The Chicago Tribune (http://trib.in/1TqYWPD ) reports hundreds of pages released late Friday show at least five officers saying Laquan McDonald moved toward officers. However, footage from the police car’s dashboard camera appear to show McDonald veering away from the officers down a four-lane street in October 2014 before he was shot 16 times. Van Dyke also referred to a Chicago Police Department bulletin warning officers of a knife capable of firing a bullet. For more than a year, the city actively delayed releasing police dash-cam footage of the officer continuing to fire even as McDonald crumpled to the ground.
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One report claims McDonald advanced toward officers swinging his knife in an “aggressive, exaggerated manner”. “The McDonald shooting is shocking, and it highlights serious questions about the historic, systemic use of unlawful and excessive force by Chicago police officers and the lack of accountability for such abuse by CPD”. The judge rejected the city’s contention, made before Van Dyke was charged, that releasing the video would lead to an unfair trial “in the court of public opinion”.
There’s no audio in any of the videos but a conversation between police officers reviewing the Dunkin’ Donuts footage was captured on the store’s surveillance video.
The Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez has said her office is investigating possible criminal charges.
There are new discrepancies in the Laquan McDonald case. And that McDonald “raised the knife across chest” and pointed it at Van Dyke, according to one police report. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has called for an overall federal investigation of police department practices, which Democratic presidential candidates and local Illinois politicians have echoed.
Earlier this week, Michael Oppenheimer, an attorney for the Johnson family, criticized city officials for refusing to release the video of Johnson’s shooting.
The newly-released police reports repeatedly refer to McDonald as the “offender” and Van Dyke and the other officers as “victims”.
The release of the reports comes amid mounting questions about the Chicago Police Department’s handling of the incident, while activists allege the police and city officials engaged in active efforts to cover it up. The authority has not released its report on McDonald’s death. One of the police reports said the knife’s blade was open.
Patton then described how one of the officers followed McDonald on foot “kind of beside” the teenager while the other officer followed behind in a marked squad vehicle and called a dispatcher to request a back-up unit with a Taser.
One of the reports noted what it called McDonald’s “irrational behavior”, such as ignoring verbal directions, “growling” and making noises.
The police reports are blacked out in places, with those redactions covering signatures, a reporter’s cell phone number, the serial number of the officer’s gun and McDonald’s address. A medical examiner’s report said the hallucinogen PCP was found in his system.
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Cincinnati: Media organizations sued Hamilton County, Ohio, prosecutor Joseph Deters after he refused to release body-camera video from the fatal shooting of a black motorist in a traffic stop by a white University of Cincinnati officer in July.
