say her name. rekia boyd

Rekia Boyd's Bloody Hair Shown to Police as Activists Take Over Meeting

BRONZEVILLE — A Chicago Police Board hearing shut down early after activists took control of the room, chanting and calling for the firing of Chicago Police Officer Dante Servin, who shot and killed an unarmed black woman in 2012.

"What if it was your son or your daughter?" the brother of the slain woman, 22-year-old Rekia Boyd, asked the police board during the 7:30 p.m. hearing at police headquarters, 3510 S. Michigan Ave., Thursday night.

The activists, who represented the Black Youth Project 100, organized the rally to put pressure on police to fire Servin. Activists representing the #BlackLivesMatter and #SayHerName movements, which call for an end to police violence against people of color, especially women of color, were also present at the event.

Servin was off duty when he shot into a group of people standing in an alley near Douglas Park, killing 22-year-old Rekia Boyd, in 2012. Servin said he shot after he saw another person in the alley — later identified as Antonio Cross — pull a gun, but no weapon was recovered, and prosecutors said Cross had a cellphone.