11/24/15

UPDATE! The Murder of Laquan McDonald Shot 16 times by Chicago Police!



The Murder of Laquan McDonald Shot 16 times by Police(GRAPHIC VIDEO)
The much-anticipated police dashboard cam video of a Chicago Police officer shooting and killing a 17-year-old was released Tuesday evening, offering a graphic and chilling view of what prosecutors say was first-degree murder.
The video of the slaying of Laquan McDonald was held by Chicago police for more than a year and finally released Tuesday after a judge ordered it. The release of the video touched off protests outside Chicago's Loop, but they remained peaceful as of 7 p.m.
A somber Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Supt. Garry McCarthy, in the moments before the video release, urged people to remain peaceful.
The video shows Officer Jason Van Dyke, 37, getting out of his squad and shooting McDonald multiple time. Authorities said he hit him 16 times, empty his cartridge into the teen, including many shots while McDonald was on the ground.

Police union officials initially said McDonald lunged at them with a knife. The video shows McDonald holding a knife and spinning while walking down the middle of the street. It's unclear when the first shot hits him — before or after the spin.

WATCH IT'S VERY GRAPHIC!

Van Dyke turned himself in Tuesday morning, and a judge ordered him held without bond until at least Monday. He's expected to be held in protective custody.
The nearly 7-minute video begins as the squad car patrols the streets. The squad's flashing lights begin at around the 5-minute mark and at around 5:18 McDonald can be seen walking in the center of Pulaski Road.
Police approach and he can be seen being shot at around the 5:36 mark. A few seconds later, an officer can be seen kicking something away from McDonald's body. Puffs of smoke can be seen coming from the body around 5:43.
At a press conference at police headquarters at 3510 S. Michigan Ave., ahead of the video distribution to the media, Supt. McCarthy said, "In this case, we have a tragic ending to unfortunately a tragic life of a young man who was betrayed on a number of different levels."

As for Officer Van Dyke, who was charged with murder earlier Tuesday, "He's going to have to account for his actions."
Mayor Emanuel told reporters, "We hold our police officers to a high standard, and obviously in this case, Jason Van Dyke violated the standards of professionalism of becoming a police officer, but also basic moral standards that bind our community together."
"Anybody who is there to uphold the law cannot act like they are above the law," Emanuel said, adding Van Dyke "does not represent" typical police department behavior.

McDonald was shot and killed Oct. 20, 2014, at 41st and Pulaski in the Archer Heights neighborhood by Van Dyke. The city has already paid a $5 million settlement to the family for the shooting.
UPDATE: Burger King Confirms Chicago Police Deleted Video Of McDonald Shooting

On the heels of dashcam footage of the Laquan McDonald shooting released today, other news is coming out about how Chicago police worked to suppress video proving he was shot without justification.

According to NBC News Chicago, 86 minutes of security video was missing after the shooting, after police ran through and reviewed it but before any official investigation had been opened, and Burger King has confirmed that it was deleted by police reviewing the video.
After the shooting, according to Jay Darshane, the District Manager for Burger King, four to five police officers wearing blue and white shirts entered the restaurant and asked to view the video and were given the password to the equipment. Three hours later they left, he said.

The next day, when an investigator from the Independent Police Review Authority asked to view the security footage, it was discovered that the 86 minutes of video was missing.
But according to Darshane, both the cameras and video recorder were all on and working properly the night of the shooting.
"We had no idea they were going to sit there and delete files," Darshane said. "I mean we were just trying to help the police officers."

"The video by nature is two dimensional so the problem is it distorts distances, and distances and depth perception are important," he said. "The most critical problem is that the video does not depict what my client was seeing. It is not a video from the eyes of my client."
The missing video, all sides agree, would not have shown the actual shooting but attorney’s for McDonald’s family contend it could have shown events leading up to the shooting.

Now NBC News is reporting that Burger King has confirmed that Chicago police deleted that video that night, presumably to bolster their case that the shooting had been justified, by leaving those minutes ahead of the shooting in doubt. 

video courtesy of Shaun King's Twitter Acct
This is AWFUL!
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