Protesters Shut Down Some Mag Mile Stores; At Least Three Arrested

Thousands of people marched on Chicago’s most prestigious shopping street on Friday, disrupting business on one of the busiest retail days, to protest the shooting death of a black teenager by a white policeman and the city’s handling of the case.

The video shows McDonald, 17, being shot on a city street a year ago by Officer Jason Van Dyke, who this week was charged with first-degree murder.

The demonstration comes days after a video was released by city officials showing a white Chicago police officer fatally shooting a black teenager.

Ralph Lauren, Banana Republic, Neiman Marcus, Tiffany & Co., Saks Fifth Avenue, Victoria’s Secret, Burberry, the Disney Store and Brooks Brothers were among those blocked for parts of the afternoon. Viewers were outraged by how much the footage conflicted with the police department’s initial account of the shooting, which claimed that McDonald was acting strangely and lunged at police before shots were fired.

They chanted “16 shots!”

The problem starts in the mayor’s office; implicates the police department’s top brass, the police union and rank-and-file officers; and runs through the city’s nominally independent police review authority, which routinely dismisses allegations of police wrongdoing.

On Friday, a more positive development took place.

Security guards at the multi-story mall anchored by Macy’s on one side and American Girl on the other asked shoppers inside to leave out the back entrance, across from the connected Ritz-Carlton hotel.

But protesters on the march succeeded in blocking main entrances on both sides of Michigan Avenue for more than three blocks.

“I’m totally, totally sick of these kids getting killed”, she said, “but that has nothing to do with me using the bathroom at the f– Crate and Barrel”. Protesters Shut Down Mag Mile After Dash-Cam Video Release “He is a very serious threat to the officers and he leaves them no choice at in that point yet to defend themselves”, he stated of McDonald.

At the Gap store on the corner of N. MI and Ohio Street, protesters reportedly barricaded the doors, trapping shoppers inside and refusing to let them leave.

Indeed, the contrast between Chicago so far and the militarized police response in Ferguson previous year highlights not just dramatic shifts in how U.S. police respond to protesters, but also the maturing of a new civil rights movement into a deliberate and conscientious force that’s finding it more effective to target institutions and powerful politicians rather than police as a whole. Some stores locked their doors as the protest continued outside. There have been isolated clashes between police and protesters, with about 10 arrests and only a few minor reports of property damage.

“Explain to me why Tom Balanoff would be at the front of a march for a dead black child”, Maze Jackson said.

This view from Officer Van Dyke’s SUV showed McDonald running.

I expect every police officer in the country has been taught a defensive doctrine called the Tueller Drill. “I’m an American. I just want to shop”, one woman said as she pushed into the Apple Store, according to Chicago Tribune reporter Kim Janssen. “You all ain’t got to treat us like dogs, man”. You know, it’s Thanksgiving and you’re going to call and try to get people to come out and help support your cause. Van Dyke, who had been on administrative duty since the shooting last October, was charged with murder on Tuesday. Van Dyke’s next court appearance is on November 30.