Chicago marchers protest race issues, demand Mayor Rahm Emanuel resign

Several hundred protesters against police killings of black men marched on Thursday along Chicago's Michigan Avenue, calling for Mayor Rahm Emanuel to step down and aiming to disrupt Christmas Eve shopping in a glittering, upscale commercial area.

The march, which began at midday, was peaceful and police blocked traffic for the demonstration as protesters stopped and lay down in the street every block or so.

Shoppers and passersby took the protest in strideand stopped to take photos.

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Demonstrators chanted, "Sixteen shots and a coverup," protesting the yearlong delay in bringing murder charges against police officer Jason Van Dyke, who shot and killed Laquan McDonald in October 2014 as the black teenager walked away from police, according to footage of the incident.

"Rahm is arrogant enough to not resign, so we're going to continue to put pressure on the business community and allow them to force him to resign," said protester Brother Hall, 64, of the Chicago neighbourhood of Bronzeville.

Police killings, especially of black people, have sparked protests in some American cities over the last year and a half. Black Lives Matter, a loosely organized movement involved in many protests over race and policing issues, is calling holiday demonstrations "Black Christmas."

On Wednesday, Black Lives Matter demonstrators blocked roadways to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and blocked southbound traffic on the 101 freeway near the San Francisco International Airport. Some protesters were arrested.

Chicago has seen a steady stream of protests since late November, when the city released the video of Van Dyke, who is white, shooting McDonald, 17.

Van Dyke, 37, has been charged with murder and is out on bail pending formal arraignment Dec. 29.

Police frequently use lethal force in Chicago, killing an average of 17 people a year over the past seven years. More than 70 per cent of people shot by police in Chicago from 2007 to 2014 were black.

The city's population is about one-third African-American. Van Dyke is the first officer charged with a crime in an on-duty death in 30 years.

Emanuel, on holiday in Cuba, has said he will not step down, but he did bow to protesters and fired police Chief Garry McCarthy and agreed to a review of police practices by the U.S. Department of Justice.