The white officer who shot a black Chicago teen 16 times has been charged with murder and jailed.
The graphic video of the slaying was made public yesterday, and in the hours after the footage was released, protesters swarmed into the streets of Chicago.
Some protesters threw water bottles at police during confrontations overnight. But with many Chicago citizens off work for the next several days due to the Thanksgiving holiday, officials are worried that the number of protesters could swell significantly.
City officials and community leaders had long braced for the release of the dash-cam video showing the death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. They fear the kind of turmoil that occurred in cities such as Baltimore and Ferguson, Missouri, after young black men were slain by police or died in police custody.
A judge ordered that the recording be made public by Wednesday.
Protest groups are expected to stage more demonstrations in the days ahead, including one at City Hall scheduled for Wednesday and another seeking to block Michigan Avenue during Black Friday’s holiday shopping bonanza.
The relevant portion of the video runs for less than 40 seconds and has no audio.
McDonald swings into view on a four-lane street where police vehicles are stopped in the middle of the roadway. As he jogs down an empty lane, he appears to pull up his pants and then slows to a brisk walk, veering away from two officers who are emerging from a vehicle and drawing their guns.
Almost immediately, one of the officers appears to fire from close range. McDonald spins around and collapses on the pavement.
The car with the camera continues to roll forward until the officers are out of the frame. Then McDonald can be seen lying on the ground, moving occasionally. At least two small puffs of smoke are seen coming off his body as the officer continues firing.
In the final moments, an officer kicks something out of McDonald’s hands.
Police have said the teen had a knife. Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez said Tuesday that a 3-inch knife with its blade folded into the handle was recovered from the scene.
Shortly after the video’s release Tuesday, protesters began marching through city streets. Several hundred people blocked traffic on the near West Side. Some circled police cars in an intersection and chanted “16 shots.”
Demonstrators, at times numbering in the hundreds, streamed through streets in the downtown and near South Side areas, gathering at one point outside the police department’s District 1 headquarters.
Later, along Michigan Avenue, at least one person was detained, which led to a tense moment as protesters tried to prevent police from taking him away. Some threw plastic water bottles at officers and sat behind a police vehicle, refusing to move. Officers pulled them away, and the vehicle sped off.
Months after McDonald’s death, the city agreed to a $5 million settlement with his family, even before relatives filed a lawsuit, a move that also drew deep skepticism from the community.
At the time of McDonald’s death, police were responding to complaints about someone breaking into cars and stealing radios.
Van Dyke, who was denied bond on Tuesday, was the only officer of the several who were on the scene to open fire.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Assistant State’s Attorney Bill Delaney said the shooting lasted 14 or 15 seconds and that McDonald was on the ground for 13 of those seconds.
An autopsy report showed that McDonald was shot at least twice in his back and PCP, a hallucinogenic drug, was found in his system.
Van Dyke’s attorney, Dan Herbert, maintains his client feared for his life and acted lawfully and that the video does not tell the whole story.
After the shooting, Van Dyke was stripped of his police powers and assigned to desk duty.
Herbert said the case needs to be tried in a courtroom and “can’t be tried in the streets, can’t be tried on social media and can’t be tried on Facebook.”
The graphic video can be seen below. McDonald first appears at 5:10 into the video.
The Associated Press contributed to this article
This is an HONEST QUESTION:
I think I’m starting to see a recent pattern starting. God I hope I’m wrong.
Are these ‘set up’. Oh, do not get me wrong. The killing was real, but was it ‘set up’ to do exactly what happened?
I will be MOST curious to see what happens, besides the expected RIOTS. (See? Riots are the expected Fruit.)
The Officer in Question will go through the “Process” and “tried and convicted” and we will see that he is “guilty”.
Then does he “fall of the grid”?
Was he paid to do this and was told: “Don’t worry, we will take care of you!”
Then after a short time of QUIET – he is set up with a new ID and such and is ‘cleaned’.
I’m smelling something it’s very very rotten and very very bad.
Are we being ‘played’?
