Chicago officer pleads not guilty in black teen's death
The Chicago police officer accused of fatally shooting black teen Laquan McDonald last year pleaded not guilty Tuesday to six counts of first-degree murder and one count of official misconduct.
Officer Jason Van Dyke, who is white, has been free on $1.5 million bail. He was charged last month, hours after dashcam video of the shooting was made public. Due to technical problems the video does not include audio, but the release sparked a series of protests across the city and prompted the firing of Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy.
McDonald, 17, was shot 16 times on Oct. 20, 2014. Mayor Rahm Emanuel has been an outspoken critic of Van Dyke and has rejected calls for his own resignation.
"We hold our police officers to a high standard and obviously in this case, Jason Van Dyke violated the standards of professionalism that come with being a police officer but also basic moral standards that bind our community together," Emanuel said last month. "Rather than uphold the law, he took the law into his own hands and it's now up to the justice system to hold him accountable."
Van Dyke's next court appearance was set for Jan. 29. His lawyer, Dan Herbert, has said he wants the trial moved out of the city, citing Emanuel's statements.
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In the video, McDonald appears to be walking down a street away from police when he's first struck. About two seconds after he falls and is lying on his side, two puffs of smoke can be seen. Prosecutors said the puffs of smoke were clouds of debris caused by fired bullets. The last visible shot was fired about 13 seconds later as the body lay on the ground.
Herbert has said the video fails to provide context for the shooting. Herbert said his Van Dyke, 37, feared for his life after police answered a call about a young man acting erratically.
The city resisted releasing the video, citing federal and state probes into the shooting, but a Cook County Circuit Court judge ordered the release after an independent journalist sued the city. Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez said she had decided to charge Van Dyke weeks earlier but had been delaying the announcement while federal authorities completed their investigation.
After the judge ordered the release, Alvarez said she decided to immediately go forward with the charges.
Tuesday's hearing came one day after the father of another teen fatally shot by a Chicago police officer filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city. Quintonio LeGrier, 19, and Bettie Jones, 55, were killed Saturday by a police officer responding to a domestic disturbance call. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Antonio LeGrier, claims the younger LeGrier was unarmed and never posed a threat to officers.
Police have said LeGrier was combative but that Jones was shot by accident.
Contributing: Aamer Madhani
