Protesters take fury at Dexter Reed shooting to Chicago police board meeting

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Demonstrators furious over the deadly shooting of Dexter Reed by a Chicago police officer took their anger directly to the police board Thursday.

Protest chants resonated inside CPD headquarters.

"He could have been apprehended, but instead tactical units fired 96 shots," said speaker Miracle Boyd.

In the March 21 traffic stop, a team of five plain clothes tactical officers pulled Reed over, alleging a seatbelt violation. Police and the Civilian Office of Police Accountability said Reed appeared to fire first.

READ MORE: Chicago police officers fired about 96 times over 41 seconds, killing Dexter Reed

Bodycam video is riddled with the sound of 96 rapidly fired gunshots in the span of 41 seconds.

An officer was shot in the hand but survived, and Reed collapsed and later died.

Now under investigation by COPA, its chief administrator took the step of asking CPD to strip the four officers who fired shots of their police powers because of questions about the traffic stop.

READ MORE: COPA chief administrator speaks on Dexter Reed Chicago police shooting investigation

In a memo obtained by the I-Team, COPA questioned how the officers could have seen Reed without a seatbelt through opaque dark-tinted windows.

Asked if officers should have been interviewed before COPA released information on the incident, COPA Chief Administrator Andrea Kersten said no, and that such a question "fundamentally misunderstands" the agency.

"An officer does not have Fifth Amendment rights to remain silent," she said.

That didn't sit well with CPD Superintendent Larry Snelling.

"we're starting by putting in out in the public in a matter in which we frame it and we expect the public to see if the way we want to them to see it, it's problematic," He said. "This is why I have made no statements about this shooting. I don't want to poison the well."

As officers remain on the standard procedural administrative leave during the investigation, the crowd at Thursday's meeting demanded swift, permanent punishment.