Bail was set at $1.5 million for a white Chicago police officer charged with murder after a squad vehicle video caught him fatally shooting a black teenager 16 times, reports CBS Chicago. The footage from a dashboard camera shows Van Dyke unloading a 16-round clip at McDonald – with most of the bullets fired after the teen had collapsed onto the ground.
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Protesters took to Chicago streets for several days after the video release and the announcement of the charges.
Since then, protesters have marched through downtown streets alleging that the city’s top officials colluded over 13 months to prevent the video’s release for political reasons. His supporters and especially his union, the Fraternal Order of Police, say there is more to this case than the videotape. Van Dyke will be charged with first-degree murder in connection to the shooting death. Prosecutors had asked that he continue to be held without bail.
At the news conference, Alvarez said she had made her decision to charge Van Dyke “internally” weeks before the judge ordered the video released to the public.
Police said McDonald, who had PCP in his system when he died, was behaving erratically and refusing police commands to drop a folding knife with a 3-inch blade. This case would mark the first time in 35 years that a Chicago police officer has been charged with first-degree murder for an on-duty fatality. Chambers’ tweet is refers to the $5 million settlement with the McDonald family back in April before the family even filed a lawsuit. The charges come after a year of protests and debate over police force, police killings, and racial profiling.
“I’m very grateful for the precautionary measures the university took in conjunction with law enforcement and that those on campus seemed to keep calm throughout the day”, Max Freedman, a 20-year-old sophomore at the University of Chicago, told TheBlaze Monday afternoon. The National Bar Association, a Washington-based organization representing judges and mostly black attorneys, also called for her resignation last week, saying the delay kept Van Dyke about the street more than should have been allowed.
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“Expanding this successful program into one-third of the city will help enhance transparency and credibility as well as strengthen the fabric of trust that is vital between police and the community”, the mayor said on Sunday.
