Protesters March Following Release of Fatal Police Shooting Video

Demonstrators marched to 14th Ward Alderman Ed Burke's office to protest his proposed "Blue Lives Matter" ordinance

Activists and protesters took to the streets Saturday, following the release of graphic video in the fatal police shooting of a Chicago teenager. 

Demonstrators gathered at Marquette Road and Western Ave on Chicago's South Side on Saturday afternoon before marching to 14th Ward Alderman Ed Burke's office in Gage Park. 

"The time is now to keep marching for justice," a Facebook event for the protest said. "On the 50th Anniversary of the Chicago Freedom Movement march that started in Marquette Park, people from all communities in Chicago and with diverse calls for justice will be converging to demand justice for the victims of racist police terror and to stop the racist Blue Lives Matter ordinance proposed by alderman Edward Burke."

Burke introduced an ordinance in City Council in June that would expand Chicago’s hate crimes law to protect current and former police officers, firefighters and emergency medical crews.

Protesters also prevented Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson from speaking Friday outside CPD headquarters. These protests came in the wake of the fatal police shooting of 18-year-old Paul O'Neal

Video being described as "horrific" and "graphic" was released Friday in connection with the shooting. The videos do not show the gunfire that killed O'Neal, but show the events leading up to and after the shooting, including officers firing at a moving car and O'Neal bleeding on the ground.

"It's disturbing and it's violent and it's scary," said O'Neal family attorney Michael Oppenheimer, who called the shooting an "execution." "Again, I’m asking for a special prosecutor — I’m not the prosecutor now. What I saw was pretty cold-blooded. There’s a lot of emotion there, There’s a lot of stuff. There's no question in my mind they ran this kid down and murdered him."

O'Neal, of the 1700 block of E 70th St, was killed around 9 p.m. July 28 in the city's South Shore neighborhood. Officers saw a Jaguar S-Type convertible that had been reported stolen from Bolingbrook, according to police. Police said they "attempted to curb" the car near 74th Street and Merrill Avenue when the Jaguar sideswiped the police vehicle and another nearby parked car.

In the footage, a Jaguar is seen scraping a squad car and another vehicle as an officer opens fire on it. At one point, someone is seen running from the vehicle and officers follow on foot. The suspect then disappears from view and gunshots are heard.

Autopsy results show O'Neal died of a gunshot wound to the back.

Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said the dashcam and body camera videos suggested departmental policy was violated in the shooting. Three officers have since been "relieved of police powers."

Protesters Friday accused Johnson of being Mayor Rahm Emanuel's "puppet."

"Today is the last day," a protester shouted. "No more Paul O'Neal, no more Laquan McDonald, no more Sandra Bland, no more Rekia Boyd. We want more than these officers getting desk duty."

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