The announcement comes as many in Chicago have been anxiously awaiting the court-ordered release of a dashcam video of the shooting, anxious that it could spark unrest in the city.
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Nearly immediately, one of the officers appears to fire from close range.
The teenager had slashed the tyre on one of the patrol cars and there was a stand-off between him and the officers. Then McDonald can be seen lying on the ground, moving occasionally.
Police also allege that the teen had been breaking into cars in the area, though McDonald’s body language in the video seems to indicate that he is calm and barely seems to register the police’s presence.
The relevant portion of the video runs for less than 40 seconds and has no audio. Others lay in the middle of the street, refusing to move to the sidewalk when requested by police. City leaders cautioned that the footage, taken from a camera on a police vehicle dashboard, would be disturbing, but they urged the public to remain calm. Until Thursday, officials had resisted such a release, fearing it could jeopardize investigations.
“We love our neighborhoods, but unfortunately this has been a persistent problem in terms of excessive force being used by the police and the murder of black people with impunity by the police”, Travis says. WBEZ’s Yolanda Perdomo tells our newscast unit, some of the protesters chanted “16”, which was the number of times Laquan McDonald was shot.
The video shows McDonald, 17, being shot 16 times as he walked down the street holding a knife. Five other police officers at the scene did not fire a shot.
IL Governor Bruce Rauner has said the video is “quite troubling” and he anticipates a solid public reaction, though he trusts it’ll be “sensible and peaceful”.
Earlier Tuesday, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel appealed for nonviolence as he released the video, hoping to prevent the violent and destructive riots of Ferguson and Baltimore. “I understand that the people will be upset and will want to protest when they see this video”.
Reverend Jesse Jackson stood at the spot where Laquan McDonald was gunned down Tuesday. Officer Jason Van Dyke fires his gun and continues firing after McDonald drops to the ground. It added, “Don’t resort to violence in Laquan’s name”. City officials have argued that the video should not be released until the conclusion of the investigation.
The Rev. Michael Pfleger anticipates rallies during the week and is encouraging a boycott of Black Friday shopping.
“At the end of the day I’d rather take my time and get it right than rush to judgment and get it wrong”, she said. He emptied his 9 mm pistol, shooting all 16 rounds from just feet away, Assistant State’s Attorney Bill Delaney said at the November 24 hearing.
There are questions about what was done to address the 20 allegations against Van Dyke compiled by the Police Accountability Clinic at the University of Chicago’s Law School.
“This is a case that can’t be tried in the streets, it can’t be tried in the media, and it can’t be tried on Facebook”, Herbert said. As soon as he was charged with murder, Van Dyke’s police paycheck stopped.
The altercation between McDonald and police officers on Chicago’s southwest side began with a call that a knife-wielding man was trying to break into trucks to steal radios.
“While police expect policemen to do their jobs… there are a couple of bad apples who go too much and break regulations”, Mr said.
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In addition, only hours before the release of the video, State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez finally brought first-degree murder charges against Van Dyke.
