Chicago erupts in protests after release of Laquan McDonald police shooting video

Officer Jason Van Dyke shot 17-year-old Laquan McDonald in late October of last year.

Van Dyke shot McDonald a total of 16 times and has since been fired from the Chicago PD and charged with first-degree murder.

The grainy nighttime video, which opened with a lengthy segment of the police vehicle rushing to the scene, showed Mr. McDonald running and then walking past the officers in the middle of the street and twirling when he is suddenly struck down by bullets.

Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy says police will “facilitate” protests but won’t tolerate criminal behaviour.

Cook County Judge Donald Panarese, Jr. ordered Van Dyke be held without bail until at least Monday, when he called on prosecutors to return with the dashcam video from a police squad auto that captured footage of Van Dyke shooting McDonald. Prosecutors Tuesday charged Officer Jason Van Dyke with first-degree murder.

Caution: the below video contains graphic violence. “It is graphic, it is violent, it is chilling”.

Protests erupted in Chicago on Tuesday night in the wake of the release of a video showing a policeman kill a black suspect.

In a statement Tuesday afternoon, Laquan’s family asked the city to remain calm to honor the young man. That came to an end Tuesday evening when Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s staff handed reporters pieces of paper with a URL to the video.

“I have no doubt this video will tear at the hearts of all Chicagoans”, Alvarez said. Demands for the video to be released have been made for more than a year.

“Chicago police fought hard to keep the dash cam video secret”, ThinkProgress’ Aviva Shen reports.

According to investigators, McDonald was shot 16 times, suffering wounds to his scalp, neck, left chest, right chest, left elbow, left forearm, right upper arm, right hand, right upper leg, left upper back and right lower back.

An attorney for McDonald’s family said in April that the video “starts out as an unjustified shooting, and it turns into some kind of statistic execution”. Emanuel reiterated McCarty’s sentiments, saying, “This moment does not speak to who we are and what we can become”.

According to the state’s case against Van Dyke, a citizen was with McDonald who was reportedly breaking into trucks and stealing radios.