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 The footage of last year's shooting, taken from a camera mounted
on the dashboard of a police car and made public under orders from a
judge, prompted mostly peaceful street demonstrations in Chicago.
The clip showed 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, who authorities said
was carrying a pocket knife and had the hallucinogenic drug PCP in
his system, as he was gunned down in the middle of a street on Oct.
20, 2014.
McDonald is seen jogging away from patrol vehicles pursuing him from
behind, and then veering off diagonally at a walk as two more
officers pull up in a squad car ahead of him.
Two policemen are shown jumping out of their vehicle in the center
of the road, and drawing their weapons while advancing toward
McDonald, who continues to move away. Within seconds he is struck by
bullets, spins and crumples to the ground, his body jerking as he is
hit by additional rounds of gunfire.
McDonald's death came at a time of intense national debate over
police use of deadly force, especially against minorities.
 Officer Jason Van Dyke is the first Chicago police officer charged
with murder for an on-duty incident in decades.
Cook County's chief prosecutor, Anita Alvarez, acknowledged that she
timed the filing of the first-degree murder charge against Van Dyke
to precede the video's disclosure in a bid to mute harsh public
reaction to the footage.
"With release of this video it's really important for public safety
that the citizens of Chicago know that this officer is being held
responsible for his actions," she said.
The video originally was expected to be released a day later, in
compliance with the Wednesday deadline set by a judge. However,
police said they made the clip public Tuesday evening after it was
leaked to a local television station. Technical issues were blamed
for a lack of audio with the tape.
Authorities, including Mayor Rahm Emanuel, appealed for calm as the
city hoped to avert the turmoil over race and the use of lethal
police force that has shaken much of the United States for more than
a year.
Hundreds of protesters gathered after dark a few miles east of the
site of the shooting. They marched through the streets chanting:
"You don't get to kill us and tell us how to feel. You don't get to
shoot us and tell us how to heal."
Police said two protesters were arrested after a scuffle on Michigan
Avenue.
"It's a good start that they have charged the police officer, but
we've clearly reached the point where something needs to change,"
said protester Monique Winegard, 33.
Demonstrators had assembled outside a police precinct by 9 p.m. CST
(0300 GMT), demanding the release of the two people arrested.
Protesters later surrounded a police vehicle in a brief standoff.
 The crowd began to wane as the night wore on, and the late-autumn
air grew colder, although a core group of at least 200 continued to
march from block to block in what were essentially large circles
enclosed by police lines. Some protesters briefly blocked an
expressway entrance ramp.
'OFFICER WENT OVERBOARD'
The video, and prosecutors' account of the shooting, contradicted
assertions by Van Dyke's lawyers and the police union that the
shooting was justified because Van Dyke felt threatened by the
youth.
Prosecutors said Van Dyke fired the shots within 30 seconds of
arriving at the scene, and just six seconds after emerging from his
patrol car, emptying his gun at McDonald and preparing to reload.
McDonald was hit by 16 rounds, all from Van Dyke's weapon, the
prosecutors added.
"Clearly, this officer went overboard and he abused his authority,
and I don't think use of force was necessary," prosecutor Alvarez
said at a news conference after Van Dyke's initial hearing.
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Van Dyke was denied bail at a hearing in Chicago's main criminal
courthouse hours after the criminal charge was announced. He could
face 20 years to life in prison if convicted.
Cook County Circuit Court Associate Judge Donald Panarese scheduled
a second hearing for Monday, where he said he would view the video
in court and reconsider bail based on its content. Prosecutor Bill
Delaney told the judge that witnesses and the video concur McDonald
was not moving toward Van Dyke.
MISCONDUCT
Van Dyke has had 20 misconduct complaints made against him during
the past 4-1/2 years, none of which led to any discipline from the
Chicago Police Department, according to research by Craig Futterman,
a University of Chicago law professor and expert on police
accountability issues.
"The Chicago Police Department refuses to look at potential patterns
of misconduct complaints when investigating police misconduct,"
Futterman said. "If the department did look at these patterns when
investigating police abuse, there is a great chance right now that
17-year-old boy would still be alive."
A number of U.S. cities have seen protests over police violence in
the past 18 months, some of them fueled by video of the deaths.
The uproar was a factor in the rise of the Black Lives Matter civil
rights movement and has become an issue in the November 2016 U.S.
presidential election campaign.
Van Dyke's lawyer Daniel Herbert said his client would prevail in
court.
"This is a case that can't be tried in the streets, it can't be
tried in the media, and it can't be tried on Facebook," Herbert
said.
FAMILY CALLS FOR CALM
McDonald's family called for calm, as did city authorities and black
community leaders.
"No one understands the anger more than us, but if you choose to
speak out, we urge you to be peaceful. Don't resort to violence in
Laquan's name. Let his legacy be better than that," McDonald's
family said in a statement through their lawyer.
Police shootings are frequent in Chicago, the third-largest city in
the United States with 2.7 million people, roughly one-third white,
one-third black and one-third Hispanic.
From 2008-2014 there were an average of 17 fatal shootings by police
each year, according to data from the Independent Police Review
Authority, which investigates police misconduct.
Almost all shootings, fatal and non-fatal, are found to be
justified.
(Reporting by Mary Wisniewski; Additional reporting by Fiona Ortiz,
Justin Madden, Nick Carey and Tom Polansek in Chicago and Ben
Klayman in Detroit; Writing by Grant McCool and Steve Gorman;
Editing by Paul Tait and Andrew Heavens)
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