Jan. 02--A small group of demonstrators gathered downtown Friday to mark the new year and send a message that, despite promises for reform, they aren't ready to turn the page on a series of fatal shootings by Chicago police officers.
"We believe in new beginnings, but we can't just let it go," said Walter Jones, a minister from the West Garfield Park neighborhood where 19-year-old college student Quintonio LeGrier and his neighbor Bettie Jones, 55, were shot and killed by an officer responding to a domestic disturbance call the day after Christmas. LeGrier was swinging a bat at officers, police have said, but Jones was shot by accident.
"Our hearts are broken right now. Folks are traumatized," Jones said. "We're here to say that's enough."
The shooting occurred within weeks of a U.S. Justice Department announcement that federal officials have launched a probe into Chicago Police Department practices following the death of another Chicago teen, Laquan McDonald, who was fatally shot 16 times in 2014 as he was walking away from police officers. Despite City Hall officials' efforts to conceal dashboard camera videos of that shooting, a judge ordered the release, drawing the federal attention and touching off similar demonstrations over the past month.
Travelers departing Chicago from Union Station got a dose of the ongoing local outrage Friday as roughly a dozen activists chanted, "16 shots and a cover-up," referring to McDonald and the subsequently released footage and police reports, which revealed that officers gave differing accounts of the final moments before his death. The protesters were outflanked by the number of officers on hand monitoring the demonstration.
"We are sick and tired of seeing our people murdered by police," said 41-year-old Otis Buckley of Total Blackout for Reform. The Chicago native is hopeful that by keeping attention on police misconduct, officers will think twice before shooting in 2016.
But public outrage alone isn't going to bring systemic reforms to a Police Department that's demonstrated reticence to change, said Mike Holman, a member of the national Stop Mass Incarceration Network.
"Many people are talking about Rahm (Emanuel) has to resign. Many people are talking about Anita Alvarez. It is more than that," he said. What would send the message, he said, is legal action against officers and other officials who attempted to conceal facts surrounding McDonald's death. "And it certainly has to be done by someone not involved in the cover-up themselves," he added.
acaputo@tribpub.com
