The Chicago Tribune reports (http://trib.in/1QjabKy ) officials on Thursday evening released a number of recordings in response to public records requests by the newspaper.
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The Chicago Police Department said the Independent Police Review Authority is conducting the investigation into McDonald’s killing. Both the former police superintendent and the Cook County state’s attorney have denied that the Burger King video was altered. Van Dyke, who shot McDonald 16 times, was charged with first-degree murder Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015.
Screengrabs from other cameras inside the store appear to show officers sitting at a computer terminal inside the restaurant.
Authorities say Laquan McDonald, 17, was armed with a 4-inch knife when Officer Jason Van Dyke confronted him.
However, the city has claimed Johnson did have a gun and was pointing it at police before an officer shot him. “This is the brutal execution of two young African-American men who did not deserve to be shot”. City officials had fought in court for months to keep the video from public release, before deciding in November not to fight a judge’s order.
With aftershocks from the release of dashcam video showing McDonald’s shooting still rumbling through Chicago, a dashcam video of yet another fatal police shooting is about to be released.
On Wednesday, Garry McCarthy said before being fired by Mayor Emanuel the same day that he knew his own office put out a misleading press release that said McDonald was moving toward or lunging at officers.
“It is a step in the right direction, and I can only say finally, finally, finally after 14 months of fighting the city on this, they’re now going to release the video”, Oppenheimer said Thursday. Shortly after that, the city released a patrol-car video of the shooting.
For years, Chicago has consistently fought – hard – in the courts, saying the release of videos would jeopardize active investigations. Police said Johnson had a gun and turned toward officers before being shot, while Oppenheimer said Johnson was unarmed.
“It is a small step in terms of justice for Dorothy Holmes and her family and her son, but there is a long way to go”, Oppenheimer said.
Holmes and her attorney have seen the video and have pushed for its release. The documents, released late Friday night, were obtained after the filing of a Freedom of Information Act request.
Chicago Police Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said its in-house experts also determined the audio is not authentic. He described the video as dark and grainy, but said it “clearly shows that [Johnson] is running away from the police officer”. He says there are serious questions about whether the department has appropriate policies to prevent civil rights violations.
Clinton has called for a federal investigation into the death but has stopped short of asking Emanuel to resign.
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There was no indication from city officials on when the video would be made public.
