Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel Apologizes For Police Killing Of 17-Year-Old

“I take responsibility for what happened because it happened on my watch”, Emanuel said as he choked back tears at a special City Council meeting.

Fairley noted that there’s a federal probe into the McDonald case, but said “we must also take what steps we can to determine how and why the case reports filed by police that night appear to differ from what we have all seen for ourselves”. Critics say he’ll have an uphill battle. Officer Jason Van Dyke has now been charged with first-degree murder, and the department has come under fire for claiming that the teen had charged at officers with a knife – while the video clearly shows otherwise.

In looking ahead to what’s next for leadership of Chicago’s beleaguered Police Department, Mayor Rahm Emanuel should take time to reflect on how he arrived at this low point – a director dismissed in the heat of an egregious shooting and a pending Department of Justice investigation.

Emanuel’s speech was met with applause from the City Council, but protesters said the city’s actions do not go far enough.

The crowd is chanting “impeach Rahm”, “Rahm resign” and “Rahm must go”, Monica says, as well as “too little, too late”.

U.S. District Court Judge Robert Gettleman put off the decision on whether to release the video until January 14, a clerk in his office told ABC News.

In addition to calling for improved community policing, Emanuel insisted the city must find a way to confront “underlying challenges of family, of poverty, of joblessness, or hopelessness. That’s unacceptable”, Emanuel said, later adding that “no citizen is a second-class citizen in the city of Chicago”.

The Justice Department announced this week that it will be investigating the use of force by Chicago’s police department, looking for a pattern of unconstitutional or discriminatory behavior.

Putting it succinctly, the mayor said, “We have a trust problem”.

“There have been times when we hear great speech”, Moreno said. But the city released a video this week of officers, several of whom are black, using the stun gun, then dragging an apparently unconscious Coleman away by his wrists.

La Shawn Ford, a Democrat, introduced a bill Wednesday that would provide a mechanism to recall the mayor. Emanuel called for the resignation of Police Chief Superintendent Garry McCarthy last week.

The shooting occurred in October 2014, eight days before the fatal shooting of the 17-year-old Laquan on Oct. 20, 2014.

Emanuel’s support among Chicago residents has eroded significantly, according to a poll conducted by the Illinois Observer and released Tuesday evening.

At least four different groups are planning protests throughout the day in and around Chicago’s City Hall to draw attention to cases of alleged abuse by police officers.