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Protesters March After Officer Who Killed Rekia Boyd Is Acquitted

By Mauricio Peña | April 20, 2015 8:32pm | Updated on April 20, 2015 10:44pm
 Chicago Rising members and others met in North Lawndale after Dante Servin was acquitted of all charges.
Rekia Boyd Protest
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NORTH LAWNDALE — Nearly two dozen demonstrators gathered Monday night to protest a Cook County judge's decision to acquit the Chicago Police detective who killed Rekia Boyd.

Chicago Rising members and others met near 15th Street and Albany Avenue to express their frustrations after Judge Dennis Porter acquitted Dante Servin of charges that he acted recklessly when he fired into a crowd near Douglas Park in 2012, killing the 22-year-old Boyd.

"Let the legal system be recalibrated, because they are not designed for the everyday citizen," said Jedidiah Brown, national president of the Young Leaders Alliance. "We the people do not agree with the verdict of today that a police officer would be found not guilty for recklessly shooting into a crowd of unarmed people and taking the life of a young woman."

Mark Carter, activists and member of Voice of the Ex-Offender echoed Brown's sentiment.

"We are not going to stand down while the Chicago police kill a young woman and then the justice system lets it be swept under the rug," Carter said.  "We are asking for a federal investigation of the Chicago police, and also the state's attorney. This is just the beginning."

Protesters started marching down Albany street chanting: "There's a Mike Brown in every town, no justice for Rekia, shut it down!"

Along the way the group stopped at various intersections, including where Boyd was shot, and held a moment of silence before resuming the march throughout North Lawndale.

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