Protesters for Laquan McDonald Plan Chicago March to Disrupt Black Friday
As Black Friday continues to promote the holidays with rampant consumerism and violent frenzies across America, the shopping areas of Chicago are facing additional pressure as protests continue over the death of Laquan McDonald.
Demonstrators are scheduled to march down the city’s Magnificent Mile, a retail-intensive area in order to call attention to brutality and the other factors believed to have contributed to McDonald’s death by police last year. McDonald’s case sparked a controversy earlier this week when dash cam footage was released showing how he was shot 16 times by an officer who has since been charged with first degree murder.
While the city protests have mostly remained peaceful despite their large sizes, the outrage continues over the city officials’ alleged mishandling of the shooting, such as how the video was kept from the public as long as it was. Protesters were reported by Time to be considering civil disobedience, such as standing in front of shops and similar acts to cause economic disruptions.
Rev. Jesse Jackson said to NBC that marching during America’s biggest shopping day would focus the city’s attention back towards addressing the racial justice problems within the police department.
“It’s not enough to focus on what brought us here today — the execution of this young man,” Jackson said. “That takes the scab off a deeper sore, a deeper cancer. We want mass demonstrations, mass voter registration.”
You can watch a report on the planned demonstrations in the video above, via NBC.
[image via screengrab]
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