Chicago mayor issues apology in teen’s death

CHICAGO — Mayor Rahm Emanuel, known for keeping viselike control over the city and his own political image, finds himself in the weakest position of his public career as he struggles to respond to a police scandal, claims of cover-ups at City Hall and calls for his resignation.

But the former White House chief of staff has said he will not step down. The nation’s third-largest city has no process for recalling a mayor. Most of the cries for Emanuel to resign have come from activists and residents, not from the city’s power brokers. The next election isn’t until 2019.

On Wednesday, the mayor used a special meeting of the City Council to try to calm the storm, apologizing for the fatal shooting of a black teen by a white officer and promising “complete and total” reform.

“I take responsibility for what happened because it happened on my watch. And if we’re going to fix it, I want you to understand it’s my responsibility with you,” Emanuel said during a sometimesemotional speech that lasted nearly 45 minutes. “But if we’re also going to begin the healing process, the first step in that journey is my step. “And I’m sorry.” The remarks were Emanuel’s lengthiest since the public got its first look last month at the dash-cam video that showed Laquan McDonald, 17, veering away from Officer Jason Van Dyke before Van Dyke began shooting, hitting McDonald 16 times. Van Dyke is charged with firstdegree murder.

Critics have repeatedly accused Emanuel of keeping the footage under wraps until after he won a tougher-than-expected spring election for a second term. The mayor has denied the claim and acknowledged Wednesday that he should have pressed for prosecutors to wrap up their investigation sooner so the video could be made public.

Hours after the speech, protesters overflowed an intersection in front of City Hall, then marched through the financial district and blocked an major intersection for a short time as police directed traffic around them.

Officers guarded the doors to the Chicago Board of Trade as demonstrators approached.

Outside City Hall, retired schoolteacher Audrey Davis carried a sign reading, “Mayor Emanuel is morally corrupt!”

Calling the speech “politically expedient,” Davis said, “I don’t want to hear anything from him except, ‘I tender my resignation.’ ”

Davis, who is black, said she fears for her 25-year-old grandson when he comes home from college.

“Each time he comes home, my heart is in my throat in case he meets up with a racist cop,” Davis said. “We shouldn’t have to live like this.”