Teen killed by Chicago officer had broken, troubled family

A small band of demonstrators hit the chilly Chicago streets for a second night in a row Wednesday, reportedly confronting police officers. The video also contradicted the initial Chicago Police Department report, which claimed McDonald had been approaching officers when he was shot; the video clearly shows McDonald walking away from officers when Van Dyke opens fire.

The powerful Chicago Teachers Union on Thursday endorsed a “Black Friday” march organized by civil rights leader Reverend Jesse Jackson, to protest McDonald’s shooting, and called for an independent investigation of what it described as a “cover-up”.

Cook County state’s attorney Anita Alvarez said forensic testing was done on the surveillance footage from the restaurant and no evidence of tampering was revealed, NBC also reported.

Van Dyke on Tuesday became the first Chicago police officer in decades to be charged with murder for on-duty use of lethal force and is in jail pending a second bond hearing on Monday. “It’s like things like this happen on a day to day basis.” said Delroy Taylor, a black Chicago resident and a participant in the protest.

Others marched through streets; eventually gathering outside a police station, where some of the demonstrators were detained.

In February, the reporter acquired a copy of the boy’s autopsy showing he had been shot 16 times, not once as police said.

The officer’s lawyer said he feared for his life but prosecutors said there was no justification for his actions.

“The vast majority of those who have chosen to express themselves this week have done so peacefully, however we will not tolerate illegal activity and as a result last night four individuals ‎were arrested”, the statement said. Bobby Rush and Danny Davis, as well as activists, and they, too, sought a U.S. Justice Department inquiry into Police Department’s handling of the McDonald shooting, according to the Chicago Tribune. Several protesters said they were parents of black men killed by Chicago officers. The charges were dropped Wednesday, after members of the Chicago City Council Black Caucus called for London’s release, saying the accusations were exaggerated and that he had acted within the law. Footage of the incident contradicts Van Dyke’s account that McDonald was moving toward officers when he was shot. Police and court records show 18 civilian complaints in 14 years against Van Dyke.

Another video released Wednesday from a cop auto that arrived at the scene after the shooting showed the dying teenager lying in the four-lane highway. Police say Clark died in a struggle with officers on November 15 but witnesses say he was handcuffed at the time. City officials released the police dashcam video of the shooting on Tuesday. When one person tried to get through the front door of Saks Fifth Avenue, protesters screamed at him, shouting, “Shut it down!”

“We don’t have all of Van Dyke’s complaints but the complaints of, the misconduct complaints from Van Dyke that we do have in our data tool show by and large excessive force and racial slurs”, Alison Flowers, of the Invisible Institute, tells WLS-TV.

Hours before the public saw the footage, Cook County State’s Attorney charged officer Van Dyke with first-degree murder for the killing.