Friday, March 29, 2024

Chicago Cop Charged With Murder in Laquan McDonald Shooting

laquan & van dyke
LaQuan McDonald and Jason Van Dyke

*A white Chicago policeman was charged with first degree murder on Tuesday in the October 2014 shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald.

The announcement comes one day before the planned release of a video taken by a police vehicle’s dashboard camera showing that McDonald was shot 16 times.

A state prosecutor, Anita Alvarez, said in a statement that the officer, Jason Van Dyke, was being processed at Chicago’s main criminal courthouse and would appear at a bond hearing at noon CST (1:00 p.m. ET).

Last week, a Cook County judge ordered the release of the dashcam video showing the killing of 17-year-old McDonald, and Chicago authorities said they would make it public on Wednesday. The city has already paid McDonald’s family a $5 million civil settlement even though they did not file a lawsuit.

Van Dyke has been on administrative duty while state and federal prosecutors investigated the shooting. He has said through his lawyer and the police union that the shooting was justified because he felt under threat from McDonald, who was holding a knife.

Chicago police have said McDonald threatened them with a knife and slashed at the tires and windshield of a patrol car. The video shows him moving away from police at the time he was shot, said a lawyer for McDonald’s mother, who has seen the footage.

On Monday, community leaders met with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who asked them to help prevent violent protests on Wednesday after the video is released.

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