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Family of teen shot by Chicago cop joins calls for change

 
Published Dec. 12, 2015

CHICAGO — The family of a black teenager shot 16 times by a white Chicago police officer joined the call Friday for change in local leadership and policing in the city and nationwide, weeks after a video of the 2014 killing set off days of protests.

Laquan McDonald was shot in October 2014 by police Officer Jason Van Dyke, who is charged with first-degree murder. Squad-car footage was released late last month upon a judge's order, and protests have taken place almost daily since. Protesters allege a coverup and have called for the resignation of Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez.

The Rev. Marvin Hunter, who is McDonald's great uncle, said at a news conference Friday that "what we're feeling in Chicago is the real feeling of America itself, and that's injustice against people of color." He also said there are "thousands of Laquan McDonalds."

The family has stayed largely out of the spotlight since the video was released Nov. 24, but about a dozen of them stood behind Hunter. A few activists with them wore T-shirts that read, "Rahm Failed Us."

One notable absence was McDonald's mother, whom Hunter said is "hurting and traumatized by the constant reminder of the senseless death of her son."

Since the video's release, McDonald's death became another example in the debate over gun violence and the treatment of African-Americans by the police. Protesters have turned the shooting into a rallying cry, their chants of "16 shots and a coverup" taking their place alongside the "I can't breathe" refrain that followed the video that showed Eric Garner being taken down by a New York police officer in a fatal choke hold.

The city agreed to a $5 million settlement with McDonald's family earlier this year without a lawsuit being filed. Hunter downplayed that Friday, saying the money that really matters should come in the form of government resources to foster economic development and keep such deaths from happening. And he said he is calling for a national summit to be held in his community and hoped that President Barack Obama would dispatch someone from the White House to attend.