Video released a year after the incident shows that the 17-year-old McDonald, who was shot 16 times at close range by Van Dyke, was not threatening the officer at the time.
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The case marks the first time a Chicago police officer has been charged with first-degree murder for an on-duty killing in nearly 36 years.
On the video, Van Dyke is seen shooting the teenager even as he appears to move away from police and after he falls to the ground. But police protocol indicates that all the cruisers should have been recording audio that night.
Chicago’s police superintendent has recommended that seven officers be fired after they were accused of lying about the details of a black teenager’s fatal shooting by a white officer in 2014, a police spokesman said on Thursday.
In a statement released Thursday, the Chicago Police Department said it had reviewed reports on the case by the city’s inspector general, who alleged that the officers filed false police reports.
Mr Johnson also stripped the seven officers of their police powers.
Just as the city was forced to release the video, Van Dyke was charged with murder, and he awaits trial.
“Two high-ranking officers retired during the city’s long-delayed response to the incident”.
I applaud Superintendent Johnson for taking swift and decisive action, pursuant to the Inspector General’s report and the recommendations of IPRA Director Sharon Fairley, to remove from the CPD the officers involved in covering up the horrific murder of Laquan McDonald.
Questions have remained since McDonald’s death almost two years ago about what discipline could follow, after suggestions that the teenager lunged at police was shown to be untrue by the video footage.
At least three witnesses to the McDonald killing were questioned for hours, threatened by officers and ordered to change their accounts to match the official Chicago police version of the shooting, the attorneys for the teen’s estate say.
Officer Jason Van Dyke, center, leaves the Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago following a court appearance on May 5. Johnson said he disagrees with the recommendation to fire an eighth officer, saying there was “insufficient evidence to prove those respective allegations”.
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If any seven officers are fired, it would be a big win for campaigners who have accused the Independent Review Authority, the committee which oversees police shootings, of routinely clearing officers despite evidence of misconduct.
