Protests erupted in Chicago on Tuesday night in the wake of the release of a video showing a policeman kill a black suspect.
According to TV station WLS, about 100 people moved through the South Loop neighborhood, and blocked a traffic circle.
Protesters were chanting “16 shots,” a reference to how often Officer Jason Van Dyke, who was charged with murder Tuesday, shot 17-year-old Laquan McDonald in a few seconds more than a year ago.
The protesters converged on the Chicago Police Department’s District 1 headquarters and blocked it, yelling at police and chanting, “Don’t shoot me.” Some aerial-view WLS video seemed to show shoving on the police-demonstrator lines, but there was no immediate reports of major violence.
According to CNN’s Rosa Flores, the demonstrators wanted to reach Michigan Avenue at the center of Chicago’s tony “Magnificent Mile” district because they “want to send a statement that there will be an economic impact.”
A police spokesman had told the Associated Press that two protesters had been arrested earlier, though he didn’t specify the charges.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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