The video was captured from a “blue light” camera mounted above an intersection near a high school and local businesses. Another grainy surveillance video also released Thursday shows Chatman running and then suddenly falling to the ground.
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The attorneys for Chatman’s mother, Linda Chatman, had been pushing for months for the videos to be released as part of a wrongful death suit, arguing the images show the teen was running from police and never turned toward the officers. Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration and the police force have come under intense scrutiny in recent months over police shootings and cases of alleged misconduct.
In Thursday’s hearing, Jonathan Green, an attorney representing the city, said the city chose to drop its objection to the video’s release as part of the mayor’s new efforts at transparency, saying a task force is now examining a new policy on how to handle videos of police shootings. The city fought its release for more than a year, making it public only after a state court ordered it to do so. Davis says IPRA administrators asked him to change his findings, which he says he had been asked to do many times before on other cases. Coffman said the video’s release would help promote change.
The same day the Chatman family was in court fighting pushback from the city, Emanuel was busy apologizing for the city’s handling of the McDonald video release and pledging greater transparency and accountability.
Federal judge Robert W. Gettleman said he was “disturbed” by how Chicago officials tried to keep the footage supressed, NBC Chicago reported.
Lawyers for the family of Chatman were suspicious over the timing of the video’s release. He said Green’s unusual “speech” in court showed how the city was “really trying to control the message”.
“They are still not being transparent and we are still not hearing details of how they are going to change”, said Coffman.
Community activists and leaders also were threatening to boycott the mayor’s Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast on Friday if he refused to release the video.
In a statement, Corporation Counsel Steve Patton said the city is “working to find the right balance between the public’s interest in disclosure and the importance of protecting the integrity of investigations and the judicial process”.
It’s not clear how soon the city will release the footage of Cedrick Chatman’s death if the judge lifts a protective order, as expected.
Officer Fry and his partner, Officer Lou Toth were chasing Chatman on foot on January 7, 2013 – Chatman was a suspect in a vehicle theft – when, according to Fry’s testimony, Chatman made “a slight turn” toward the officers, reports CNN.
Police were pursuing Chatman after he and his friends stole a auto.
Chatman was shot by police during a foot chase that followed an apparent carjacking. The video doesn’t have sound, so it’s not clear when the first shots were fired, but as Chatman ducks between two parked cars, he and Toth both duck.
According to court records, Fry said he fired four shots. It is hard to tell if Chatman ever turned to face the officers or if he was carrying anything in his hand.
Fraternal Order of Police spokesman Pat Camden attempted to justify the fatal shooting and said Fry had been in fear of his life.
Officer Kevin Fry can be seen trailing behind Toth, aiming his gun at Chatman from a crosswalk and firing as the teen began rounding the corner in front of a bodega. “You’re taught that deadly force is a last resort and that you should do everything in your power to apprehend the person before you use deadly force”.
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“I was sacked not just for that case but for several cases including officer involved shooting cases and other excessive force cases”, he said.
