THE LOOP — A group of protesters organized by local politicians plan to circle City Hall 16 times Friday — once for every time teenager Laquan McDonald was shot by a Chicago policeman.
Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin (D-Chicago) tweeted a flier promoting the rally, which will begin at noon Friday at City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St. Among other things, protesters will call for the ouster of Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez, the release of all dashcam videos related to Chicago police shootings, and a thorough federal investigation of the police department, state's attorney's and mayor's offices.
March with Us tomorrow, 12 Noon @ City Hall to Demand #Justice, #Federal Probe, & #EqualProtectionUnderTheLaw. pic.twitter.com/dEThOAvwt9
— Richard Boykin (@RichardRBoykin) December 3, 2015The protesters — including representatives of the NAACP, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and Black Lives Matter — will also demand the appointment of an independent police accountability task force, Boykin told DNAinfo. The group Emanuel announced Tuesday, Boykin said, would never earn the public's trust.
"How can we expect to have any confidence in the mayor to investigate himself?" Boykin said. "He's the one who drove us into this ditch. Are we really going to give him the keys and ask him to drive us back out?"
While he welcomes the growing chorus of calls from public officials for more accountability of the Chicago Police Department, Boykin said, the city's handling of the McDonald case calls for any investigation to climb all the way up the political ladder.
"Focusing on the police would just be a narrow investigation by the Justice Department — that would be insufficient," Boykin said. "We need something to give us a sense of confidence that the mayor was not involved in a coverup. We need to know why they let this case lie for 13 months."
Friday's rally will be the latest in a slew of protests following the release of a video showing police officer Jason Van Dyke fatally shooting McDonald, a teenager suspected of burglarizing cars, 16 times last year. Van Dyke has since been released on bond after being charged with first degree murder.
The McDonald case has created a political firestorm for top city officials, and former police superintendent Garry McCarthy has already lost his job over the shooting and subsequent handling of its dashcam video. Protesters, politicians and some media have since called for the resignations of Alvarez and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the latter of which said Wednesday he has no plans to leave his post.
Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th) is also organizing the protest, Crain's reports.
