Chicago Cop Who Shot Laquan McDonald Pleads Not Guilty

A white Chicago police officer charged with murder in the 2014 fatal shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald pleaded not guilty Tuesday.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi didn’t immediately return a message from The Associated Press seeking further details.

Herbert said after the December hearing that he was considering requesting a change of venue for his client because of the critical comments made by the city’s mayor. Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke, center, enters the Leighton Criminal Courts Building Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2015, in Chicago.

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner says the latest fatal shootings by Chicago police raise questions about why officers don’t have more options besides using lethal force.

A protest focusing on police issues and a call for Emanuel to resign is planned at City Hall on Thursday.

About 20 people turned out Tuesday afternoon, the same day Emanuel was scheduled to return home from a vacation to Cuba.

Van Dyke, 37, faces six counts of first-degree murder and one of official misconduct in the death of 17-year-old McDonald.

The city resisted releasing the video, citing federal and state probes into the shooting, but a Cook County Circuit Court judge ordered the release after an independent journalist sued the city. In the video, McDonald appears to be walking down a street away from police when he’s first struck.

Emanuel has denied the allegation and has repeatedly said he won’t step down. The officer shot McDonald 16 times shortly after arriving at the scene on a street where other police officers had been following McDonald “as he walked the streets carrying a knife and refusing to follow orders”, as member station WBEZ has reported. Van Dyke was indicted on six counts of first-degree murder and one count of official misconduct. Police later said he held a four-inch knife in his hand. “In Cook County it hasn’t been done in decades”, Herbert said. He said it would be “in the best interest of fairness and justice in this case”. Before the footage was released, a police union spokesperson told the Chicago Tribune that Laquan “lunged at police”.

Van Dyke had a history of complaints previous to McDonald’s shooting.

Herbert, the lawyer for Van Dyke, said policy changes in the Chicago Police Department would be beneficial.

The release of the video set off protests, forced the resignation of the city’s police chief and has led to an ongoing wide-ranging civil rights investigation of the entire Chicago Police Department by the U.S. Department of Justice.