Jib,
Your comments are so off the wall that I really believe them. It seems to be the norm, and I bet we only know a small percentage of things like this that happen daily. What a shame our country is going down hill so quickly. We had our great constitution written by brilliant men and now we are letting stupid power hungry men destroy all we enjoyed for so many years.
I can certainly see this. I’ve been in constant question of what happened with Timothy McVeigh
I have been thinking the same thing quite often. Not just a setup from one side, but possibly a setup from either side. Obviously the shootings have to stop…but to do the provocations, those have to stop too. The intention is to cause riots? …to cause uprisings?
Why do people suddenly think they can do anything they want to when approached by law enforcement officers? It seems these days that people, mostly younger people, think they do not have to respect an officer when approached by one. If the person has done nothing wrong, then why act out?…especially knowing that in today’s time something wrong will come of it!
The hate that is in our society these days is over the top and it will be our downfall. I hate seeing the loss of life, no matter who it is…and I hate that people can’t wake up and act with responsibility for themselves and others.
I think you are right. Reference the many school shootings, where all the perps were on psych drugs. Also, some of the shootings were definitely staged, no bodies were shown, just a talking head telling us what supposedly happened. I think the commie muslim in chief is attempting to justify martial law to try to confiscate our guns so his muzzie terrorists buddies don’t get shot. It isn’t going to turn out like he wants.
There is one problem with the film clip everybody is watching. There is no sound if there was
sound and the police officer told him to halt or stop numerous times and he did not stop did
that young man not violate a lawful order. I am not placing blame but there is a lot being said
on this site without knowing all the facts. Too many bullets I would agree there was no need
to empty the clip. If he was still pulling the trigger after the clip was empty that may show he
did fear for his life, but again watching the film clip that would be hard to prove.
This plain murder by the law enforcment.
It is too bad someone else could not have stopped the murdering cop before he killed an inocent person.
Don’t any of these protesters have a real job to go to?…..Don’t they have a family to provide for ?…….Are they all just sucking off the Gov’t. tite ?
I support our police. However, is there really a need to allegedly shoot someone 16 times?
I am sure this is another set up by our gov. under obamas direction. Think about it. National outrage, looting and rioting nation wide.
A perfect situation for declaring martial law. Gun confiscation will draw all freedom loving armed Americans into a national violent rebellion. Martial law will continue, no elections come Nov. Obama becomes the supreme Dictator he dreams of.
My fellow Americans do not let this wanna be Tyrant play you. Keep to legal peacefull conduct and we can get rid of this trash.
We can save our country and avoid so much destruction and loss of life. KEEP YOUR COOL AND DEFEAT THIS FOOL.
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Cops, are thought at the police school, that they can murder and sing the song ( I feared for my life ) and get away with it. They say there is no respect for police, well respect is to be earned , not taken for granted. It’s a shame but they brought this on themselves. It only takes one apple , to spoil the bushel. If you are unfortunate to be stopped by the cops , when asked for your I D they shoot you for reaching for it. I feared for my life, they say, but they told you to show I D. Dead right.
FYI ………. prior to the shootings of blacks…….. that are pointedout…….. what about the years and years of cops being shot just for
doing their job in a traffic stop,,,,,,,,sometimes their training isn’t enough to keep them selves alive…at times its the one that shoots first wins……….or at least goes home that night for doing their job keeping the streets safe for you and your family. Is it a hoax scam?….. I don’t know but when its just about lives in general not just black lives….. its everyone……. if there is a visible evil here its the disrespect for all lives and all freedoms here…………white black and any other race…… this is America we our a nation of laws and we must remain that if we are to change anything……rioting looting?…..destruction?……causes only the opposite…… white or black any one rapping or pillaging for the cause of what?……..its amazing look at hurricane Katrina what the people did down their white and black……..there is not enough space here to write the disgust in violence and lootings of that event……..we have come to dependent on the federal government…….. they are not to live our lives and take care of us…… they are body of gov to assist us and provide a army to protect our nation………threats from other nations………we must be able to one manage our selves and help one another……..this is another example of people doing evil to one another……..we must work together and hold each other accountable…….we may not ever get perfect at loving each other but we must keep at it…….unity not division…… we can beat this and come together……..