Protesters have been taking to the streets in Chicago for days now to demand the release of the video of police officer Jason Van Dyke shooting and killing 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. The video, which shows Van Dyke shooting McDonald 16 times during a stop last year, is the key piece of evidence in Cook County Prosecutor Anita Alvarez’s decision to charge Van Dyke with first-degree murder yesterday. However, in the press conference to release the video, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and police chief Garry McCarthy seemed more concerned about fears of violence from protesters than any serious questions involving police oversight or the contents of the video.
Tuesday night, after the graphic video was released, protesters were anything but violent. According to protesters on the scene and according to the department itself, the protests were peaceful demonstrations, filled with calls to fire Alvarez, Emanuel, and McCarthy, but with no signs of the violence that Chicago police used as a rationale for mobilizing most of their uniformed officers.
However, several protesters were still arrested throughout the night. Troy Alim, Johnaé Strong, Page May, and around three others were all arrested for obstructing traffic, according to other protesters on the scene. They were later released. However, prominent local activist and poet Malcolm London was charged with felony battery of an officer based on an alleged fight with police. Some activists and local politicians dispute the charge.
London, 22, is a member of the Chicago-based Black Youth Project, which has led several protests and events in the city related to Laquan McDonald’s death. His bond hearing is later this afternoon.