Article: The video that will rip Chicago apart — and why you need to see it..
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stringer bell
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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/kass/ct-police-shooting-video-kass-met-1111-20151110-column.html
By John Kass
There is a video that could tear Chicago apart.
It will go viral if released, and the world will see something ugly and frightening on the Southwest Side.
It comes from a police dashboard camera. City Hall worries that political hell may be on the way. Activists are primed. The politics of race and police use of force are at hand.
And a court hearing is scheduled for next week on whether it should be released to the public.
All this is going on just below the surface. All the players know what's at stake, so I thought you should know about it, too.
The video, without sound, is said to show Laquan McDonald, a 17-year-old African-American reportedly with ? in his system, holding a small knife. He was shot to death by a white Chicago police officer, Jason Van ? , on the night of Oct. 20, 2014, at 41st and Pulaski on the Southwest Side.
City officials said police, responding to a call of a man slashing tires, followed McDonald carefully and calmly as he wandered. They called for backup and Tasers. Then McDonald walked out onto Pulaski Road.
Only one cop opened fire, shooting 16 times in all, and the video is said to show the rounds hitting McDonald in the back, the legs, arms, neck and head, the bullets making the body jump again and again.
On Nov. 19, Cook County Judge Franklin Valderrama is expected to rule whether the video should be released.
The FBI is investigating. Officer Van ? , who has not been charged with any crime, has been stripped of his police powers and has been reassigned to desk duty.
Attorney Jeff Neslund, a former prosecutor, helped quickly secure a $5 million settlement from the city for McDonald's family. I figure Mayor Rahm Emanuel did not want the video shaping his mayoral-runoff election campaign.
"It shocks the conscience," Neslund told me. "The video was disturbing. It was described accurately by one of the witnesses as an execution. He was on the ground, and the police officer kept shooting."
One man who said he has talked to federal authorities told me on Tuesday he'd been driving his son to the hospital and saw it all. The police union version was that McDonald "lunged" at the officer. The witness's account differs markedly.
"I was there, I saw it," he said. "He (McDonald) wasn't attacking anybody. He was looking for a way out. He was just trying to turn away. The kid turned away, was dropped at the first shot or two, and the police kept shooting and shooting. You could see his body moving.
"It freaked me out. It freaked my son out."
Reading or hearing about 16 shots pumped into the body of a young man isn't the same thing as seeing it.
If the video is released, many won't care about the drugs or the knife. Here's what will be seared on the American mind: the black body flinching with bullet after bullet from a white cop's gun.
I have not seen the video. "It's worse than anything that's come out this summer on police cases anywhere," said a source who has seen it. "He starts walking away from the officers. The first shot, he spins and falls to the ground. Then the officer continues to shoot, and intermittently, you see the body twitching and jerking from the rounds."
The Emanuel administration continues to fight the release of the video.
"Ensuring our officers are accountable for their actions is critical to building trust between residents and the Police Department," said the mayor's press secretary, Kelley Quinn. "There are federal and state criminal investigations into this specific incident, and we have to respect that process. So their work isn't compromised, we cannot comment on the case specifically, and we are following common practice in not releasing the evidence of an ongoing investigation."
Chicago Ald. Danny Solis, 25th, understands this city of tribes. He voted for the settlement and warned against the video's release.
"My position is, if it doesn't serve a purpose to help heal, or make things better for our people, I suggest caution," Solis said. "If it's not going to help this most American of American cities, then let's be very, very careful what we do."
After the city settled with the family, freelance journalist Brandon Smith filed a Freedom of Information request with Chicago police for the dash-cam video.
Usually, investigators request that evidence, like the video, be withheld pending the completion of the case. But no such affidavits have been filed in the case as yet, and Smith's attorneys expect a ruling next week.
"The video should be released," the witness told me. "The people have to see what actually happened. I watched the news. Everything they said about how (McDonald) 'lunged' didn't happen. He (the officer) just emptied his gun into him."
Keeping the video secret serves the politics of City Hall. Releasing it serves the interests of activists and police critics who will make McDonald a martyr, and perhaps fashion him into a political club to hammer police and the mayor.
But the people deserve to see what happened. And once they see it, then the people can decide what to do about it. It's their city.
Comments
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Freedom of Information Act should be enough to get the vid released....especially if it is not evidence in an open investigation...
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So how will the Supreme Courts recent decision effect this case?
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if it will cause chaos then why release it?
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Video needs to be released just so we can know what the hell actually happened.
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so only one cop shot.. but he shot 16 ? TIMES! cops emptying the ? clips smh
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Wait a minute after all these cops killing unarmed black kids this whole year now fbi is thinking twice on something?!
