Next #BlackLives Riot Coming to Chicago? Judge to Decide on Video of “Executed” Teen Shot 16 Times by Cops

It’s the ruling news outlets are reporting “might rip Chicago apart”.

On November 19th, a judge is set to decide whether or not to make a police dashcam video public that reportedly shows a white Chicago police officer shooting a black 17-year-old a whopping 16 times.

Teen Laquan McDonald was killed after being shot 16 times by Officer Jason Van Dyke. The teen had fled and was chased by cops in the area on reports of someone slashing tires. The video reportedly does show McDonald holding a small knife, and it has been claimed he had PCP in his system (something police would not have known at the time).

Still, what this video reportedly contains is not a crazed teen on drugs who attacks police with a knife but, instead, what has described as “an execution”.

Via the Chicago Tribute op-ed “The video that might rip Chicago apart — and why you need to see it”:

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…

“It shocks the conscience,” [former Prosecuting Attorney Jeff] 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.”

McDonald’s 16 Gunshot Wounds

Although the police claim McDonald lunged at Van Dyke who then fired in self-defense, witnesses on scene told federal investigators that never happened.

“I was there, I saw it,” [the witness] 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.

Those who have seen the dashcam video claim it will spark violent riots worse than those seen in Ferguson, Baltimore, and other cities around the nation.

“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.”

Officer Van Dyke has been reassigned to desk duty while the FBI investigates the incident. So far, Van Dyke has not been charged with a crime.

The teen’s family has already received a $5 million settlement from the city. On why the video has yet to be released, Chicago Tribune reporter John Kass wrote, “I figure Mayor Rahm Emanuel did not want the video shaping his mayoral-runoff election campaign.”

The Emanuel administration has continued to fight the release of the video. The judge will decide on Thursday. Activists are at the ready.