(CHICAGO) Hundreds of protesters demanding police accountability as well as the resignation of Mayor Rahm Emanuel marched through downtown Chicago for hours Wednesday afternoon, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.
The group wandered though the Loop and the Gold Coast and clogged traffic as dozens of police officers on bicycles and on foot shadowed their every step — trying, to varying degrees of success, to contain their movement.
Police arrested 16-year-old Lamon Reccord early on in the march on the street near the Christkindlmarket in Daley Plaza, setting off several tense minutes in which protesters surrounded the police vehicle he was held in while chanting for his release.
Hundreds cheered when police decided to release Reccord, who went on to help lead a march that lasted nearly five hours as sign-waving protesters snaked past City Hall, the Chicago Board of Trade and shoppers along State Street and the Magnificent Mile.
The march ended around 4:30 p.m. near State Parkway and North Boulevard. Some of those protesters planned to march again Wednesday night in front of Chicago Police Department Headquarters to call for the firing of Chicago Police Officer Dante Servin, who fatally shot 22-year-old Rekia Boyd and but was acquitted of criminal charges.
Reccord, a native of the Chatham neighborhood who has become a leader among young activists since a photo of him staring down a police officer went viral, blew a whistle and served as the group’s impromptu navigator.
“Let’s go where the money’s at,” yelled one young protester. Moments later the crowd marched through the LaSalle Street financial district.
Thousands of onlookers took photos on their phones, others joined the march.
“Rahm resign!” some shouted. “No justice! No peace!” shouted others.
The group sat in the intersection of Congress Parkway and Wells Street as officers blocked them from accessing the Kennedy and Dan Ryan expressways, leaving stranded motorists honking in frustration — or support.
The group later paused in front of Macy’s department store.
A cat-and-mouse game played out as police tried unsuccessfully to keep protesters from gaining access to Michigan Avenue.
Hundreds of protesters were briefly halted by a line of police at Michigan Avenue and Randolph Street, where a brief scuffle ensued before officers retreated — allowing the group to march north on Michigan Avenue.
The march Wednesday was the latest demonstration sparked by the release of dashcam video of the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald in October 2014. The city had fought in court to keep that video under wraps, but when a judge ordered its release, the city responded by charging Officer Jason Van Dyke with first-degree murder.
The 13 months between the shooting and Van Dyke being charged led some to accuse the mayor of keeping video from the public to ensure his re-election, and others have demanded the resignations of the mayor and State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez.
“We need a painful but honest reckoning of what went wrong — not just in this one instance — but over decades,” an apologetic Emanuel told the City Council on Wednesday morning.
While Emanuel addressed the council, a group of several dozen protesters gathered at City Hall opposite a line of police officers and screamed various chants such as: “CPD. KKK. How many kids will you kill today?”
Another chant: “Who’s got to go? Rahm Emanuel.”
“We are not going to just go away. I’m going to be very visible for a very long time,” said Jeffery Coleman, the brother of Philip Coleman, on whom officers used a stun gun in a Chicago police lockup in 2012. Philip Coleman died soon after at Roseland Hospital because of an allergic reaction to a sedative he was given.
“Let’s fix it. Stop blaming people. Throwing people under a bus,” Jeffery Coleman said. “Let’s address these issues and let’s take care of the business without the politics. And I want justice for my brother and everyone else who deserves it.”
