Chicago police chief fired amid tension over Laquan McDonald shooting

Chicago: Chicago’s police chief Garry McCarthy was fired, a week after tensions flared up over the release of a video showing shooting of a black teenager by a white police officer. [caption id=“attachment_2524748” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Police and protesters in Chicago. AP[/caption] Superintendent McCarthy had become a distraction, and he was fired Tuesday morning, Xinhua quoted Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel as saying. The mayor also said he created a task force and appointed “five respected Chicagoans” to review police training and practices. The announcement came a week after police officer Jason Van Dyke was charged with murdering 17-year-old Laquan McDonald . Tensions heightened after the video showed Van Dyke shooting McDonald 16 times after the teenager walked away from him. On Friday, more than 1,000 protesters took to Chicago’s most bustling shopping street, disrupting business on US’ busiest shopping day of the year, to protest the shooting and the city’s handling of the case. Protesters called for the resignation of the police superintendent and a top prosecutor over the case which took the prosecutor 13 months to announce charges. The Chicago mayor said he was responsible for what happened in the case, the same as the police superintendent. “I’m responsible. I don’t shirk that responsibility,” Emanuel said. “This is not the end of a problem, this is the beginning of a solution.” The creation of the task force was aimed to rebuild trust in the police department of one of the largest cities of the US, he added. Officer Van Dyke was released from jail on Monday after posting bond on a $1.5 million bail. IANS