A video of the execution of Laquan McDonald, 17, will finally be released. According to Chicago Tribune, McDonald was shot on Oct. 20, 2014.
The dash cam video reportedly shows McDonald walking on the street with a small knife while high on PCP. The teenager is attempting to run away from police. Before he is able to flee, officer Jason Van Dyke shoots McDonald who falls to the ground. While the teen lay motionless, Van Dyke continued to shoot the teen and unloaded 16 shots into his body.
The officers claimed that they were in fear of their lives according to a a spokesperson for the CPD, but the video shows that the teen was never a threat.
The video was held for over a year because of fear of how Chicago residents would react to the disturbing footage. Initially, Mayor Rahm Emmanuel and other city officials agreed on a $5 million settlement with McDonald’s family and decided to withhold the video from the public. But politics have played a major role in the release.
In May, journalist Brandon Smith sued the city of Chicago to force the release of the video. There was also speculation that police illegally took video surveillance from a nearby store and erased some of the footage. The dash cam video is also silent.
McDonald’s family doesn’t want the video to be released stating that it could cause Chicago to go up in flames similar to Ferguson. But a judge in Chicago decided to release the video to the public on Nov. 25, one day before Thanksgiving.
Van Dyke has yet to be arrested and the shooting currently by investigated by the FBI.
