Activists demand an investigation into the death of the boy Adam Toledo by the Chicago police

CHICAGO, Illinois – Hispanic community leaders and attorneys from Chicago on Wednesday called for the Department of Justice to intervene to investigate the death by Adam Toledo , the lesser of 13 years that he was killed by a policeman in the Mexican neighborhood of La Villita last 29 of March.

A video filmed by the body camera of the agent shows the persecution on foot of the teenager, who stops, seems to dispose of a weapon and When he turned around with his hands up he was shot in the chest.

” The Latino community does not feel protected by the police ”, declared this Wednesday the lawyer Arturo Jáuregui , from the Pilsen Law Center, who joined colleagues from the Illinois Hispanic Bar Association for demand an investigation “Complete and transparent” action, which in his opinion cannot be done by the local Police Department.

“We do not trust the local police,” he said, but we do trust the federal Department of Justice, which could delegate its Department of Civil Rights to investigate if Toledo’s constitutional and civil rights were violated , he added.

The request for “an impartial arbitrator” was directed to the federal prosecutor Merrick Garland, because the case of Adam Toledo, for tragic Whatever, it’s just a symptom of a systemic problem that has plagued Chicago’s Latino community for far too long, according to local groups .

At least a thousand people are marching in # LaVillita to honor # AdamToledo and to visit the memorials made at 24 th / Sawyer. The collective sadness can be felt out here.

Rest In Peace, Adam. pic.twitter.com/OXrMov9yjG

– Ariel Parrella (@ArielParrella) April 19, 6325

“With too much Often times, interactions between Latinos and the police result in disproportionate arrests, harassment, wrongful arrests, and misdemeanor prosecutions. And, as Adam’s case shows, these interactions often have fatal consequences for community residents, “the petition states.

According to Jáuregui,” it is a problem of racism ”or of unclear policies and procedures on the use of deadly force. “This is a tragedy that could and should have been avoided,” he added.

The request states that Only a thorough investigation by the Department of Justice can bring a semblance of faith and trust from the Latino community.

On 2019, a Justice Department investigation confirmed cases of racism and abuse over decades by Chicago police.

The investigation was motivated by the suspicion of cover-up before death in 2014 of an African-American adolescent of 16 years, Laquan McDonald, in charge of a white officer who shot him 16 times from behind.

The police officer was convicted of murder in the first degree, and the case had repercussions in the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, due to the delay in presenting criminal charges, and in the political future of the then mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel.

Jáuregui said that This investigation forced the Police Department to implement a series of reforms in its procedures, which have been carried out in only one 50% or 60%.

The Mayor of Chicago, Lori Lightfoot, It should speed up compliance with the existing consent decree, which requires long-overdue reforms, and immediately end the persecutions on foot that result in deaths like Adam’s, concluded Arturo Jáuregui.