‘16 shots!’ Protest of 2014 killing of black teen by white officer disrupts shopping in Chicago.
Marchers chant ‘16 shots!’ in reference to man killed by police
CHICAGO — Hundreds of protesters blocked store entrances and shut down four lanes of traffic in Chicago’s ritziest shopping district on Black Friday to draw attention to the 2014 police killing of a black teenager who was shot 16 times by a white officer.
Demonstrators-shrugged off a cold drizzling rain to turn the traditional start of the holiday shopping season on Michigan Avenue’s Magnificent Mile into a high-profile platform from which to deliver their message: The killing of Laquan McDonald was another example of what they say is the systemic disregard police show for the lives and rights of black people.
They chanted “16 shots! 16 shots!” and stopped traffic for blocks to express their anger over the Oct. 20, 2014, killing of McDonald and the subsequent investigation, which they say was mishandled.
Prosecutors charged the officer, Jason Van Dyke, with first-degree murder on Tuesday, hours before police released disturbing dashcam video of McDonald’s death under a court order to make it public. It shows McDonald jogging down a street and then veering away from Van Dyke and another officer who emerge from a police SUV drawing their guns. Within seconds, Van Dyke begins firing. McDonald, who authorities allege was carrying a three-inch knife and was suspected of breaking into cars, spins around and falls to the pavement as Van Dyke keeps shooting.
Among the marchers Friday was 73-year-old Frank Chapman, of Chicago, who said the disturbing video confirms what activists have said for years about Chicago police brutality.
“That needs to end. Too many have already died,” said Chapman, whose organization, the Chicago Alliance Against Racism and Political Oppression, is pushing for an elected, civilian police accountability council.
Officers along the sidewalk formed a barrier of sorts between the protesters and stores and helped shoppers get through the doors.
But protesters on the march succeeded in blocking main entrances on both sides of Michigan Avenue for more than three blocks.