Relatives and campaigners stage rally outside Chicago police department HQ to demand federal inquiry into the deaths of their loved ones

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

The families of young people killed by Chicago police officers have staged a demonstration in front of the department’s headquarters to demand a federal investigation into their deaths.

During Wednesday night’s rally relatives of the victims recounted the circumstances of their deaths and the families’ ongoing quest for answers – and for justice.

Danielle V (@daneyvilla) Mother of 15 yr old #DakotaBright describes his murder by #Chicago PD & its false reporting. #RekiaBoyd pic.twitter.com/jGl7fxYYRP

Jason Ware, a campaigner with We Charge Genocide in Chicago, said their deaths were the result of systemic racial profiling of black and minority youth by US police officers. The national debate about this issue reached fever pitch in Ferguson, Missouri, after the police killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown, but Ware said the issue was also explosive in Chicago.

“The Chicago police department has a disregard for black life and officers have impunity for the crimes they commit against black residents,” he said in an email after the rally.

Demonstrators gathered outside the Chicago Public Safety headquarters, which houses the city’s police and fire departments. The website for the rally said the location was chosen because the public feels “anything but safe in the hands of police”. Speaking to local news TV cameras, they read a list of demands.

Among them, demonstrators asked the Cook County state’s attorney, Anita Alvarez, to investigate the department’s “disproportionate use of deadly force” against residents in predominantly black neighborhoods of Chicago.

“We need more transparency from our local police department,” said William Calloway, one of the organizers. “The police department needs to be more accountable to the community.”

Calloway said he believed the tensions between black communities and the police were particularly high at the moment – especially in Chicago.

“There are certain black neighborhoods in Chicago that are targeted by police,” he said. “And there’s a lot of frustration starting to boil inside of these neighborhoods because we are not receiving justice for the wrongdoings of the police force.”

The department has said it’s working to improve relations between police and minority communities.

OC Press (@OCPress) Press Release: Wed 11/5, Families of Those Killed by Chicago Police Demand Accountability http://t.co/ckA2rDV79L pic.twitter.com/yy3u9M7J2U

The event was staged on 5 November to commemorate the birthday of Rekia Boyd, who was killed in 2012 by an off-duty police officer while hanging out with a group of friends in local park. The officer, Dante Servin, said he intended to shoot at a man who was pointing a gun at him. The gun was, in fact, a cell phone. The bullet struck Boyd in the head. The man with the cell phone was also shot in the hand, but survived. The gun Servin used was unregistered.

Servin was charged with involuntary manslaughter – the first time in more than 15 years a Chicago police officer was criminally charged, the Chicago Tribune reported at the time. Demonstrators also called for Servin be charged with second-degree murder. His trial is due to begin in December. Boyd would have turned 25 on Wednesday.