to a fair trial if he was charged, court records show.

We can not afford to have any resident of our city living in fear of the police and distrusting their words and actions. The only people who believe it will be his “lap-dog city council”, another said, according to the Tribune. Hundreds of protestors hit the streets of Chicago demanding that Emanuel resign.

Claire Holohan, who recently moved to the Uptown neighborhood from St. Louis and is white, said that while she has not experienced negative police treatment she wanted to support those who had.

“It looks like it won’t stop until we get a new mayor because the one that we have will be gone and when [Prosecuting Attorney] Anita Alverez is gone too”, said protester Damond Singleton.

One protester called for police to release all videos in controversial cases in which citizens have died in incidents with police officers.

The midday protest was one of at least four different groups that had planned to converge downtown. The videos are being released following the Department of Justice’s upcoming probe of the CPD.

Several well-connected Chicagoans, including musician David Beltran, asked Brown to help administer the page and promote the protest, the Chicago Reader reported.

A state lawmaker from Chicago has introduced a proposal that would allow for a mayoral recall. The Police Board has begun a search for a new superintendent to addressing the deep-rooted problems at the very heart of the policing profession.