Chicago protesters call for mayor to step down over police brutality

Earlier this week, Van Dyke was indicted on six murder counts and one count of official misconduct for the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. Cook County Circuit Judge James Brown set an arraignment for December 29, when Van Dyke is expected to enter a plea.

Van Dyke, 37, was released from the Cook County Jail on November 30 after posting a $150,000 bond, 10 percent of a $1.5 million bail.

In November, a judge ordered for dash-cam video to be released of the incident in which McDonald was shown moving away from the officer as he was sacked upon.

“I think that it sends exactly the wrong message to the people of the city of Chicago, once again as this entire case has from the beginning to the present”, Flint Taylor, a longtime civil rights attorney, told Fox 32.

A small group of protesters shouted insults at Van Dyke as he left the court house.

After the hearing, Van Dyke’s attorney, Dan Herbert, said he plans to ask for a change of venue for the trial because of comments Mayor Rahm Emanuel has made publicly about Van Dyke.

Recent news was dominated by the Chicago Police Department crisis that gripped the city.

Protests were planned leading up to Van Dyke’s Friday hearing, as well, one of which was targeting travelers at Chicago’s Midway Airport, making holiday travel a bit more hard.

Van Dyke was initially charged with murder by the county prosecutor on November 24, becoming the first Chicago officer to be charged with murder in an on-duty killing in more than three decades.

Rev. Michael Pfleger, the activist pastor of St. Sabina Church, said Thursday that he and about 15 others were given copies in a meeting held Wednesday with attorneys from the department’s civil rights division, and are spreading the word, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

“He [Rahm Emanuel] has essentially told everyone in the public, everyone in the City Council that my client actually murdered Mr. McDonald, and [that] he’s a bad apple and that he doesn’t belong in the police department and he committed acts that were indefensible”, Herbert said. Relatives of McDonald coincidentally say they would also like to see a change of venue, but for a different reason.