It’s an atmosphere his attorney says justifies moving the trial outside of Chicago. “So I imagine when I bring motion for change of venue, Exhibit A will be all the mayor’s comments”.
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Herbert has said he may ask for a change of venue for Van Dyke in light of comments made by Mayor Rahm Emanuel about his client.
Recent news was dominated by the Chicago Police Department crisis that gripped the city. While several officers who were at the scene when McDonald was shot reported he was aggressively swinging a knife at Van Dyke, video of the shooting shows the teen walking away from police when he was shot.
The indictment accuses Van Dyke of shooting McDonald without lawful justification, knowing his actions created a strong possibility of death. Van Dyke arrived at the courthouse just as any other defendant out on bond; only he was surrounded by media and protestors heckling him.
The DOJ investigation comes after the city released a video showing a white police officer shooting a black teenager 16 times. Van Dyke is white. “Sixteen shots were fired”.
The protest was called in response to the cover-up of the murder of Laquan McDonald in October 2014.
Since the video’s release, Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy resigned from his position and the Justice Department has launched a federal investigation into the incident.
“We hold our police officers to a high standard and obviously in this case, Jason Van Dyke violated both the standards of professionalism that come with being a police officer but also basic moral standards that bind our community together”, Emanuel said.
The judge announced the indictment unsealed earlier this week against Jason Van Dyke and set an arraignment date for December 29th.
The U.S. Department of Justice wants Chicago to know exactly how to submit complaints about the Chicago Police Department in the wake of the release of the Laquan McDonald shooting video and has distributed those details to community leaders.
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“He [Rahm Emanuel] has essentially told everyone in the public, everyone in the City Council that my client actually murdered Mr. McDonald, and [that] he’s a bad apple and that he doesn’t belong in the police department and he committed acts that were indefensible”, Herbert said.
