Hundreds march in Chicago a day after mayor’s apology speech

CHICAGO Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel faces increased pressure to resign, as local black religious leaders called Friday for a “no confidence vote” against him for the 2014 police shooting of a 17-year-old black teenager and systemic police problems.

Suspicion about reforms initiated by City Hall runs deep in Chicago, especially among blacks, who have heard similar pledges every couple of years, whenever allegations of police brutality arose.

The protesters continue to call for Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s resignation. Chicago police who were present have all related similar stories that McDonald tried to attack police with a knife – a narrative that is not supported by video of his shooting that shows him moving away from Chicago officers when he was shot.

The Department of Justice announced this week that is has launched a civil rights investigation into the Chicago Police Department’s pattern and practices and will focus on the use of force and accountability within the police department.

“When he saw you he greeted you with a hug”, the uncle said.

Emanuel, meanwhile, apologized for the Laquan McDonald shooting on Wednesday, the same day a bill was introduced in the state legislature that would create a process to recall Chicago’s mayor. Chatman’s family sued the city and demanded that the video be made public.

Chicago police reports make no mention of any sheriff’s officers being on the scene.

Meanwhile, the city has begun a nationwide search for a new police superintendent.

Some group members described instances that sounded much like the shooting of Laquan McDonald – young men shot when they did not appear to pose any danger to police.

Chicago officials fought the release of the video, arguing it could interfere with any resulting court case.

Another protest was planned for evening rush hour downtown. McDonald’s family is expected to speak publicly Friday, Dec. 11, 2015, weeks after a video of the 2014 killing set off days of protests calling for the mayor’s resignation and demanding an overhaul of the police department. And he said he is calling for a national summit to be held in his community — one of the most unsafe in Chicago — and hoped that President Barack Obama would dispatch someone from the White House to attend. Officers said they believed he was reaching for a gun. Van Dyke has since been charged with first-degree murder. He said some communities feel like they’re being occupied by police rather than protected by them. A judge disagreed and ordered the video released last month. Jason Van Dyke, a veteran CPD officer who has been charged with first degree murder for firing 16 shots at the fleeing teen.

“There was never ever a time when they said, ‘You want to exonerate an officer, and we think he should be disciplined, ‘” she said.

Still, Williams and others say they’re also more optimistic than ever about achieving real, lasting change – thanks in large part to the intense scrutiny that’s followed McDonald’s death.

Alvarez has defended the delay in bringing charges against Van Dyke, calling it a complex investigation.