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POLITICO Illinois Playbook: Students heckle EMANUEL with ‘16 shots’ chant

A normally friendly forum for Mayor Rahm Emanuel turned hostile Wednesday when student protesters chanting “16 shots” interrupted a ceremony called to jump-start a “citywide strategy” aimed at providing expanded opportunities for “every child and young man of color” in Chicago.

Emanuel announced creation of a “My Brother’s Keeper Cabinet” at Urban Prep Academies, 6201 S. Stewart. It’s a charter school that boasts of sending 100 percent of its African-American male graduates to college.

That’s a point of pride with Emanuel, who regularly attends Urban Prep’s “tie ceremony” celebrating the accomplishment and gets a warm reception.

But these are not normal times for the mayor.

He’s fending off demands for his resignation and fighting to restore public trust damaged by his decision to keep the Laquan McDonald shooting video under wraps for more than a year and wait until a week after the April 7 mayoral runoff to settle the case for $5 million, before the McDonald family had even filed a lawsuit.

* Tribune…

Emanuel greeted by ‘16 shots’ chant about Laquan McDonald at Urban Prep event

Mayor Rahm Emanuel re-emerged publicly Wednesday, and the reception he got illustrates the challenge he faces governing the city day to day while responding to the still-developing fallout from the Laquan McDonald shooting and how his administration handled it.

The mayor spoke at what’s normally a friendly venue for him, the Urban Prep campus in Englewood, a school he often cites as a success story for its high percentage of students who attend college. But after Emanuel made brief remarks, the principal prepared to lead the crowd reciting the school’s creed when students instead started a chant of “16 shots!”

* Mike Flannery…

The students waited politely until he departed, but then Urban Prep students expressed their continuing anger about the McDonald case and the issues it highlights.

“16 Shots! 16 Shots!” they chanted.

Emphasis added.

The city’s media has turned almost completely hostile to the mayor.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 7:36 am

Comments

Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy…

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 8:02 am
Rich, another WFLD story has the chant breaking out while Rahm was there.
http://www.fox32chicago.com/news/local/57859795-story

The Flannery report is the only report I have seen saying the Mayor was gone when the chant broke out.

Anyway, there is no reason for reporters to continue to tank for Rahm (there never was to begin with but that didn’t stop the stenography), especially now that after doing his emotional speech promising openness, he still has the city battling to seal other documents and videos. Not to mention the radio silence about his schedule.

Comment by Precinct Captain Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 8:03 am
Flannery might have got that wrong. Pretty sure I saw footage on WGN this morning of some of the chants while the Mayor was still at the event.

Comment by Conn Smythe Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 8:04 am
The time to be “hostile” was in your dogged pursuit of the FOIA lawsuit.

Being this inaccurate in your after-the-fact reporting is like making up for not running out a grounder by getting an unsportsmanlike penalty in the backcourt; an analogy as accurate as the reporting here.

Comment by LizPhairTax Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 8:07 am
===another WFLD story has the chant breaking out while Rahm was there.===

That’s just a little brief. Flannery was there.

=== Pretty sure I saw footage on WGN this morning of some of the chants while the Mayor was still at the event. ===

I watched the video. Nothing I saw had Emanuel there.

===The Flannery report is the only report I have seen saying the Mayor was gone when the chant broke out. ===

Read the stories more carefully. You’re seeing what you want to see.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 8:18 am
Rich,
I mentioned it in yesterday’s comments, but it bears repeating…..interesting that Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are no where to be found in this protest.

Word is that the younger crowd have quietly shoved them aside.

Comment by Downstate Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 8:29 am
===interesting that Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are no where to be found in this protest. ===

Jesse has been at protests. He wasn’t at the school because, well, why would he be?

And who cares about Sharpton? He’s from New York.

But, yes, there is a much younger element to the protests these days. That’s a good thing. Jackson isn’t going to live forever.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 8:32 am
Pretty disgusting/disturbing when you can’t even get a true ‘reporting’ without spin from so-called ‘journalism’ sources. Is it all fox news now?

