In this October 20, 2014 frame from dash-cam video provided by the Chicago Police Department, Laquan McDonald, right, walks down the street moments before being shot by officer Jason Van Dyke in Chicago. White Officer Jason Van Dyke, who shot a black teenager 16 times past year, was charged with first-degree murder Tuesday, hours before the ci…
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“It appears to everybody who has seen that tape that it did not and should not have taken a full year to determine what happened when all the facts were known and there was a clear video to show it”, said Alderman Harold Brookin, a member of Chicago’s Black Caucus.
“You don’t get to shoot us and tell us how to heal”.
Jay Travis has lived on the south side of Chicago for 43 years and knows the story all too well – a young black male is killed by police. President Barack Obama, who hails from Chicago and began his political career there, said on Facebook he was “deeply disturbed” by the video but added, he was “personally grateful to the people of my hometown for keeping protests peaceful”.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton also weighed in, saying McDonald’s family and Chicago residents “deserve justice and accountability”.
“No one understands the anger more than us but if you choose to speak out, we urge you to be peaceful”, they said in a statement released to local media. Some activists called for demonstrators to shut down the city’s Magnificent Mile shopping district on Black Friday. Protesters also planned to target the Board of Trade and other landmarks in the coming days, he said.
Meanwhile, the fallout from the video has resulted in calls for a deeper investigation into the Chicago Police Department. At one point, they seemed to form a circle and chanted names of others they said were also victims of police violence in the city.
Judge Peggy Chiampas said during a hearing Wednesday afternoon that the state’s attorney’s office recommended the charge be dismissed and told London he was free to go.
On the first day of the protests people in hundreds blocked the intersection of Roosevelt and Michigan Avenue. Overnight in Chicago, protesters back on the streets even trying to tear the lights off the city’s Christmas tree. It’s the latest of several deaths involving officers and black males that have raised questions about relations between police and minorities and the proper use of force by police. Footage of the incident contradicts Van Dyke’s account that McDonald was moving toward officers when he was shot. The officers are seen emerging from their vehicle in the center of the road, and drawing their weapons while advancing toward McDonald, who continues to move away.
Nearly immediately, Van Dyke appears to fire from close range. Within seconds he is struck by bullets, spins and crumples to the ground, his body jerking as he is hit by additional rounds of gunfire. The newly released footage came from the dashboard cameras of five of the eight police squad cars present.
The 37-year-old has been a Chicago police officer since 2001. Police say he had a stun gun and a knife.
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“Investigations of police shootings and misconduct are highly complex matters that carry with them very unique legal issues, that must be fully examined and taken into consideration”, Cook County prosecutor Anita Alvarez said on Tuesday. The document was obtained by USA TODAY from a law enforcement official who is knowledgeable about the ongoing policing efforts in the city in aftermath of the video’s release.
