Vic Mensa hit the streets of Chicago on Tuesday night (Nov. 24) with fellow protesters following the release of the video earlier that day, which shows police officer Jason Van Dyke shooting and killing 17 year-old Laquan Mcdonald in October 2014. He was shot a total of 16 times, and Van Dyke was charged yesterday with first-degree murder, and is being held without bond.
But like many others who have had to withstand the spree of violence that has flooded their cities, those in Chicago are furious. Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy commented that residents “have a right to be angry.” Mensa was recently featured in a video during the protests where he expressed how he felt, and what he had just gone through: “We out in downtown Chicago right now. I just got hands put on me by police. We want justice for Laquan and we want justice for our people,” he said.
Vic Mensa showed up in Chicago to protest the death of LaQuan McDonald who died at the hand of police pic.twitter.com/pRBp3npSZl
— DJ Akademiks (@IamAkademiks) November 25, 2015
hands put on me by police was inaccurate. fighting police.
— one love (@VicMensa) November 25, 2015
In an interview with VIBE earlier this year, Vic Mensa expressed his sentiments about the increasingly apparent police brutality issue in America.
“Now that everything is being publicized, you can’t sit around and just watch it happen,” he said. “And you can’t just expect somebody to do that, when you’re not even f**king in it. When you’ve never experienced the sh*t that we go through with police officers. Don’t tell us how to feel. Don’t tell us how the f**k to react. Don’t tell us what the f**k you think, ‘cause it’s not you.”
Another video from CBS surfaced of the incident, which shows the incident Mensa was referring to. Other rappers have also shown their support for the unfortunate events. Like Chicago’s own Chance The Rapper and Twista who both took to Twitter:
Be strong Chicago
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) November 25, 2015
I’ll be back in 2 days.
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) November 25, 2015
The world is watchin us,let’s show the world that we can protest in peace #LaquanMcDonald
— Twista Livin Legend (@TWISTAgmg) November 25, 2015
We want real #justice #laquan https://t.co/yK9AejHV5V
— Twista Livin Legend (@TWISTAgmg) November 25, 2015
We’re glad to see justice is being service, but we hope there comes a time when protests aren’t necessary because there is no violence.Take a look at the video from CBS below.
Protesters clash with police in ChicagoWATCH: Some “angry” protesters clash with police in Chicago video of #LaquanMcDonald’s shooting released http://cbsn.ws/1Or0jwi
Posted by CBS News on Tuesday, November 24, 2015