Alvarez, the state’s attorney, conceded Tuesday that a judge’s mandate to release the video by Wednesday moved up the timing of the announcement about charging Van Dyke with first-degree murder.
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Twenty-two-year-old Malcolm London was among five protesters arrested during demonstrations sparked by a video of a black teenager being fatally shot last year by a white police officer.
The city’s hurried attempts to defuse tensions also included a community meeting, official statements of outrage at the officer’s conduct and an abrupt announcement Monday night that another officer who’s been the subject of protests for months might now be fired.
Police have said the teen had a knife.
They called for an overhaul of the Chicago Police Department, demanded more resources for disenfranchised communities and scoffed at city officials’ suggestions on how communities should react to the violent footage.
Van Dyke was about 10 feet away from McDonald when he started firing and continued shooting for 13 seconds while the teen lay on the ground, prosecutors said.
There were a few scuffles and one man, 22, was arrested after police said he punched an officer.
“This wouldn’t be happening if not for my lawsuit”, he said.
A Cook County judge has dismissed a charge against a protester accused of hitting a police officer in Chicago. Van Dyke’s partner told investigators he had to stop the officer from reloading. The Chicago artist, who Jay Z has brought on stag to perform at his sold-out Magna Carta Holy Grail concert, said someone working with the Chicago Police Department tried to disturb the crowd.
While Alvarez is correct in saying that police shooting investigations are complex, her explanation that she was waiting for coordinated federal action and was still questioning witnesses as of a week ago demonstrates an utter lack of judgment in the face of indisputable evidence of guilt.
Several people who have seen the video say it shows the teenager armed with a small knife and walking away from several officers. “If the family didn’t want this released, then [public airing of it] just adds to the injustice”.
One of those arrested was 38-year-old Dean M. Vanriper of Murrieta, California.
A group of activists is calling for people to protest the fatal police shooting of a black teenager and shut down a major retail corridor in downtown Chicago on Black Friday. Dozens of men, mostly African-American, said they were subjected to torture from a Chicago police squad headed by former commander Jon Burge during the 1970s, ’80s and early ’90s, and many spent years in prison.
The law gives police officers wide latitude in using force when they believe that their lives – or the lives of others – are in danger.
At a press conference at City Hall Wednesday, a collective of black alderman called for London’s release, according to reporting from DNAinfo. Vanriper will appear in bond court on Wednesday as well.
Demonstrators took to the streets Tuesday night, at times numbering in the hundreds.
At least three people were taken into custody, and one officer was taken to an ambulance.
This is tantamount to first-degree murder, according to Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, who charged Van Dyke on Tuesday.
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Protesters eventually marched away, winding down more streets to gather at the Central District station, blocking traffic along the way.
