Protests continue in downtown Chicago. Demonstrators continue to prevent shoppers from coming into the shopping district as they attempt to bring attention to a recent shooting of a black teenager.
Just a few days after video was released of a white Chicago police officer shooting a black teenager, hundreds of protesters continue to try and shut down shopping in the Windy City. Protesters have been out in force along Chicago’s Magnificent Mile.
The protesters have gathered over a video showing black teenager Laquan McDonald, 17, being shot 16 times by Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke, according to NPR. Vandyke has been place on administrative duties pending a further investigation by the Chicago police. It took over a year for the police dashcam video to be made public.
The government of Chicago had tried to keep the video suppressed but a judge ordered it released. Chicago officials note that at the time of the shooting, Ferguson and other American cities were in an uproar over police shootings. Protesters say they are also angry because the police version of the events are, once again, untrue and contradicted by the video evidence.
Jesse Jackson has arrived on the scene to encourage the demonstrators. Protesters and other civil rights activists want an investigation from the outside, preferably from federal authorities like the FBI. Protesters continued to block the entrances to downtown retailers, not allowing shoppers to go into the stores. Shoppers have since been avoiding the area. Many of the retail store employees were just watching out the store windows as there were no shoppers to be helped.
Several arrests have been made since the protest was launched on Friday. In addition to this protest and the potential fallout, Chicago is also dealing with two other high profile murders. One was the murder of a 9-year-old boy who was, allegedly, convinced to leave a basketball game at a neighborhood court, then shot in the head. It appears to have been a gang-related revenge killing, as the boy’s father was a well known gang member.
The other incident involves the chief of police firing an officer for shooting a bystander back in 2012.