Eddie Johnson is recommending seven Chicago police officers involved in the Laquan McDonald shooting be fired following a report from the Inspector General’s office.
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“The Department and its outside counsel have carefully reviewed the reports and supporting documents, videos, and other evidence and will accept” the recommendations to fire seven of the officers, Guglielmi said.
Activist Jedidiah Brown says Superintendent Eddie Johnson’s announcement Thursday shows he’s serious about reforms.
A video of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald’s 2014 shooting death sparked outrage, led to a federal civil rights probe of the Midwestern city’s police department, and was one of several police shootings of African Americans that spurred street protests around the country.
Though he plead not guilty, Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder in November 2015.
The video appears to show McDonald’s body getting hit by bullets even after he was on the ground.
Dashcam video of the fatal 2014 shooting contradicted almost everything police said happened the night McDonald died.
Al-Matar filed a civil rights suit last week alleging officers singled her out simply because she wore a religious headscarf and veil. “Police officers face this kind of thing every single day”, says police superintendent. The report recommends at least 10 officers be terminated.
The city’s move toward punishing the officers is only an early step in a process that could be time-consuming and contentious.
The inspector general’s report was written at the request of the Independent Police Review Authority. The officers, who were not named, will have a chance to contest the action before the city’s Police Board, whose members are appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
In addition, two other high-ranking officers retired during the city’s long-delayed response to the incident. He is leaving to become police chief at Northeastern Illinois University.
Van Dyke’s partner, Joseph Walsh, told an investigator that he repeatedly yelled “Drop the knife!” at McDonald and backed up as the teenager advanced at the officers.
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Separately, a special prosecutor is investigating whether the officers lied to justify the shooting death of McDonald and will decide whether to bring criminal charges. Regarding the 10th officer, the superintendent said he “respectfully disagrees” with the OIG findings and feels there is “insufficient evidence” to prove the allegations.
