Hundreds gathered on the streets of Chicago on Tuesday night to protest the shooting death of a teenager by a police officer.
The impassioned unrest follows the Chicago Police Department’s release of a police dashcam video that shows Officer Jason Van Dyke, 37, shoot 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times during an October 2014 encounter.
Van Dyke turned himself in on Tuesday morning. He has been charged with first-degree murder of McDonald and faces up to life in prison.
The protests, which were heavily livestreamed on Periscope, disrupted traffic but did not appear to result in overt violence from either demonstrators or police, at the time of publication.
Large crowd at Michigan & Washington. Keep in mind the tree lighting is going on across the street pic.twitter.com/dFOSCU6nCY
— Jessyca Malina (@jessycamalina) November 25, 2015
Near State and 16th. #LaquanMcDonald pic.twitter.com/lsfhFTTCsV
— Jon Seidel (@SeidelContent) November 25, 2015
https://twitter.com/carlton_matt/status/669337120062832640
Activists took to the streets in reaction to the release of a police dash-cam video #Chicago #LaquanMcDonald pic.twitter.com/uVivz6Y9EF
— Chicago Tribune Photo (@ChiTribPhoto) November 25, 2015
https://twitter.com/ejkomenda/status/669342077776359425
At 8:30pm CT, protesters arrived in front of a police station where they believe police detained three demonstrators, according to reporters on the ground.
People lining up in front of police station where organizers say 3 arrested protesters have been taken #Chicago pic.twitter.com/NysSLAnWg8
— Casey Tolan (@caseytolan) November 25, 2015
https://twitter.com/carlton_matt/status/669341296725614592
“When I say ‘Oink, oink’ you say ‘Bang! Bang!” #LaquanMcDonald pic.twitter.com/QB6fk3LX1D
— Tony Briscoe (@_TonyBriscoe) November 25, 2015
During a news conference on Tuesday evening, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel called on demonstrators to remain “calm,” and asked Chicago residents to remain resolute and strong during a testing time.
“Will we use this episode in this moment to build bridges that connects us as a city or to build barriers that separate us as a city,” Emanuel said, adding, “It is fine to be passionate, but it is essential that it remain peaceful.”
Photo via –Mike–/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
