U.S Police Shoots a Black Man 16 Times - Read Details

A U.S Policemane shot a black 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times on October 20, 2014. Now, after months of requests from local reporters and activists, a Cook County judge has ordered the Chicago Police Department to release the dash cam footage of McDonald's last moments by Thursday, and the city is preparing itself for potential unrest.

McDonald was killed after police responded to reports of attempted car break-ins in Chicago’s Archer Heights neighborhood.

When officers arrived at the scene, they found McDonald, who was allegedly acting erratically and was in possession of a small knife. Officers tried to isolate him from bystanders with two squad cars, but he reportedly punctured a tire on one of the squad cars and damaged a front windshield. 

When officers exited the car demanding he drop the knife, they said McDonald lunged at them, prompting officer Jason Van Dyke to fire shots. A dash cam on a police car captured the incident in full, but the footage has not been released to the public. 

Van Dyke was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder in the case, which is reportedly the first time in 35 years an on-duty Chicago police officer has been charged for such a case.

Brandon Smith, a freelance reporter, filed a Freedom of Information Act request to have the department release the video over the spring and summer.

When the department finally denied Smith’s request on August 4, it cited the ongoing investigation over McDonald’s death, adding that the video’s release would prevent a jury in Van Dyke’s case from being impartial. In Smith’s August brief, however, he said CPD was stalling and eventually barring release of the video "for political and PR reasons."

Justice Franklin Valderrama also found the department’s claim that the release of the videos would disrupt Van Dyke’s case to be "inadequate," resulting in his order to release the video. 

Source: Vox