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NAACP President Arrested During Chicago Protest

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NAACP President and CEO Cornell William Brooks was arrested Monday in Chicago while protesting in reaction to footage of the shooting death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.

Brooks told USA Today that he and nine others were given citations and released after being arrested. Video of the arrest was later posted on Facebook.

The group, including seminary students from the University of Chicago and the McCormick Theological Seminary and NAACP Youth and College Division President Stephen Green, were taking part in a planned protest where they carried caskets around the Cook County Courthouse representing the death of McDonald.

“We were warned if we declined to move we would be arrested,” Brooks said. “We were arrested and put in a paddy wagon.”

Brooks and the others were protesting to express outrage at a “culture of policing” after the release of footage of McDonald’s death at the hands of Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke, who was charged with murder and released on a $150,000 bond on Monday.

Read More: Chicago Mayor Forms Police Task Force Following Laquan McDonald Shooting

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