Racial tensions soared in Chicago on Tuesday as officials released a graphic video of a police officer shooting a black teen 16 times, shortly after he was charged for the death.
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Van Dyke was shown pumping 16 bullets into 17-year-old Laquan McDonald in disturbing dash-cam footage released Tuesday.
“This Thanksgiving, I ask everybody to keep those who’ve suffered tragic loss in our thoughts and prayers”, wrote the president.
Five people were arrested Tuesday night, one for allegedly punching a Chicago police officer, while hundreds marched throughout the city in a largely peaceful protest over the killing of Laquan McDonald.
Van dyke then opens fire as McDonald is walking away. White Officer Jason Van Dyke, who shot a black teenager 16 times a year ago, was charged with first-degree murder Tuesday, hours before the ci… (Cook County Sheriff’s Office via AP)An autopsy report showed that McDonald was shot at least twice in his back and PCP, a hallucinogenic drug, was found in his system.
McDonald’s death came at a time of intense national debate over police use of deadly force, especially against minorities.
USA media reported that police arrested several people during the NY protests.
About 100 protestors marched through the city and some said they plan to shut down Chicago’s famous Magnificent Mile shopping area on the busy holiday shopping day, Black Friday.
The new video released Wednesday also shows other squads responding rapidly to the scene. Clinton said, “The family of Laquan McDonald and the people of Chicago deserve justice and accountability”.
Now that the video has been released, mostly peaceful protests throughout the city have ensued as the nation reels with another questionable shooting of a black male by a white police officer.
Another video released Wednesday from a cop auto that arrived at the scene after the shooting showed the dying teenager lying in the four-lane highway.
It’s a popular phrase, one even chanted on the streets as protesters took to Michigan Avenue in the city.
Van Dyke had 20 misconduct complaints against him but he was never disciplined, according to the Citizens Police Data Project, a database of 56,000 misconduct complaints against Chicago police officers compiled by the Invisible Institute, a transparency organization.
“We need as a city to get to a point where young men see an officer and don’t just see an officer with a uniform and a badge… and for police see a young man not as a potential problem, as a risk, but also an individual worthy of their protection”, he said.
Officials declared a first-degree murder charge against Van Dyke. “Also officers could be drawn to dead-end streets, distracted or baited, and then shot while inside their patrol vehicles”, the document added.
Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is joining with Chicago Urban League and Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow PUSH Coalition to call for the resignation of police superintendent Garry McCarthy and calling Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez to be removed from cases involving police misconduct.
None of the officers approach McDonald to try to help him as he bleeds out on the street, writhing once in the remaining minute of video. Freelance journalist Brandon Smith sued the city’s police department to make the video available to the public.
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Jacqueline Spreadbury, 26, of Chicago, was charged with two counts of misdemeanor battery and two counts of resisting a police officer, according to authorities.
