The city plans to release dashboard camera video of another fatal police shooting of a black man by a white police officer from October 2014.
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Van Dyke told an investigator that McDonald was “swinging the knife in an aggressive, exaggerated manner”.
“McDonald fell to the ground but continued to move and continued to grasp the knife, refusing to let go of it”, the detective’s report continues. “McDonald raised the knife across his chest and over his shoulder, pointing the knife at Van Dyke”.
One handwritten report, referring to Van Dyke by his initials and McDonald as the offender, said: “VD believed O [offender] was attacking with knife… trying to kill VD…”
Details of when the video would be released were not available from the mayor’s office.
Emanuel said the new task force, which will be advised by former Massachusetts Governor and Chicago native Deval Patrick, will review the system of accountability, oversight and training in the police department.
According to a preliminary police statement released the same day as the shooting, Johnson pointed a weapon at pursuing officers, after first attempting to flee on foot.
Protesters called on Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez to resign for failing to press charges sooner against officer Jason Van Dyke.
The debate over the release of videos typically lines up around the U.S.as such: Police and prosecutors argue they should be withheld until the conclusion of investigations into whether the shootings were justified, while transparency advocates, journalists and activists say the public has a right to see the footage immediately.
In the video, said Oppenheimer, the officer “takes aim at his back and fires”.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has clarified his earlier remarks, saying the city would welcome U.S. Justice Department involvement in helping restore trust in the Chicago police.
This video, which garnered almost half a million views on social media, added further fuel to already simmering suspicions that police were covering something up, given Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder on November 24 – more than a year after the shooting.
In newly-released police reports, however, several officers, including Van Dyke, described McDonald as aggressively approaching officers while armed with a knife.
“Over the past week, the city of Chicago has once again been confronted with significant questions about the use of excessive force and accountability of the Chicago Police Department”, she wrote.
– Fairfax, Virginia: Records in the March 2013 police shooting death of John Geer – including the officer’s name- were released 17 months later in response to a judge’s order in a civil lawsuit.
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Protests erupted afterwards in the nation’s third largest city, culminating in the firing of Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy by Emanuel on Tuesday. Shortly after that, the city released a patrol vehicle video of the shooting. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has called for an overall federal probe of police department practices, which top Democratic presidential candidates to local Illinois politicians have echoed. He released the video 10 days after the shooting when he announced he was indicting Officer Ray Tensing, who has pleaded not guilty to murder and voluntary manslaughter.
