A Chicago police officer who fatally shot a black 17-year-old named Laquan McDonald 16 times during a nighttime stop in October 2014 will be charged with first-degree murder on Tuesday, November 23, reports the Chicago Tribune. Calloway and activists aligned with him also would like to see a suspension of pay for officers under investigation for fatal shootings-Van Dyke was put on desk-duty following McDonald’s death, a typical department move for other cops who have fatally shot civilians. The original story from the police department was that he was coming for the officer, but those that have seen the video say that that premise doesn’t hold up.
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McDonald’s family has already received a $5million civil settlement from Chicago over the incident.
For 13 months, Emanuel and the city’s attorneys had opposed the release of the video amid ongoing criminal investigations into Van Dyke.
The latest on the shooting of a black teenager by a white Chicago police officer.
A lawsuit brought earlier this year by independent journalist and activist Brandon Smith accused the Police Department of violating the state’s Freedom of Information Act by refusing to release the video and other documents related to McDonald’s shooting.
Ministers who huddled with Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Monday at City Hall said they hope the charges against Van Dyke will defuse the tension ahead of the video’s release, but they weren’t making any guarantees.
Jeffrey Neslund, a lawyer for McDonald’s mother, Tina Hunter, said she was not part of the battle to release the video.
“Chicago is on the tipping point”, the Rev. Roosevelt Watkins, a local pastor and activist, said during a demonstration held Saturday by members of African-American fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha.
McDonald’s autopsy found he was shot once on each side of his chest and suffered single bullet wounds to the scalp and neck, two to his back, seven in his arms, one to his right hand and two to his right leg. According to the report, nine of the 16 entrance wounds had a downward or slightly downward trajectory.
“Police officers are entrusted to uphold the law, and to provide safety to our residents”, the mayor’s office said in a statement. A spokeswoman for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
Rev. Ira Acree said many people in his community “feel betrayed”.
City leaders have called on the mayor to keep the peace out of fear that the release of the controversial footage could spark risky riots.
DeadlY: The veteran officer – who has been on paid desk duty since the shooting in the city’s Archer Heights neighborhood – is set to to face a first-degree murder charge today, it is reported.
If Van Dyke can not bond out, he will be jailed.
“We cannot ask the Community to trust the Police, if the police do not Police themselves”, Pflegar said in a message he posted on social media Tuesday morning. “I anticipate there will be protests”, he said, “and people should be able to express their outrage, to lawfully protest what happened here”.
“People have a right and should exercise their First Amendment rights”, Mayor Emanuel told reporters, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. “This video is about to be seen by millions of people”. Chicago’s corporation counsel, Stephen Patton, said the dashboard-camera footage had prompted the city’s decision to settle.
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Van Dyke doesn’t think he did anything wrong, though that doesn’t mean he’s not anxious.
