After Laquan McDonald, Chicago Pastors To Boycott Rahm Emanuel's Martin Luther King Breakfast

Still feeling heat from how he handled the release of a video showing the police killing of Laquan McDonald, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is facing additional pressure from a group of religious leaders who plan to boycott his annual Martin Luther King breakfast Friday, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. One leader said Wednesday he is convinced that Emanuel covered up the shooting of the teenage McDonald, who was black, by a white police officer, Jason Van Dyke.

“We do not want bacon and eggs; we want justice; we want resources, we want accountability and we want inclusion,” Bishop James Dukes said, according to WBBM-TV in Chicago.

The group of African-American pastors are scheduled to stand outside the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place hotel during Friday’s breakfast and lock arms, blocking people from entering. The group asked other religious leaders and elected officials Wednesday to join them in the boycott.

‘If Dr. King was alive, he would not be welcome, nor would he attend,” Pastor Ira Acree said Wednesday, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. “Considering the conspiracy, considering the concealment of evidence, considering the cover-up and toxicity of the corruption of this mayor’s administration, it would be a shame for us as ministers to be there and provide for Mayor Emanuel the political cover that he would desire.”

McDonald was killed in October 2014, and a dash-cam video of the incident wasn’t released until more than a year later. Van Dyke has been charged for McDonald’s death, but that hasn’t stopped a loud chorus of people demanding that Emanuel go, USA Today reported.

Thousands took to the streets of Chicago in protest of Emanuel in early December, calling for him to step down, the Week reported. Emanuel has called for an overhaul of the city’s police practices in reaction to the shooting.