Chicago police likely attempted to cover up the murder of Laquan McDonald. According to the Chicago Tribune, a Burger King district manager revealed that the footage of McDonald’s murder was erased from their surveillance camera.
On the night of McDonald’s murder, police entered the Burger King where McDonald was shot moments after the 17-year-old was killed. Without an official search warrant, officers pressured Burger King employees to reveal the private code for the surveillance video. The nightshift manager called the district manager, Jay Darshane, to get permission to hand over the code. Darshane agreed to allow the footage to be viewed by police. However, the police could not operate the equipment and hired a specialist to retrieve the footage.
But when investigators from the Independent Police Review attempted to make a copy of the video the next morning, Burger King managers discovered that 86 minutes of the footage was missing from the video. The video picks up 17 minutes after McDonald was shot. Two police officers can be seen starring at a Burger King video monitor.
Moreover, eyewitnesses to the murder said they were intimidated by the police on the scene who told them they would be arrested if they stayed. One day later, Chicago police reported an untruth by claiming that McDonald attempted to stab an officer before he was shot.
This revelation proves that officer Jason Van Dyke shouldn’t be the only fall guy. He deserves to be convicted of murder, but his fellow police officers should also be arrested and charged with conspiracy. Their blatant attempt to hide and destroy evidence must be addressed with criminal charges.
But it’s unlikely that the charges will come from Cook County. The state’s D.A., Anita Alvarez, is obviously ignoring the facts by claiming that there isn’t any evidence that the video was intentionally erased.
The U.S. Justice Department would likely have to file the charges, but they have yet to speak on the incident.
