Protesters circle City Hall 16 times asking for justice, fairness
CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) - Around 200 protesters marched downtown in what they called “a rally for fairness and justice” in the Laquan McDonald case. And they are demanding a federal investigation into the mayor's handling of the police shooting.
The protesters marched around city 16 times, symbolic of the 16 shots fired into the body of Laquan McDonald by a Chicago Police officer now facing murder charges.
But while they marched as one, their objectives were many.
Some, like 74-year-old retired teacher Audrey Davis called on Rahm Emanuel to step down.
“I believe he knew about this killing when it first happened. He was more concerned about his political career and reelection," Davis said.
“One firing doesn't do the job. We got to get a culture change in the police department, the state's attorney and the mayor's office," Rich Pokorny added.
Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin wants a full federal investigation by the U.S. Justice Department.
“No just an investigation of the Chicago police department, we think you can't just investigate that entity only. We think if there's a cover-up to be had, it started with city hall," Boykin told FOX 32 News.
After initially rejecting the idea of a federal investigation into Chicago police practices, Mayor Rahm Emanuel now says he welcomes it. Reverend Jesse Jackson says there's no way the city can investigate itself.
FOX 32: You think the us justice department needs to take a look at this?
Jackson: Well they must. The people in charge of the city are now people of interest in the investigation."
Other protesters called for the immediate release of all dash-cam video related to police shootings and an independent civilian police review board. About 20 different civil rights, churches and community groups took part in the march. They say more protests are planned for next week.