Mayor Emanuel said today his administration won’t fight the release of a dash-cam recording, which apparently shows an officer opening-fire on Ronald Johnson. The department separately is investigating McDonald’s death.
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With aftershocks from the release of dashcam video showing the police shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald still rumbling through Chicago, a dashcam video of another fatal police shooting is about to be released.
Videos have also played a key role in cases in which the victims were, in fact, armed something that Tacopina said typically brings to a halt any thought of charging officers. “Nobody fired their weapons until George Hernandez pulled up in a auto, got out and drew his weapon and fired five shots at the back of Ronald Johnson”.
What happened: On April 12, four Baltimore police officers on bicycles attempted to stop and arrest Freddie Gray, 25, who had run away from them. Oppenheimer said Johnson was afraid and “running at full speed” with nothing in his hand. Police initially said the officer involved in the shooting, who has since been charged with first-degree murder, was defending himself and that McDonald lunged at him with a knife.
In a worst-case scenario, the jury could elect to “send a message” to the city and the Chicago Police Department “by punishing these six uninvolved and blameless officers”, the motion stated. The family has filed lawsuits against the city.
The months-long DOJ investigation of the Ferguson, Missouri, police department following the shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown found that officers regularly discriminated against blacks, including using excessive force. Fortunately there is a video that gives them good reason to dispute the police report.
Just hours before the Clinton announcement, Emanuel had characterized as “misguided” a letter from Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to US Attorney General Loretta Lynch asking for a DOJ civil rights investigation.
The Chicago Police Department said officers had responded to a call of “shots fired” and found a man matching the description of their suspect.
Oppenheimer said they have already viewed the dashcam video and noted there is no audio on it – even though the videos typically have sound.
The McDonald shooting video has sparked several protests in the city and prompted calls for the mayor and Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez to resign.
Holmes says that her son was a father of four daughters and a son and she wants to clear her son’s name.
“There is something profoundly wrong when African-American men are still far more likely to be stopped and searched by police, charged with crimes and sentenced to longer prison terms for doing the same things as a white man”, Clinton said.
“He has become an issue, rather than dealing with the issue, and a distraction”, Emanuel told reporters after firing McCarthy, who headed America’s second largest law enforcement agency after New York City. The records include police video but not of the actual shooting. The lawyer also had filed suit against the city to release the video under the Freedom of Information Act.
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While the Johnson family’s civil suit is pending against the police, Oppenheimer says the city has not offered a settlement.
