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Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel tried to explain his handling of the police shooting of a black teenager in 2014, which occurred on the same day seven years ago when he appeared before a Senate committee on Wednesday .
Chicago police shoot and kill 17-year-old boy Laquen McDonald’s, They said he refused to put down the knife. But this turned out to be a cover story, and critics claimed that Emanuel had supported the novel until he won re-election a few months later.
On the anniversary of McDonald’s death, Emanuel – nominated as the US ambassador to Japan – had to be held responsible for his handling of the McDonald’s murder and the failed police reform efforts during his tenure as mayor.
Faced with the Republican Party’s delaying tactics, President Joe Biden has been working hard to get the Senate to approve nominees for key diplomatic positions. The Senate will see ambassador to Japan and candidates for other important positions this week.
Emanuel’s confirmation may depend on his description of the McDonald’s case.Be a policeman Driving recorder video He was released 13 months after the murder, which shows that McDonald’s was shot 16 times in the back when he left the police.Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke (Jason Van Dyke) is Convicted of murder And controversy about what Emanuel, who was the mayor at the time, knew, swept the city.
“Seven years ago, there has been a huge tragedy on the streets of Chicago. This tragedy is with me, just like every day and every week in the past seven years,” Emanuel told the Senate on Diplomatic Relations on Wednesday. Committee.
But “no one hinted or concluded that anyone in my office, or I did any wrongdoing myself,” Emanuel said, citing a letter of support from the church leader and McDonald’s relative Pastor Marvin Hunt.
The former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who was nominated as the U.S. ambassador to Japan, stated that he had “no wrongdoing” in response to the death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. Was shot 16 times when he left the police in 2014 [File: Kiichiro Sato/AP Photo]Emanuel was former President Barack Obama’s chief of staff before running for Chicago’s mayor. He repeatedly claimed that he did not know the actual details of the McDonald’s shooting until the police video was released publicly.
At that time, someone asked Emanuel to resign, accusing him of condoning the initial Police cover up To protect his re-election prospects. According to e-mails issued by his staff under the Freedom of Information Act, the mayor’s office and the police are closely coordinating.
Emanuel created a “Police Accountability Task Force” and introduced reforms including demotion training and the use of non-lethal force. But the shootings by the Chicago police continued, and Emanuel admitted on Wednesday that his efforts were basically ineffective.
According to the Associated Press, liberal members of the US House of Representatives who have been advocating police reform are urging senators to vote against Emanuel’s nomination.
The progressive Democrat Rep. Mondaire Jones (Mondaire Jones) said on Twitter on Wednesday that Emanuel should not be allowed to evade his responsibility for handling the McDonald’s shooting.
Laquan McDonald’s should be alive today. Instead, on the anniversary of his death, people who helped cover up the murder were considered as ambassadors.
Rahm Emanuel does not represent business in the United States. I urge my colleagues in the Senate to reject his nomination.
— Mondaire Jones (@MondaireJones) October 20, 2021
The Democrats most critical of Emanuel’s nomination were Rep. Alexander Ocasio-Cortez, who called the choice “very shameful,” and the black life activist Corey Bush, who called on the Senate “ Do the right thing and block his nomination”.
The chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and some police reform activists also publicly opposed the nomination of Emanuel.
A few months before the public release of the McDonald’s video, the City of Chicago reached a $5 million settlement with his family. They reviewed the video evidence in accordance with the confidentiality agreement defended by Emanuel.
“I know you said you never watched these videos, but no one told you this is an unusual case. A child was shot 16 times?” Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley asked Emmanuel on Wednesday.
“It seems hard to believe that all these things happened, however, you have never been told the details of the situation,” Merkley said.
On October 19, Kina Collins, who was running for the U.S. House of Representatives, delivered a speech at a rally to protest the nomination of former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel as ambassador to Japan [Paul Beaty/AP Photo]In Chicago, a group of activists called on the Senate on Tuesday to reject Emanuel’s nomination, noting that in addition to the McDonald’s shooting, his tenure as mayor was also due to dozens of public schools and several major minority communities. The closure of mental health clinics was overshadowed. According to the Associated Press, the city is facing budget constraints.
But most Democrats on the Senate committee seemed willing to allow Emanuel to review the Chicago police shooting.
Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, who was the mayor of Richmond, said: “You can’t be the mayor, especially the mayor of a city like Chicago. To some scar tissue.” Virginia.
President Biden’s political ally, Kane, praised Emanuel for “serving in an admirable manner.”
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki rebutted the criticism of Emanuel’s nomination and told reporters on October 19 that Biden’s “commitment to police reform is self-evident”.
“At the same time, he selected and nominated a series of ambassadors to serve the United States overseas because of their qualifications, whether for business, public service, or other reasons that make them eligible for these positions,” Psaki said.
According to the American Foreign Service Association, so far, only two of Biden’s 69 nominees for the ambassadorial post—Linda Thomas Greenfield of the United Nations and Ken Salazar of Mexico—have been approved by the Senate. confirm.
In contrast, according to data from the Presidential Transition Center, former President Donald Trump was confirmed by 24 ambassadors during his presidency, and Barack Obama had 59 ambassadors.
Republican Senator Bill Hagerty, who served as former President Donald Trump’s ambassador to Tokyo, pledged Emanuel at a committee hearing on Wednesday and said he would vote for Emanuel to be confirmed as an ambassador.
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