Radio traffic shows officers sought Taser before teen was fatally shot

Protesters marched through the streets of downtown Chicago Thursday during the height of the Christmas Eve shopping rush.

Demonstrators hope to mimic the Black Friday protest, which hurt the bottom line for many Magnificent Mile retail stores. Several protesters laid down at an intersection, forcing the oncoming traffic to divert route.

Also, on Thursday dozens of protesters marched into San Francisco’s City Hall over the police killing of a black man earlier this month, demanding the firing of the city’s police chief. Robson expressed his understanding that the protesters just wanted to draw attention though “a lot of people are not going to like it”.

“You guys OK?” the dispatcher says.

It took 13 months for Alvarez’s office to charge Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke with murder, while Emanuel’s administration fought release of the dashboard camera video of the shooting. Protests have kept erupting since then. Protesters plan to close Chicago’s Magnificent Mile on Christmas Eve and demand Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s resignation over an alleged cover-up in the police killing of Laquan McDonald, Coalition for a New Chicago President Gregory Livingston told, APA reports quoting Sputnik.

The Chicago teenager was walking away from officers when he was gunned down mercilessly instead of tasered, a bombshell video released a year after the incident revealed, sending shockwaves through the Windy City.

The video’s release led to the ouster of the police superintendent and calls for other top officials to resign, including Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Within seven minutes of the initial radio call, Officer Jason Van Dyke shot McDonald 16 times, WMAQ reported.

Van Dyke, 37, has been charged with murder and is out on bail pending formal arraignment December 29.

Wednesday’s most dramatic protest was in Minneapolis, which has been roiled by unrest since the November 16 death of Jamar Clark, who was shot once in the head by a police officer. Another sign seen in the crowd was a stop sign that was created to say “Cops Stop Killing Us”.

Seventeen-year-old Laquan McDonald was shot 16 times by one of several officers responding to a complaint about vehicle break-ins in October 2014.

The demonstration was mostly peaceful, but occasional tussles broke out with police, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

It is still unclear whether any of the responding officers arrived with a taser or attempted to use one, NBC Chicago reported.