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Americans protest police killing of unarmed black man in Chicago

Saturday, 06 August 2016 5:54 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 06 August 2016 5:54 PM ]

Protesters lie on the ground in front of the Chicago Police Department to protest against police brutality on August 5, 2016.

Demonstrators have taken to the streets in the US city of Chicago to protest against the last week shooting death of an unarmed African-American teenager by police.

The protesters gathered in front of Chicago Police Department headquarters in the South Shore neighborhood at Friday night. They lied on the ground, chanting slogans like; “hands up, don’t shoot” and “how many Pauls are you going to kill today?”

“They’re killing down our kids, they’re killing down our brothers, our fathers, our mothers, they’re killing us,” said protester Desirea Barnes.

The demonstration was provoked by the released of a video on Friday, in which police officers are seen firing at least 15 shots at a car.

The footage captured from police body and dashboard cameras, later shows 18-year-old Paul O'Neal with his hands behind his back, was being hold by two officers.

While the back of his shirt was covered in blood, an officer was holding his foot on O'Neal's leg and the other was holding down the wounded man's head.

rotesters gathered in front of Chicago Police Department headquarters in the South Shore neighborhood on July 5, 2016. (Photo by Chicago Tribune)

The shooting that killed O'Neal, however, is not seen in the footage, because the officer's body camera didn't record the moment.

O'Neal family attorney Michael Oppenheimer described the shooting as a cold-blooded execution.

Police said the officer who shot O'Neal in the back violated policy and they will be held responsible. It also confirmed that the victim was not armed.

A growing outrage over the death of unarmed African-Americans at the hands of mostly white police officers have led to nationwide protests that have given birth to the anti-racism Black Lives Matter movement across the country.

Police in the United States killed over 1,150 people in 2015, with the largest police departments disproportionately killing at least 321 African Americans, according to data compiled by an activist group that runs the Mapping Police Violence project.

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