Chicago (CNN) Leaders in Chicago are calling for calm ahead of the expected release of a video that reportedly shows a white police officer shooting a black teenager 16 times.
Laquan McDonald was walking down a Chicago street the night of October 20, 2014, carrying a 4-inch knife and behaving erratically, authorities said.
A police officer told the 17-year-old to drop the knife, but he didn’t listen and the officer fired on him out of fear for his life, according to a police union spokesman.
On Thursday, a judge in Chicago ordered the city to release by this Wednesday the police dashcam video that shows the shooting. For months, the city has fought attempts to have the video released to the public, saying it could jeopardize any ongoing investigation.
“Chicago is on the tipping point,” the Rev. Roosevelt Watkins said, according to CNN affiliate WLS. “We could be just like Ferguson.”
Watkins was referring to Ferguson, Missouri, which imploded in protests and riots after a white police officer shot to death unarmed black teen Michael Brown in 2014. Unrest in the St. Louis suburb lasted for weeks.
Initially Chicago city officials tried to prevent the release of the video. But Cook County Judge Franklin Valderrama denied a request by the city’s attorneys to issue a stay in his decision while they appeal to the Illinois Appellate Court.
The officer who shot McDonald, Jason Van Dyke, has not faced charges and still works for the police department in a “limited duty position.”
‘Protests are imminent’
On Monday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel met with various activists and community leaders to discuss the release of the video and what it might mean for the city.
His office has not released details on when or how it plans to release the video. But some in the city are bracing for protests and unrest.
John Kass, a columnist for the Chicago Tribune, said the video “could tear Chicago apart.”
“Many in my community feel betrayed,” Rev. Ira Acree, a pastor at the Greater St. John Bible Church, told reporters after meeting with the mayor. “Protests are imminent.”
He said that Emanuel put newsure on him and others to try to use their influence to help make sure those demonstrations are peaceful.
“We’re hoping that these protests and demonstrations will be peaceful. We know they are coming,” said Acree. “If there would be no protest, that would mean that we have become immune to this madness.”
Dean Angelo, the president of the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police, told CNN affiliate WBBM he is concerned protesters from outside the city may converge to “disrupt and cause problems.”
“This is my city. We all live here,” Angelo said. “I’m concerned about the safety of my officers. I’m concerned about the safety of the civilian population. … I think local people don’t want to see their neighborhoods damaged.”
‘Graphic, disturbing and difficult to watch’
Almost everyone who has seen the video says the images are graphic and show McDonald being repeatedly shot while lying on the ground. The video reportedly shows McDonald’s body palpitating quickly several times, consistent with shots striking. Even defense attorneys for the officer involved admit the video is not easy to watch.
“The video is graphic, disturbing and difficult to watch, as any video of a man being shot to death would be,” Daniel Herbert, the officer’s attorney, told the Chicago Tribune.
Herbert told CNN on Friday that before his death, McDonald had “punctured a tire on a police car.”
“At the point which my client confronted Mr. McDonald, my client was aware of the fact that the individual (McDonald) had not complied with numerous police orders to drop the knife,” Herbert said.
Herbert defended Van Dyke’s actions, saying the officer “believed he was in fear for an attack and for the safety of anyone else on the scene.”
Mayor Emanuel’s office issued a statement Thursday afternoon criticizing the officer.
“Police officers are entrusted to uphold the law, and to provide safety to our residents. In this case unfortunately, it appears an officer violated that trust at every level.”
After spending months trying to keep the video from becoming public, the city abruptly announced it would not appeal the judge’s decision that the video should be released by November 25. The statement exnewsed hope that prosecutors would have time to finish their investigation so “Chicago can begin to heal.”
Thursday’s decision was the result of a Freedom of Information Act request filed earlier this year by freelance journalist Brandon Smith. Smith’s attorneys applauded the decision.
“There’s a tremendous public interest in this,” an attorney for Smith said. “The public should not be at the mercy of when the police department dictates the video should be released.”
Investigating the case
Authorities said in April that a joint investigation into McDonald’s death would be conducted by federal and state authorities, spearheaded by the Chicago branch of the FBI.
CNN reached out to the U.S. attorney’s office investigating the case, which said it had nothing new to report since the April announcement.
The Cook County State Attorney’s office would not comment to CNN.
Herbert, Van Dyke’s attorney, would not speak with CNN about which authorities are investigating the shooting.
“He’s scared to death, but more than himself he’s scared for his wife, his two kids,” Herbert said of Van Dyke. “He knows in his heart of hearts that his actions were appropriate.”
The city has already reached a settlement with McDonald’s family, agreeing in April to pay $5 million, though the family had not filed a lawsuit.
McDonald was a ward of the state at the time of his death, according to a spokeswoman with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. A few days before he was killed, DCFS gave him over to the custody of a relative, she said.
She also said that McDonald was the alleged victim in two abuse investigations. One happened in 2000; the other in 2003.
McDonald attended Sullivan House, an alternative school, for about two months, according to the principal there.
Thomas Gattuso remembered McDonald as someone who was outgoing, jovial, talkative and funny. He’d thought about playing basketball and wanted to get his life on track, the principal said.
CNN’s Sonya Hamasaki, Jason Kravarik, Sheena Jones and Joshua Berlinger contributed to this report.
