Protesters in Chicago took to the streets on Thursday night after the police body camera footage of Adam Toledo was released to the public from the city’s police oversight agency.
CBS News reports that there have been widespread calls for Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Police Superintendent David Brown to resign after police fatally shot 13-year-old Toledo on March 29 in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood. Activists have denounced the way Lightfoot has dealt with the situation this week, including her “slow response to release information, including the officer’s name,” the news outlet writes.
Prior to the body camera video’s arrival, Lightfoot said the Chicago Police Department needs to rethink its foot pursuit policies. “These videos and these moments are never easy to bear witness to,” she said. “Adam’s death is a forceful reminder that we cannot delay these efforts any longer.”
But Baltazar Enriquez, president of the Little Village Community Council, believes that the city’s police need to be defunded with the money needing to be reinvested in the community.
“The police department has a $1.7 billion budget. They keep taking the money from our kids to give it over to the police department. We’re saying enough is enough,” Enriquez said. “Today, we ask for justice for Adam, justice for all those individuals that are being killed by police officers. It’s a shame that these police officers, instead of protecting us, are killing us. This is how they treat Little Village because we’re Mexican and because we’re Brown.”
He continued, “It is time to defund the police and it’s time to abolish the police. Let’s begin from a fresh start. Let’s begin with our input. Let’s begin with our opinions.”
CBS Chicago reported that protests will resume during the week, with activists devising a plan to meet outside of Lightfoot’s to ensure that their message sticks.
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