The undisputed facts surrounding the police involved shooting of 17-year old Laquan McDonald on the night of October 20, 2014 … 

The suspect, 17-year old Laquan McDonald, was confronted at approximately 9:57 p.m. on the night of October 20, 2014 by Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke who discharged his weapon 16 times while 12-15 feet away from the suspect. Five additional on-scene officers did not discharge their weapons.

According to Cook County  State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez said the officer emptied his 9-mm pistol of all 16 rounds and that he was on the scene for just 30 seconds before he started shooting. She said he opened fire just six seconds after getting out of his vehicle and kept firing even though McDonald dropped to the ground after the initial shots.

The facts appear to be corroborated by a police dash-cam video that clearly shows the shooting. The released portion of the video is about seven minutes long and appears to show 17-year-old Laquan McDonald running down the middle of Pulaski Road near 41st Street when Officer Jason Van Dyke, standing next to his SUV, opens fire and McDonald goes down in the street.

Something stinks …

• It appears that law enforcement personnel knew that this was a “bad shooting” and may have tried to cover-up evidence.

Missing Minutes From Security Video Raises Questions

Chicago police officers deleted footage from a security camera at a Burger King restaurant located fewer than 100 yards from where 17-year old Laquan McDonald was shot and killed, according to a Chicago-area district manager for the food chain.

The 86-minutes of missing video runs from 9:13 p.m. to 10:39 p.m., according to the lawyers for McDonald’s family. He was shot at approximately 9:50 p.m.

After the shooting, according to Jay Darshane, the District Manager for Burger King, four to five police officers wearing blue and white shirts entered the restaurant and asked to view the video and were given the password to the equipment. Three hours later they left, he said.

The next day, when an investigator from the Independent Police Review Authority asked to view the security footage, it was discovered that the 86 minutes of video was missing. <Source>

• It appears that the the City of Chicago knew it was a bad shooting and agreed to pay “the family” $5million prior to the filing of any lawsuit; and wanted to stone-wall the release of the video claiming an ongoing investigation.

Chicago pays $5 million to family of teen shot 16 times by police, but withholds video

Aldermen approved a $5 million settlement to be granted to the family of a teen shot 16 times by Chicago police last October, but insisted on keeping the dashboard camera footage of the shooting away from the public.

The City Council voted 47-0 on Wednesday to preempt a federal lawsuit by paying the family of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, shot by a Chicago police officer on October 20, 2014. Legal counsel for the city Stephen Patton told reporters that lawyers for the family initially sought $16 million.

According to Patton, dashboard camera recording of the shooting was crucial to the decision. However, the police has refused to release the footage to the public. Mayor Rahm Emanuel said that the Chicago PD and the FBI are withholding the video because it was “central to their investigation” of the shooting. <Source>

 
• It appears that the City of Chicago was forced by a judge to release the video and did so one day prior to a judge’s deadline …

Chicago says it'll release shooting video per judge's order

The city of Chicago said Thursday it will comply with a judge's order and soon release a video of a white police officer shooting a black teenager 16 times — images that some worry could lead to unrest similar to protests that other cities have seen after police-involved deaths.  The announcement from the city came after Cook County Judge Franklin Valderrama refused to give the Chicago Police Department more time before the release while the city decided whether to appeal. <Source>

• It appears that the City of Chicago charged the officer with first-degree murder only when the video was released …

Officer charged with murder in teen's death; video released

A white Chicago police officer who shot a black teenager 16 times last year was charged with first-degree murder Tuesday, hours before the city released a video of the killing that many people fear could spark unrest. A judge ordered that the recording be made public by Wednesday. Moments before it was released, the mayor and the police chief appealed for calm. <Source>

• It appears that the Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez defended the delay in charging the police officer citing complex legal issues …

Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez defended the 13 months it took to charge officer Jason Van Dyke. She said cases involving police officers present “highly complex” legal issues and she would rather take the time to get it right than “rush to judgment.” <Source>

Other than time time it took to gather crime scene evidence, view the statements of the officers, and receive the autopsy and drug screens, what makes this case any different from those previously prepared and prosecuted. Possibly, even waiting for the FBI investigation and the DOJ decision on a civil rights violation is no cause for the 13 month delay. Which leads us to ask the following political question …

Question: Did Rahm Emanuel pull a “Barack Obama” and stonewall the release of the video until after his contentious election?

Did Progressive socialist democrat Chicago Mayo Rahm Emanuel take a page out of the Barack Obama playbook and have his acolytes stonewall the release of a damning October, 2014 police video that shows a white Chicago Police Officer shoot an armed black youth, 17-year-old Laquan McDonald,  16 times – 14 times after he was already down and incapacitated in the street?

Was it done to prevent civil unrest that would surely follow the release of the video? Or was it done so as not to interfere with Rahm Emanuel’s contentious and close reelection bid?

It is no secret that Rahm Emanuel faced “a squeaker,” with some believing he could lose his reelection bid for Mayor in the February, 2015 election. As it was, Emanuel did not achieve a clear victory and was forced into a runoff against Cook County Board Commissioner Jesús "Chuy" García in the April 7, 2015 runoff election. Any major disruption in the city that involved a white versus minority confrontation could have thrown the close election to Emanuel’s minority opposition.

Caveat: The officer remains innocent until proven guilty …

Prosecutors sought to have the veteran officer held without bail until his trial. But Van Dyke’s lawyer, Daniel Herbert, objected, saying the officer was not a risk to flee. “We believe we have a valid defense in this case,” Herbert said.

After court, Herbert, who has previously said Van Dyke feared for his life, questioned the filing of first-degree murder charges.

“Despite what you heard in that courtroom, this is not a murder case,” he told reporters. The one-page criminal complaint lodged against Van Dyke charged him with shooting McDonald “without legal justification and with the intent to kill or do great bodily harm.” <Source>

Bottom line …

Chicago, known for its historic political corruption, is once again in the news. Time will only tell if the communist activists and agitators will infect peaceful protests and whip-up a major frenzy of assaults, looting, and fires. Although, given the prior extrajudicial behavior of the Chicago Police Department, that may be unlikely.

After watching the video, it does appear that the officer did react with excessive force and that the suspect did not present a credible threat to the office’s life at the time of the shooting as the suspect appears to be heading away from the officer. However, a case can be made that any suspect armed with a knife within 21 feet is a credible threat. But, the officer should have stopped shooting when the suspect hit the ground. Again, we do not know the officer’s state of mind.

Much of the original police view of the events have been falsified and I wonder if there is not another factor, such as Rahm Emanuel’s election bid, in play. We will let the courts make the final determination of the officer’s culpability in the death of the suspect.

This is life under the progressive socialist democrats and their enlightened governance of the inner cities.

Time for a change.

-- steve