Chicago Police Officer Van Dyke Charged With Murder – After 400 Days

Prosecutors charged Van Dyke with first-degree murder on Tuesday, hours before the video’s release. On Tuesday, Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder in the teen’s death.

The group held banners showing photos of other black people fatally shot by police in Chicago and elsewhere.

On Friday, authorities filed murder charges against a man in the death of a 9-year-old boy who was reportedly lured off a basketball court and shot in the head early this month, in a case that police say centers on gang rivalries.

“We believe injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”, said J.D. Anderson, the pastor at Centennial Missionary Baptist Church on the city’s south side. On Thanksgiving Day, many families received “robo calls” with a recording from Reverend Jackson himself, exhorting them to join the protests: “Join us Friday, the day after Thanksgiving at 11 AM…to march down the “Magnificent Mile” to express our outrage and our sense of dignity”. Protesters also planned to target the Board of Trade and other landmarks in the coming days, he said.

Protesters took to the streets Friday and blocked the roads and passage for shoppers to enter prominent retail shops in a bid to force police into investigating their department. Chicago police shot an average of 50 people a year in that period, against 31 a year for Los Angeles, 27 in New York City, and 14 in Houston.

“When it was announced that the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office would finally pursue charges against Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke, who maliciously cut short the life of Laquan McDonald in October 2014”, More said.

Emanuel and Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez have said the time was needed to conduct proper investigations. From a police officer’s dash cam video, the African-American teen is seen walking in the middle of a two-way street, when multiple police cars drive toward him.

One of Clinton’s rivals, Sen. The shooting was a separate incident this month that garnered much attention because police said the boy appeared to have been killed in an act of retribution against his gang-member father.

In the wake of the video’s release, protesters and community leaders want a Justice Department investigation similar to ones conducted into the police departments in Cleveland and Ferguson, Missouri, and one now being conducted in Baltimore.

The black officer stood stone-faced and avoided Steverson’s gaze as he stood centimeters away, swearing and waving his hands as he accused the officer of guarding the wrong neighborhood and betraying his race. The period includes scores of police killings and 20 dismissed complaints alleging bias, violence and illegal searches by Van Dyke. All for at least one day.

Van Dyke’s lawyer has said the officer opened fire because he feared for his life and the lives of other police officers when he saw McDonald had a knife.

The Burger King is just yards from where 17-year-old Laquan McDonald fell when the first few rounds struck him. London was among five people arrested on charges that included weapons possession and resisting arrest.

At the Harley Davidson store, protesters managed to break through the locked doors, police radio traffic said. A picture of a smiling Jamar Clark adorned the program for his funeral.

Police were forced to close the six-lane avenue to vehicles to accommodate marchers.