WebProNews

Tag: rahm emmanuel

  • Chicago Cops To Be Investigated In Laquan McDonald Shooting

    Chicago cops involved in the killing of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald are being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice, according to Attorney General Loretta Lynch on Monday.

    The Justice Department is set to investigate whether Chicago police violated any laws during the shooting. Lynch said the “pattern-and-practice” probe will look into the use of force, accountability, deadly force, and how the Chicago Police Department “tracks and treats” those kinds of incidents.

    Mayor Rahm Emmanuel said he fully supports the investigation to keep their residents and the whole community safe. “Nothing is more important to me than the safety and well-being of our residents and ensuring that the men and women of our Police Department have the tools, resources and training they need to be effective crime fighters, stay safe and build community trust,” said Emmanuel.

    The move to do a thorough civil rights investigation came after the video of a white police officer shooting McDonald 16 times was ordered released by a court judge. Officer Van Dyke, the police in the video, has reportedly been charged with first-degree murder.

    Video Footage Of The Laquan McDonald Shooting In 2014

    The city and the department faced a slew of criticisms after accounts from cops present at the scene seemed to contradict the video footage of the shooting. Van Dyke and his fellow cops said McDonald threatened them, a statement that contradicted the events shown in the video. Several Chicago residents are questioning the authorities for keeping mum on the issue. Emmanuel and interim Police Supt. John Escalante are tight-lipped regarding what happened to the cops involved in the shooting.

    Prior to filing a lawsuit, the family of McDonald reportedly received a $5 million settlement in an attempt to conceal the footage from the public. Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez also faced public outrage for not pressing charges against the suspect.

    The Chicago Police has been involved in 409 shootings since 2007.

  • Chance The Rapper Receives Award In Chicago

    On Sunday, November 9, Chance the Rapper was given the Outstanding Youth of the Year Award by the state of Illinois. The rapper took to twitter right away to share the news. “’For your outstanding contributions to the youth of the State of Illinois’ it’s an honor to bear that weight,” the young rapper tweeted. He also shared a picture of him and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel on his Instagram account with the caption, “I received the most important award I will ever win today”.

    Chance the Rapper got the award for his work with his father on the #SaveChicago campaign. The campaign aims to spread the word about gun and gang-related violence in the city of Chicago. The rapper has spoken openly about how he was affected personally by violence especially after an incident where one of his friends was killed in a street brawl.

    — Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) November 9, 2014

    Chance talked about the incident with MTV News. “I watched it happen,” he said in the interview. “He was 19 when it happened, I was 18, and I just turned 20 this year. It’s just crazy because I have a few friends that were older than me, but now I’m older than them.”

    He also explained that he is baffled by how people tend to romanticize life in Chicago despite the fact that murder is pretty much an everyday occurrence. “People wanna romanticize it and say, ‘there’s two sides to it, and it’s a beautiful love/hate story of violence and music.’ But it’s really just a very scummy place where people don’t have respect for other people’s lives. And it’s not gonna change until somebody, anybody, puts it right in front of everybody else’s faces.”

    Recently, Chance the Rapper appeared in the Adult Swim animated series Black Dynamite as the voice of Bob Marley. He was joined in the episode by Erykah Badu, who voiced the roles of a prostitute as well as Marley’s wife, Rita.

    — Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) November 10, 2014

    — [adult swim] (@adultswim) November 8, 2014