Cornell William Brooks, the president and chief executive of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), was briefly arrested Monday while protesting the police killing of 17-year-old Laquan Mcdonald.
Brooks was arrested along with several others during a protest outside Chicago’s City Hall, according to a message Brooks posted on his Twitter account, saying he was inside a police paddy wagon. He also posted a photo from inside the van, but details about the circumstances of the arrest were not immediately available.
The NAACP said Brooks and the others were released by police a short time later.
“Inspired by the commitment of our Chicago branches of the NAACP. Real dedication amidst a real crisis,” Brooks said in a tweet after his release. Brooks and a number of seminarians were at an NAACP protest that started outside Chicago’s City Hall at 12 p.m. CT on Monday to protest for police oversight and justice for McDonald.
Laquan Mcdonald, 17, was killed on the night of October 20, 2014, when he was shot 16 times by Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke, who was charged last week with first-degree murder. The release of a dash-cam police video last week sparked major protests amid allegations that city and police officials tried to cover-up the case.
(Copyright 2015 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)