Writing in the New York Times columnist Charles Blow declaims:
Emanuel may not be able to save himself. Everything about the killing of McDonald over 400 days ago, including the slithering about of Chicago officials in their efforts to suppress video of his murder, stinks to high heaven. There is the $5 million settlement with the family, the timing of that settlement, the strenuous efforts to keep the tape from public view, the long delay in charging the officer who did the shooting.
It all makes one ask: How much is the life of a teenager worth? To what length would officials go to bury visual evidence that he had been shot down in the street like a dog? Are officials so desperately afraid of losing their jobs that they would conceal details about the loss of a boy’s life?
and
Police officers “doing whatever they wanted to do†with no worry about repercussions or accountability? That is the very nature of corruption and abuse of power. The federal government will have no choice but to step in if it cares at all about public confidence in the local officials in America’s third largest city.
I would bet a shiny new dime that Mayor Emanuel will be just fine until and unless the ongoing outcry begins to touch the incumbent president or affect Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign adversely. In which case off the sled he goes!
There is only one institution that can sufficiently sustain that outcry, the national press acting in concert. They can give Obama and Clinton a headache. The Trib or WBBMs of the world have no chance. Local black pastors have no chance. Republican politicians have no chance. Given the national press’ bias, or, best interpretation, benign neglect, put the dime back in your collection case and don’t substitute holding your breath.
I’ll speculate that Emanuel might be more vulnerable if there was a clear successor in the wings. (There isn’t is there?) The issue of removal and succession are completely intertwined and the greater establishment may agree that he has to go, but still prefer him to the alternatives or uncertainty.
Rahm Emanuel is a street fighter. He brings a knife to a gunfight just for fun, and for two presidential administrations, he knows where the bodies are buried. (More than likely, he buried them.)
When the establishment throws him off the sleigh, the sleigh is about to go over the cliff, anyway.
Just to address one part of the claim, is a one year delay in bringing charges really uncommon for these kinds of crimes? It has been over a year and they still haven brought charges, or a decision not to do so, in the Tamir Rice case.
Steve
@steve, I’ve seen the claim that it usually takes two years, but I think it depends on what you mean by “these kinds of crimes.” When my high school friend was shot by city police last year, the grand jury reported a verdict of “suicide by cop” in two months. The State Police automatically took over the investigation, secured the scene, interviewed the wife about his mental state and officers at the scene, and apparently did not have any witnesses because of time and location. No video, nothing unusual.
Rice had a video, which was released four days after the incident. (Too early IMHO — a month would allow time to gather uncorrupted witness statements). There is no sense of cover-up. What it seems like to me is that this is a difficult case to prosecute and they are trying to get every scrap of evidence they can before proceeding. A toy gun poses a more reasonable perception of risk than a knife. Also, one shot versus sixteen shots.
I’d heard toy gun in the Rice case, but recently I saw a report that it was a bb gun, which is a bit more than a toy, if less than a proper firearm. Can anyone here confirm it either way?