Activists Want Chicago Cop Fired For Shooting That Killed Two
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Protesters gathered outside a West Side police station on Wednesday, demanding the officer who shot and killed two people over the weekend be fired, and that Mayor Rahm Emanuel resign.
The officer, a 3-year veteran of the department and a former Marine, has been placed on desk duty at the Harrison District police station after fatally shooting 19-year-old Quintonio LeGrier and 55-year-old Bettie Jones on Saturday.
Police have acknowledged Jones was accidentally killed when an officer opened fire on LeGrier while responding to 911 calls that LeGrier was threatening his father with a baseball bat.
Police have not said exactly what happened when officers arrived, but said they "were confronted by a combative subject resulting in the discharging of the officer's weapon, which fatally wounded two individuals." Jones, who lives downstairs from LeGrier's father, was "accidentally struck and tragically killed" when the officer opened fire, police said.
At a protest Wednesday afternoon outside the Harrison District station, activist Marcel Jackson said "it's a sad day in America when I cannot call 911 to help me, because I might get hurt."
"We are tired of our kids being afraid to walk down the street, because they're afraid that the police are going to hurt them," he added.
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Evan Wemberly, 15, said his mother doesn't want him to go to the bus stop, or even across the street to his friend's house.
"She's worried that I might even be harassed by police," he said.
Activists said the officer who shot Jones and LeGrier should be fired, and demanded a meeting with the Harrison District commander. They were told to leave a number.
Protesters also repeated a frequent demand that Emanuel step down.
"It's time to stop BSing. Rahm needs to resign, people," activist Tio Hardiman said. "Rahm Emanuel, being a member of the Jewish community, should really understand. Considering what happened in Nazi Germany, he should sympathize with African American people."
Emanuel has been under intense scrutiny for more than a month, after the city was forced to release police dashboard camera video of the fatal police shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. Officer Jason Van Dyke has been charged with murder in McDonald's death, Police Supt. Garry McCarthy was forced out days later, and the U.S. Justice Department has launched a civil rights probe of the Police Department's policies and practices regarding the use of force.
The mayor was set to announce more reforms to the Police Department on Wednesday, including more training in the use of Tasers, equipping all officers with stun guns by summer, and changes to tactics in the use of deadly force. Protesters said they're unimpressed with the mayor's plans.
