Chicago Officer Charged with Murder in Shooting Death of Black Teen

CNN is working to review the video.

Emanuel called in community leaders and pastors for meetings on Monday aimed at preparing for public reaction to the video.

Nearly all the Chicago shootings were found to be justified.

“They had the opportunity to be a good example and a model across the country on how to improve police and community relations and they missed it”, Acree said. The WLS version of the video contains faint audio, but the Chicago Police Superintendent, Garry McCarthy, said the footage police were releasing contained no sound. Van Dyke, who claims to have been in fear for his life during the incident, was the only officer to shoot his gun during the confrontation and reportedly did so within seconds of getting out of his police vehicle.

Van Dyke’s attorney has said he opened fire in fear for his life.

Police use of excessive force against African Americans has been the subject of nationwide protests for months. The Police Department said placing an officer on desk duty after a shooting is standard procedure and that it is prohibited from doing anything more during the investigations.

Chicago is on edge today in anticipation of the release of a dashboard camera video of a fatal 2014 police involved shooting.

The footage is being released as a result of a judicial order stemming from a lawsuit brought by a freelance journalist.

Alvarez attributed the complicated factor of investigating police malpractice and working with federal authorities, which includes the FBI, for the length of the investigation, which has taken a year.

Soon after the video’s release, a group of protesters began marching, chanting “16 shots” and “We got to fight back!”

Supporters of police reform said that the judge’s ruling to release the video of McDonald’s killing was a victory for transparency.

Van Dyke’s lawyer Daniel Herbert said his client would prevail in court. “He knows in his heart of hearts that his actions were appropriate”. The officer is being held without bond at this time.

“This is a case that can’t be tried in the streets, it can’t be tried in the media, and it can’t be tried on Facebook”, Herbert said. “It’s truly not a murder case and we feel that we will be very successful in defending this case”, the attorney said. Van Dyke was placed on “no-pay” status. Last week, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel joined them.

“Every day in this city, you see thousands of officers performing admirably”, he said. Mr. Van Dyke was indicted on first degree murder charges this morning. “Rather than uphold the law, he took the law into his own hands”.

Emanuel met Monday with activists and community leaders to discuss the coming release and what it might mean for the city. “We all want peace but the key to peace is justice”. They have said the video proves McDonald did not lunge at police, and was walking away when he was shot.

“Chicago is on the tipping point”, the Rev. Roosevelt Watkins said, according to affiliate WLS. We have no faith that the same mayor that allowed people to starve for 34 days over a school, will be accountable to black people just because we respond calmly to a documented hate crime committed by a Chicago police officer.

A Chicago cop has been charged with murder after he shot a black teen 16 times in 2014.