Comment by sal-says Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 8:46 am
=== Is it all fox news now? ===

Um, Flannery works for Fox Chicago.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 8:48 am
What Liz said.

Replacing boot-licking with hostility still ain’t journalism.

Big Chicago media should direct their anger at themselves for failing to do their jobs for more than a year on the McDonald case.

Not a bit of independent reporting, just spoon-feeding by the Emanuel administration, when it chose to feed them.

–Word is that the younger crowd have quietly shoved them aside.–

That statement is just an goofy and pointless today as it was yesterday. Jackson marched down the middle of The Magnificient Mile on Thanksgiving weekend. Where is that “word” coming from and how are they “quietly shoved aside?”

What point are you trying to make, anyway?

Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 9:10 am
Also, just pointing out some laziness -

the phrase “normally friendly” is used by the both the Trib and the Sun-Times

Comment by Square Pegs Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 9:12 am
Word,
“Where is that “word” coming from?”

Long time former employee from state’s attorney office.

Comment by Downstate Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 9:14 am
I think it took a lot of courage to do what they did and if it didn’t get all that media attention there would be some long suspensions coming. If they had done it when Rahm was there, we’d probably be talking expulsions.

Comment by Carhartt Representative Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 9:18 am
Carhartt Representative is right. The farther we get from high school the easier it is to forget what that authority structure is like. Even doing it after the mayor left took courage.

Also, shame on the mayor for using those kids as a backdrop and shame on the school for letting it happen.

I will use you young men as set dressing for my mea culpa tour, but I will also do whatever I can cover it up if any of you are murdered by police.

Good for the kids who called him on his BS.

Comment by LizPhairTax Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 9:33 am
What a bogus and deliberate misrepresentation by some of the media.

This story is bad enough for Emanuel as it is. No need to manipulate the details.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 9:45 am
Rahm also had some help from the aldermen, Cook County, etc. in allowing this culture of policing to rot under their supervision.

Shame on all of them.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 9:50 am
Don’t worry, the media will be back with Rahm soon enough. Right now they are over-sensationalizing the ‘Rahm resign’ story, but soon (probably when tomorrow’s anti-Rahm rally isn’t as big as the last) they will talk about how the ‘movement’ for him to resign has petered out. Then they’ll eat up his stories about how he’s rehabilitated his image.

A story like ‘people hate Rahm, but realize they are stuck with him for 3 years’ is beyond the Chicago media.

Also, kudo’s to Carhartt, Liz and others who recognized what an act of courage the Urban Prep kids took. They’re at an elite school in a city that has stripped librarians from all but two African American public schools. Losing their place at Urban Prep would be literally life-altering. Good on them for speaking up in whatever form.

Comment by Century Club Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:03 am
I see the courage, but where is the threat of being suspended? They protested for 10 seconds in an appropriate way.

Comment by Timmeh Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:14 am
“Rahm also had some help from the aldermen, Cook County, etc. in allowing this culture of policing to rot under their supervision.”

Uh, I think they all had help from the previous 20 or so mayors, and 100+ years of alder critters. This isn’t a new problem.

Comment by Chris Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:19 am
“where is the threat of being suspended?”

Overhanging the boys at Urban Prep, *every* day. They get that 100% college matriculation in part by “counseling out” kids who they think won’t make it.

Comment by Chris Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:22 am
“stripped librarians from all but two African American public schools.”

Which two? And what constitutes an “AfAm public school”?

Comment by Chris Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:23 am
How come no one asks Emanuel how his General Counsel and Chief of Staff knew about the shooting on Jan. 20, 2015 and no one bothered to tell him? Rahm states he read about it in the newspaper. (From Carol Marin.)

Comment by James the Intolerant Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:24 am
=Overhanging the boys at Urban Prep, *every* day. They get that 100% college matriculation in part by “counseling out” kids who they think won’t make it.=

They supsend and suspend heavy and council out even heavier.

Comment by Carhartt Representative Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:27 am
===had help from the previous 20 or so mayors, and 100+ years of alder critters===

+1

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:31 am
And why does that apply to this situation?

