Chicago Latinos Disapprove Mayor Rahm Emanuel, But Approve of Police Department

Despite Emanuel issuing an apology, several prominent Chicago pastors have rejected Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s gesture of forgiveness and are demanding that his administration release yet another dash cam recording in which a white police officer fatally shot seventeen-year-old Cedrick Chatman.

Hundreds of demonstrators marched through downtown Chicago Thursday night, chanting and holding signs.

Meanwhile, State Representative LaShawn Ford, a Chicago Democrat, filed a bill on Wednesday in Springfield to allow for the recall of Emanuel. The agency has been criticized as toothless since the city released a video last month showing Officer Jason Van Dyke shoot 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times in October 2014.

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

A Cook County sheriff’s officer was on the scene of Laquan McDonald’s fatal shooting by a Chicago police officer within a minute of the event, but he did not show up in police reports and was not part of any investigation until the FBI tracked him down months later, the Tribune has learned.

The group also wants a Justice Department investigation of the police department to be expanded to include the mayor’s office and Cook County State’s Attorney’s office.

The meeting with the Department of Justice comes on the heels of Mayor Emanuel’s speech on Wednesday to City Council that addressed a “code of silence” that he says exists throughout the department.

“We didn’t hoodwink the city of Chicago and have them vote on something that was different than the language in the contract”, Angelo said. So far, Emanuel has convened a panel to review police practices and fired Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, but the moves have not quelled anger toward the mayor himself.

“Not only in Chicago, but across the nation there are bad apples in police departments”. “Laquan was the kind of kid when he saw you, he greeted you with a hug”.

McDonald’s mother was not at the press conference because “she’s hurting and traumatized by the constant reminder of the senseless death of her son”, Hunter said.

Religious leaders, who demanded greater transparency for incidents involving the police, said they plan to collect petition signatures that could help force the mayor’s ouster. “People don’t want the thugs on the corner or dealers running open drug markets and they depend on the police to keep them safe”.

This week, the Justice Department opened a sweeping civil rights investigation that could ultimately lead to a court order and the appointment of a federal monitor similar to the one that rode herd over city hiring for almost a decade. Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder just hours before the footage was released.