Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke Indicted on Murder Charges

And on Thursday, they and the U.S. Attorney’s office met with Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his staff and separately with the new head of the Independent Police Review Authority, Sharon Fairley. The officer was charged with first-degree murder for shooting McDonald 16 times.

The investigation was sparked after the city released video showing a police officer shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times. Cook County Circuit Judge James Brown set an arraignment for December 29, when Van Dyke is expected to enter a plea.

With Chicago and the U.S. Department of Justice embarking on a process to bring reform to the Chicago Police Department, a group of African-American police officer and firefighters is demanding a seat at the table.

During his bond hearing last month, prosecutors told the judge Van Dyke opened fire just six seconds after exiting his police vehicle as McDonald was holding a knife in the middle of 41st Street and Pulaski Road shortly before 10 p.m.

Recent news was dominated by the Chicago Police Department crisis that gripped the city.

Van Dyke’s attorney would have to convince a judge the officer could not be granted a fair trial in Chicago.

Reports are the indictment alleges that Van Dyke acted “without lawful justification” in shooting McDonald at a time when he understood his actions “created a strong probability of death or great bodily harm”.

The seven-count indictment against Van Dyke came as no surprise to his attorney, Daniel Herbert, who said he’s still weighing whether to request a change of venue based on the massive amount of pretrial publicity, much of which he believes has come from City Hall.

Without specifying where he wanted to see the trial moved, Herbert told reporters he would “have to find a county that is outside the reach of the mayor’s comments”.

Prosecutors initially charged Van Dyke with one count of murder hours before a video of the 2014 shooting was released.

A representative for the Justice Department was not immediately available for comment.

So far the mayor has fired the former police superintendent and vowed to make major reforms in the department.