Emanuel: Chicago Needs To ‘Root Out The Cancer’ Of Police Abuse
Creative Commons/Arvell Dorsey Jr.
A day after the release of a video of a shooting of a black Chicago teenager by a white police officer, the city released documents related to the 2013 incident indicating the teen's last words were, "I give up. I'm shot.''
A bullet struck 17-year-old Cedric Chatman in the side, pierced his heart and lodged in his spine. He died as he was being taken to a hospital. Chatman's last words were told by Office Lou Toth to investigators at the scene.
Meanwhile, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel addressed the city's ongoing police shooting scandal at an annual breakfast honoring Martin Luther King Jr. on Friday.
The Tribune reports that Emanuel told attendees that the city won't reach its potential without restoring trust between police and communities. He says the city has to "root out the cancer'' of police abuse as it deals with deadly violence on Chicago streets, noting the impact on black men in particular.
Emanuel and his administration have faced sharp criticism since the city released a police video in November showing a white police officer shooting a black teenager 16 times in 2014. The officer faces murder charges in the case.
Protesters tried to block the entrance of the breakfast and some disrupted the event. Several prominent city pastors also boycotted the annual event.