Chicago officials have released a video of a white police officer fatally shooting a black teenager last year.
The move Tuesday follows a judge’s order last week to release the squad car dash-cam footage. Seventeen-year-old Laquan McDonald was shot 16 times on Oct. 20, 2014. Police say he refused to drop a knife.
Some worry the images could lead to the kind of unrest seen in Baltimore and Ferguson, Missouri, and other cities after young black men were slain by police or died in police custody.
Lawyers who have seen the video say it shows McDonald with a small knife and walking away from officers. They say Officer Jason Van Dyke opened fire from about 15 feet and kept shooting after the teen fell to the ground.
Businesses in Chicago are advising tenants to be prepared for protests as Chicago officials release a video showing a white police officer shooting a black teenager 16 times.
Some management companies have said they intend to operate as usual but are prepared to lock down buildings if protests become unruly.
Prominent clergy members are calling for peaceful protests and civil disobedience as the city prepares to release dash-cam video of the 2014 shooting of McDonald. A judge last week ordered the city to publicly release the video.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy also are calling for calm, as are McDonald’s parents.
Officer Van Dyke was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder.
Here’s a clip of the dash cam video from DNAinfo Chicago:
Warning: video is graphic.
This post has been updated.
Incredibly sad situation. Outright lies from BOP over the past year, long history of Chicago cop problems. Now they seem to be timing the release of this as to conflict with pre-Thanksgiving prep to reduce possible protests. Can’t say I blame them if folks get to see more than the 16 seconds MSNBC sanitized for us.
The kid was obviously rendered harmless after the first shot. No reason for fifteen more, unless you just like watching people die.
Walking away with a knife in your hand is passive aggressive.
As our board expert on police procedure would tell us, that is “clearly looking for trouble.”
Unreal. Between this and the goings-on at Homan Square, Rahm is the most odious Democratic officeholder in America.
“He lunged at me.”
“He went for my gun.”
“He resisted arrest.”