Protesters March on Chicago's 'Magnificent Mile' to Call Attention to Police Brutality
The protests are taking place on one of the nation's busiest shopping days.
— -- About a thousand protesters demonstrated on Chicago's popular "Magnificent Mile" shopping district on Black Friday to call attention to police brutality, mere days after the release of dash cam video showed a police officer firing 16 shots at Laquan McDonald.
Chanting "Shut it down" and "Black power," protesters marched through rain and mist along Michigan Avenue, causing traffic and blocking shoppers from entering Neiman Marcus and other stores on one of the nation's busiest shopping days.
Today's protest is one of many taking place in the city this week after police released two different videos of the Oct. 20, 2014 shooting of the 17-year-old following a court order. Some protesters are calling for the resignation of CPD Commissioner Garry McCarthy.
Religious, youth and union leaders are expected to be part of the event. Rev. Jesse Jackson, who helped organize the protest, said Thursday that "some people" may engage in civil disobedience and block store entrances, but that such acts had not been planned, the Associated Press reported.
Laquan McDonald died in a hospital after Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke allegedly shot him 16 times last year. Van Dyke, who had been on administrative duty since the shooting last October, was charged with murder on Tuesday. The officer, a 14-year veteran of the police department, had a history of civilian complaints of misconduct, according to data obtained by the Chicago-based watchdog group the Invisible Institute.
Van Dyke's attorney has said the officer feared for his life when he fired at McDonald and that the case should be tried in the courtroom, not on social media or city streets. Van Dyke's next court appearance is on Nov. 30.ng