Warning: both the description and video below portray a violent and graphic event of police brutality
After a press conference at 4:30pm CST in which Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel claimed to have never seen the video of Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke shooting 16 rounds into Laquan McDonald’s body and killing him, police released dash cam video of the event to outlets. Again, be advised that this video is graphic and violent.
The last minute or so of the video of the October 20, 2014 incident shows McDonald walking away from police officers in the street. He then spins abruptly and falls as the first shot or shots hit him. Puffs of smoke and his writhing body can be seen as Van Dyke continues to fire shots into his body. Officers then kick away the small knife and refuse McDonald medical attention, standing on the scene until the video ends.
It’s hard to imagine that with this video it took Cook County prosecutor Anita Alvarez a year to indict Van Dyke, and even less fathomable that Van Dyke was not dismissed from police payroll until well after the shooting. It is also hard to imagine that high-ranking officials like Mayor Emanuel did not see the video. Also, news that a local Burger King employee claims that police deleted additional security footage of the incident adds more layers to what appears to be an unmistakable heinous crime.