Comment by Timmeh Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:31 am
=Also, kudo’s to Carhartt, Liz and others who recognized what an act of courage the Urban Prep kids took. They’re at an elite school in a city that has stripped librarians from all but two African American public schools. Losing their place at Urban Prep would be literally life-altering. Good on them for speaking up in whatever form.=

This is the state of librarians in CPS from what appears to be a CPS parent’s blog.

http://www.chicagonow.com/chicago-public-fools/2015/12/who-lays-off-librarians-cps-thats-who/

Comment by Carhartt Representative Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:33 am
The shallowness of big Chicago media continues.

After ignoring the McDonald case for more than a year, once the tape was released, the media focus immediately shifted to “what does this mean for Rahm.?

That’s journalism on the Kardashian model. Who cares what it means to Emanuel? He’s just another guy. If he weren’t mayor, someone else would be.

The media rolled from one cult of personality with Daley to another with Emanuel.

The focus should be “what does it mean to the citizens who have been abused by the cowboys in CPD and the code of silence?”

Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:34 am
LizPhairTax strikes with a twisted analogy. Had to get a coffee refill.

Comment by walker Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:38 am
“Uh, I think they all had help from the previous 20 or so mayors, and 100+ years of alder critters. This isn’t a new problem.”

You get it. Point is, this is not just a “Rahm” or “Anita” problem. And the media, activists and commenters focusing on just him or just her are letting the other “co-conspirators” off the hook.

Replace Rahm and Anita tomorrow, and you will still have many of the same officials in place who allowed this to progressively worsen.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:44 am
“yes, there is a much younger element to the protests these days. That’s a good thing. Jackson isn’t going to live forever.”

Mike Fourcher of Aldertrack joined Ken Davis on Chicago Newsroom to intelligently discuss, among many other things, the youth movement leading Chicago’s street protests and various calls for reform. https://youtu.be/U4U2pOBVK4U?t=11m

(If you’re super-impatient, they start discussing Jesse Jackson’s microphone at 14:20)

If you’re at all interested in the issue, it’s well worth your time.

– MrJM

Comment by @MisterJayEm Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:54 am
==- Rich Miller - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 8:18 am:==

The way the Trib report reads, Emanuel was still there when it broke out. That’s what I was going off since it doesn’t expressly say Emanael left before the chanting started. Watching the WGN video though, it is now clear. What these reports do not mention, but which I saw some reporters tweeting about yesterday is how small the group of students chanting actually was.

Comment by Precinct Captain Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:54 am
Why are you shocked that the same press which just mindlessly accepted Rahm and Daley’s statements for years without doing the slightest bit of checking into the details or veracity would bother to check the details on this story?

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 11:53 am
“yes, there is a much younger element to the protests these days. That’s a good thing. Jackson isn’t going to live forever.”

Jackson may not feel the same. Sun-Times coverage of the Black Friday protests
“Crowds counted each bullet that struck McDonald. But as they began to pray and speak, several young men with bullhorns approached from all sides, overpowering their sound with chants of “Indict Rahm.”

“This is about indicting Mayor Rahm Emanuel,” one called. The ministers countered, “Let us pray, let us pray.”

“We’re not here to pray,” a voice repeated over a megaphone.

They pulled Jackson’s microphone and stormed the stairs. Someone yanked the cord to the speakers, knocking out Jackson’s audio.

“Indict Rahm!” the protesters shouted as a brief shoving match ensued.

Those who interrupted Jackson, included a group shouting “black power!” and carrying red, green and black flags.

Amid cries of “Send Rahm to jail,” Jackson and the other officials quickly dispersed as the masses hijacked Jackson’s presentation, and competed with the shoppers who flocked downtown to advantage of Black Friday sales.”

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 12:01 pm
I was there. Rahm was definitely there. It happened right after he finished his speech. It was about 10 younger guys who chanted for no more than 5 seconds. The other 100 or so young men were listening attentively. The chanters were laughing among each other afterwards. I got the sense it was young man bravado more than true protest. Like maybe they were daring each other to do it. It was definitely not the way it was portrayed in the media.

Comment by Ace Laredo Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 12:39 pm