Police reports on Laquan McDonald shooting at odds with video

A lawsuit claims that the Chicago police shot Emmanuel Lopez 16 times “without justification” and then filed reports claiming Mr. Lopez had tried to “run over an officer with his vehicle”.

The Chicago Police Department released documents late Friday evening from the investigation of the police shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, which reveal drastic differences in what officers said took place during the shooting compared to what is actually seen in video footage.

Protests erupted afterwards in the country’s third largest city, culminating in the firing of Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy by Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Tuesday. Van Dyke’s account was backed up by his partner and two of the six other officers who arrived at the intersection of 41st Street and Pulaski as McDonald was gunned down.

With this troubling record as a police officer, why was Van Dyke still on the force and why he continuing to be paid for 13 months after shooting Laquan? Van Dyke added laws regulated by the police force would identify McDonald as a threat because he was in possession of a weapon within 21 feet of an officer.

Van Dyke was charged with first-degree only hours before the department released the video.

According to what Van Dyke told the detective, McDonald “ignored Van Dyke’s verbal direction to drop the knife and continued to advance toward Van Dyke”. He also noted a 2012 Chicago Police Department warning about a weapon that was a knife capable of firing a bullet, making it firearm, according to the reports. A copy of the bulletin was included in the report. His death revived questions about police treatment of minorities throughout the United States and energized the national Black Lives Matter movement.

Chicago officials fought against the release of the dashboard-camera video for months before a judge forced the city to make the footage public. The city’s early efforts to suppress it coincided with Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s re-election campaign, when the mayor was seeking African-American votes.

“Van Dyke believed McDonald was attacking Van Dyke with the knife, and attempting to kill Van Dyke”, the detective’s report continues. He also claimed he didn’t see the dashcam video until the day the press release was issued.

A video that caused racial riots and created high-tension against police nationwide is now being reported as ‘doctored’.

A Chicago police spokesman, Anthony Guglielmi, said the Independent Police Review Authority conducts all investigations of officer-involved shootings and the agency was given the case report and videos.

Chicago authorities have not been able to explain why the footage released to the public, including from other squad cars on scene, doesn’t have audio when department technologies allow for it. Acting Superintendent John Escalante said Friday that he issued a reminder to all officers to check that equipment works each time they get into police cars.

The report, however, has Van Dyke fearing for his life.

The mayor has faced allegations that the video was withheld from the public because of the contentious mayoral election that forced a run-off last spring, and the widespread belief that a settlement with the McDonald family was part of a coverup.

“I join with those calling for a federal investigation into the practices of the Chicago Police Department”.

The city has released information – including the video – in dribs and drabs, prolonging the scandal around McDonald’s shooting.

Cook County prosecutors have said an investigation had ruled out tampering. Documents filed by prosecutors do not point to any statement by officers questioning Van Dyke’s actions, though they do note that none of the other officers fired a shot. “McDonald raised the knife across his chest and over shoulder, pointing the knife at Van Dyke”.