They damn sure aint fear no consequences facing a gun in front of innocent people at the moment.. -
Answered my own question.
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Basically what they're saying is to expect something like Alonzo at the end of Training Day (no, not trying to be funny or sarcastic ).
But wait......you're telling me they're building anticipation for the releases now.....?
Get ready for your next round of military exercises (like Ferguson) at the drop of this mixtape...I mean police shooting video.
Ferguson is a small town, Chicago is much bigger. If the protests of Ferguson can be contained, can Chicago? -
JokerzWyld wrote: »So how will the Supreme Courts recent decision effect this case?
That last Supreme Court case was about pigs shooting @ moving vehicles if they think it's a "threat".. So I don't think that case will come into play...
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16xs though?
You'd think he was tryna ? a werewolf -
Elzo69Renaissance wrote: »Freedom of Information Act should be enough to get the vid released....especially if it is not evidence in an open investigation...
In 2-3 years. -
Kid Probably aint even have a knife. That's why it will tear Chicago apart.
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Chicago is on the edge in general. Sad as ? .....so much talent and potential lost in these streets. I wouldn't be surprised if chicago has the next big riot. Its tense out here and the cops crooked as ? . You know your police force crooked when they cover up murders and fudge crime statistics for the FBI.
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What about black on black crime
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if it will cause chaos then why release it?
Come on bruh... the video itself wont cause chaos... police failing to arrest or charge the cop will and should -
stringer bell wrote: »If the video is released, many won't care about the drugs or the knife. Here's what will be seared on the American mind: the black body flinching with bullet after bullet from a white cop's gun.
Giving Americans way too much credit.
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they gonna say ...but crime is outta control in chicago
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stringer bell wrote: »If the video is released, many won't care about the drugs or the knife. Here's what will be seared on the American mind: the black body flinching with bullet after bullet from a white cop's gun.
Giving Americans way too much credit.
Yeah, seeing the footage after knowing the officer didn't get charged or arrested still isn't going to stop the avalanche of "drugs in his system", "does he have a criminal record", "does he have photos online where he looks menacing", "he was a holding a blade", "Chicago is filled with thugs". -
Idk honestly people are desensitized to Chicago as a whole. Violence on both sides, police and civilian, is becoming synonymous with the public perception of that city
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No ? but I'm going off on based what the article is saying if the video is as bad as they say it is and it will "tear the city apart" is it worth the potential destruction of your community, in addition to more minorities getting arrested, charged and no doubt giving the pigs more ? exuses to dish out more police brutality? idk man -
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/nov/18/prosecutors-ask-chicago-police-release-video-teenager-shooting-laquan-mcdonaldProsecutors ask Chicago police to release video of teenager's shooting
Illinois’s attorney general asked Chicago police on Wednesday to release a video that allegedly shows an officer shooting a black teenager 16 times last year.
The request came a day before a judge was expected to decide whether to order police to release dashboard-camera video of the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. Police have said McDonald refused to drop a knife when officers confronted him while responding to a call about a man with a knife walking down a street on the city’s south-west side in October 2014.
The office of the attorney general, Lisa Madigan, said the police department had made “unsubstantiated” claims that releasing the footage to a journalist could hinder an ongoing investigation or deprive anyone of a fair trial. The letter also said police had no legal right to withhold the video because another agency, the Independent Police Review Authority, was conducting the investigation.
An attorney for McDonald’s family, Jeffrey Neslund, who has seen the video, said the footage shows McDonald was armed with a small knife but walking away from police when an officer opened fire. He noted that McDonald’s mother does not want the video released, because she fears it could spark violence in her Chicago neighborhood similar to the riots that erupted in Baltimore and Ferguson, Missouri, after police-involved deaths of black residents.
The Chicago city council took the unusual step in April of approving a $5m settlement with McDonald’s family, even though the family had not sued, after being advised to do so by a city attorney who had seen the video.
An autopsy report showed that McDonald was shot 16 times, including at least twice in his back. The autopsy report also said McDonald had ? , a hallucinogenic drug, in his system.
Police have said that the officer who shot McDonald had been stripped of his police powers and assigned to desk duty. Police have released few details about the shooting, citing the ongoing investigation, but the city’s attorney has said that McDonald was walking away from police when he was shot.
Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi declined comment on Wednesday when asked about Thursday’s trial. He did not immediately return phone messages later in the day seeking comment on the attorney general’s letter.
A Cook County judge is expected to issue a ruling on Thursday on a public records request filed by a freelance journalist seeking the video. -
