Chicago Police superintendent fired, interim named

Garry McCarthy in the midst of intense scrutiny to discuss Laquan McDonald’s police shooting.

McCarthy was not at the news conference. Many activists are especially incensed by the fact that the video first surfaced during a re-election campaign, when the mayor was seeking African-American votes. One young man with a megaphone led the protesters in a chant that went in part: “The whole damned system is guilty as hell”. Deval Patrick, a Chicago native and civil rights lawyer who was previously governor of MA, will serve as an adviser to the panel.

“We have built a resistance movement and put pressure at the highest offices in both the police department and City Hall”, said demonstrator Damon Williams, 23.

The turmoil in Chicago isn’t unique to the city.

I spent Wednesday night following a gaggle of protesters through the streets of downtown Chicago. McDonald was walking away from police in the seconds before he was fatally shot. On Tuesday, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez said she had decided a few weeks earlier to charge Van Dyke with murder and was planning to announce charges in a month.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has named an interim police chief until a permanent replacement is found for the superintendent, which he fired Tuesday. “Now is the time for fresh eyes and new leadership to confront the challenges the department and our community and our city are facing”, Emanuel said.

The mayor defended the decision to withhold the video from the public until the investigation was finished.

The charge comes less than a week after a Cook County judge ordered the release of a video that Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration had long sought to keep out of public view.

On Wednesday of last week, just in time to bury the news before Thanksgiving, Gen. John Campbell released a 3,000-page report blaming “human error” for the tragedy.

“In our community, everyone is saying it (the video) was not released because of the election, ‘ said Corey Brooks, a prominent black minister”.

Witnesses that night have since told reporters they were told to leave the scene without police so much as getting information about how to reach them for a statement. Last weekend, they peacefully interrupted Thanksgiving holiday shopping.

“There’s good cops out there, but these crooked ones, they got to get locked up”, one woman shouted during a break as prosecutors queued up the video on Panarese’s laptop.

Since the release of a videotape that shows the horrific event that resulted in a first-degree murder charge against Van Dyke, there has been frame-by-frame examination of those deadly seconds.

Officer Jason Van Dyke posted bond and left jail shortly after 5 p.m. local time in Chicago, Monday, Nov. 30.

While police departments definitely have distinct cultures, in a way they are simple instruments that articulate and enforce our laws and mores, which are reflections of our values. Van Dyke is charged with first-degree murder.

Van Dyke was the subject of 18 civilian complaints over 14 years, including allegations that he used racial epithets and excessive force.

Meanwhile, a scary moment occurred Monday when a man allegedly threatened to shoot white men to avenge McDonald’s death.

The FBI was tipped about the Chicago threat Sunday, according to a criminal complaint.

“This is my only warning”.

The campus was nearly desolate aside from police and campus security on Monday after university officials canceled classes due to an Federal Bureau of Investigation tip of a threat of gun violence. I will be armed with a (sic) M-4 Carbine and 2 Desert Eagles all fully loaded. “I will execute aproximately (sic) 16 white male students and or staff, which is the same number of time (sic) Mcdonald (sic) was killed”, the post read.