Saturday, November 25, 2017

Activists Stage Protest in Downtown Chicago to Demand Justice for Victims of Police Misconduct
Source: Xinhua | 2017-11-25 07:41:43 | Editor: huaxia

Protesters gather at North Michigan Avenue to call for boycotting Black Friday and demand justice for minorities of police misconduct in Chicago, the United States, November 24, 2017.(Xinhua/Wang Ping)

CHICAGO, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Several dozens of activists staged a Black Friday protest and boycott stores in Chicago's busiest street for a third year in a row, to demand justice for minorities of police misconduct.

Protesters gathered at Water Tower Place in downtown for a rally Friday morning before beginning to march down North Michigan Avenue, which is also called Magnificent Mile. They are asking shoppers to boycott stores, and they plan to block the doors of stores on the Mag Mile to get their message heard.

Holding slogans like 'Boycott Black Friday', 'Stop Police Crimes' and 'Black Lives Matter', protesters lined up in front of the Macys' and Nike store to intervene store's operation while police officers formed another line separating protesters from the store's main gate and let customers move freely.

The protest was peaceful and many of the customers said they can understand their proposal but it has little impact on their shopping and happy holiday atmosphere.

The protests started in 2015, with the release of the Laquan McDonald shooting video that sparked days of protests on Chicago streets. Laquan was shot and killed by Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke in 2014 as he was walking away from the officer, holding a knife. Activists say they're still waiting for justice. Van Dyke is facing murder charges in the case.

Friday's protest wasn't as big as those in past years, especially in 2015 over 1,000 protesters took to the North Michigan Avenue to express their anger and call for more police accountability beyond body cameras and the newly formed Civilian Office of Police Accountability.

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