Chicago Police Superintendent Resigns per Mayor’s Request

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has asked the police superintendent Gary McCarthy to resign from his post. The announcement was made after tensions have continued to increase over the fatal police shooting of a black teenager in the city.

During the press conference, the major unveiled a new task force that would monitor the law enforcement and its training program as well as assess the enforcement's accountability. The task force would also be required to consider the input provided by several different sources, ranging from the victim's representative and religious leaders.

The protests in Chicago are centered on the death of Laquan McDonald, 17, in October of last year. The rallies heated up after the video clip of McDonald's death surfaced last week. The clips revealed that as he was walking away from Officer Jason Van Dyke, Van Dyke opened fire and shot him 16 times. McDonald was carrying a four-inch knife.

The protesters have been shouting, "Stop the cover-up! 16 shots! 16 shots!"

For the majority of last year, Emanuel and the lawyers actively tried to prevent the release of a clip of the shooting, which was recorded by a police dashboard camera. They had argued that releasing the clip could hurt the investigation into the shooting.

Although the majority of the protests have not gotten violent, the tensions almost led to another tragedy. A 21-year-old man named Jabari Dean threatened to shoot white men and policemen as revenge.

Dean, who has been arrested and charged, had written on social media per CNN, "This is my only warning. At 10 a.m. on Monday mourning (sic) I am going to the campus quad of the University of Chicago. I will be armed with a M-4 Carbine and 2 Desert Eagles all fully loaded. I will execute aproximately (sic) 16 white male students and or staff, which is the same number of time (sic) Mcdonald (sic) was killed. I then will die killing any number of white policemen that I can in the process. This is not a joke. I am to do my part to rid the world of the white devils. I expect you to do the same."

The University of Chicago had canceled all classes and activities Monday after receiving this threat, which was uncovered by the FBI.

Van Dyke has been charged with first-degree murder and was suspended. Prior to the shooting, Van Dyke has had several complaints regarding excessive force. In one complaint, the person stated that Van Dyke had used a racial slur.