Chicago protesters block traffic during rush hour

He says Mayor Emanuel must respond to the pain felt by many Chicagoans – but says that “rhetoric without results would be disingenuous”.

This week, Mayor Emanuel apologized for his handling of the 2014 shooting death of a black 17-year-old, Laquan McDonald, by a white police officer, Jason Van Dyke.

Hunter said McDonald was raised by his great-grandmother and, despite a tough life, he was gentle, loving and fond of telling jokes. “We need to get to the point where it’s dealt with appropriately in all cases”, he said.

During his address, Hunter called for a national summit to address gun violence, urban poverty and police misconduct and hoped President Barack Obama would dispatch someone from the White House to attend.

The Rev. Marvin Hunter (left), Laquan McDonald’s great-uncle, said: “What we’re feeling in Chicago is the real feeling of America itself, and that’s injustice against people of color”, during a news conference.

Emauel has come under fire, with protesters demanding his resignation, over his handling of the McDonald case. In the early weeks after the killing, police insisted McDonald had lunged at Van Dyke with a knife – something the video proves to be untrue. Squad-car footage was released late last month upon a judge’s order, and there have been protests nearly daily since.

Alvarez also expressed last week that she was firm on her intention to stay in office, despite the growing cries for her to step down.

Grant supports calls for a special prosecutor, federal monitoring of the Chicago Police Department and termination of officers who have falsified reports on the McDonald shooting and other police-involved shootings.

In response to the proposed legislation, the mayor’s office issued a statement saying Emanuel is “energized” by the challenges in front of him.

“We understand there’s a desire by some to insert politics into this discussion, but the mayor’s focus is not on his own personal politics”, mayoral spokesman Adam Collins said in a statement. The timing of that payment so shortly after Emanuel’s job was secure again has raised suspicions that City Hall knew more about the gap between police officials’ story and the video evidence during the campaign. A Cook County judge ordered the release of it on November 24.

More protests were planned for Friday.