Demonstrators hold hands to block an intersection while a line of police keeps watch during protests in Chicago, November 24, 2015. PHOTO: REUTERS/Jim Young
The Editorial Board at El BeiSMan has decided not to share the dash cam video because we do not promote the sharing of violence against bodies of any color.
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It’s been more than 400 days since 17-year-old Laquan McDonald was shot 16 times and brutally murdered by former Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke. This past week the dash cam footage was released to the public after the city of Chicago tried for more than a year to cover it up. And while justice appears to have been served in the first-degree murder charge that was handed down last week, many people have been left with a sickening feeling that the move was only the city and the CPD succumbing to public pressure, and rightfully so.
First, it’s important to analyze what we do know and what is shown in the dash cam footage. The video shows McDonald walking down the middle of Pulaski Road, away from police officers as they are arriving to his left. Two officers then emerge from their vehicles with guns drawn and McDonald continues to walk away from them. Moments before the first shot is fired, McDonald appears to slightly move his right arm before being met with a barrage of bullets. The teen then falls to the ground.
As McDonald lies on the street, he lifts his head and begins to try and move his arms before he is met with more bullets. Clouds of smoke like debris fade up from the teen’s motionless body. The video shows a total of 15 seconds of shooting and for 13 of those seconds McDonald is lying in the street. According to police, McDonald reportedly had PCP in his system and had been holding a 3-inch blade in his hand. For Van Dyke, the teen’s presence a few yards from him and his antisocial conduct was threatening enough for him to feel he needed to empty his 16-round handgun and reload before his partner asked him to hold his fire.
McDonald was from the West Garfield Park neighborhood, just north of the Garfield Park Conservatory. The neighborhood is a predominantly Black community and almost 40% of the community has below a high school education, while 48% of the population lives below the poverty line according to city data. Could the outcome of this tragedy have been different if the city focused more of their efforts and resources on these low-income neighborhoods? It was only two years ago that Mayor Rahm Emanuel approved the closing of more than 50 Chicago Public Schools, most of which were in predominantly Black communities on the city’s South and West sides. These communities are not being cared for in the same way that other, more affluent communities in the city are.
More than 500 protesters immediately took to the streets Tuesday night following the release of the footage that depicted the heinous crime. With the prompt reaction of Chicago’s citizens, many wondered how it took Emanuel, Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy and state’s attorney Anita Alvarez more than a year to do something about the footage. Community leaders have called for the resignation of these three individuals not only for the video, but for the lies and attempted cover up that ensued after the incident.
At the time of the shooting the police had claimed that Van Dyke acted in self-defense and shot McDonald only once in the chest. It appeared as if the shooting would soon be forgotten. However, a whistleblower reached out to journalist Jamie Kalven and attorney Craig Futterman shortly after the shooting occurred with concerns that the shooting wasn’t being investigated thoroughly enough. Next, Kalven and Futterman put out a public statement asking the police to release any video they had of the incident. Shortly after, they received a copy of the official autopsy report that showed that officer Van Dyke had unloaded his gun into McDonald. There wasn’t merely a single shot, 16 bullets had in fact riddled the teen’s upper body.
When lawyers for McDonald’s family obtained the dash cam footage they were quickly approached by the city. Before the family even filed a lawsuit, the City Council approved a $5 million settlement with McDonald’s family to keep the video confidential. However, the efforts of another reporter, Brandon Smith, helped bring the tragedy to the public. After Smith and 15 other journalists had their Freedom of Information Act requests rejected by the city, Smith decided to sue the police and won with a judge ruling that the police had to release the footage. Days before the video was released to the public, officer Van Dyke was conveniently charged with first-degree murder, the first on-duty Chicago cop to face that charge in almost 35 years. While Emanuel claims that Van Dyke will face justice, that remains to be seen.
Although the presence of the dash cam footage has Emanuel, McCarthy and Alvarez feeling that they did the right thing, many questions have lingered. First and foremost, while sirens can faintly be heard in the dash cam video, no audio can be heard of the officers or the gun shots. While McCarthy has claimed that nothing was tampered with, it’s hard to believe that every squad car at the scene miraculously had the same technical difficulties as the murder of McDonald was unfolding.
Additionally, a Burger King situated just across the street from the scene of the tragedy noticed a gap in their security footage. Minutes after the incident ended, several police officers entered the restaurant and demanded to view the footage. After leaving the restaurant having spent nearly two hours with the equipment, the video had an inexplicable 86-minute gap that included when McDonald was fatally shot. Although the surveillance footage likely would not have caught the incident itself, it could have provided valuable information pertaining to what happened leading up to the shooting. It appears that the CPD diverted witnesses and tampered with security footage all in an attempt to cover up the truth of the matter.
It must be made clear that there are good cops and bad cops, not all police officers are bad. These are men and women who have proudly assumed the responsibility of risking their lives to serve and protect the people in their communities. However, a New York Times article revealed that the city of Chicago has done little to nothing to penalize bad cops over the years. Most notably with the case of Jerome Finnigan, who in 18 years with the Chicago Police Department has never been disciplined for the 68 citizen complaints that have been logged against him.
In another article published by The Atlantic, data released earlier this month by the Invisible Institute, a nonprofit journalism organization and the Mandel Legal Aid Clinic of the University of Chicago Law School showed that from 2011 to 2015, 97 percent of more than 28,500 citizen complaints resulted in no officer being punished, according to the files. These statistics clearly show that Chicago has done a horrendous job of identifying and disciplining bad cops, and when they do identify one they’re first pulled towards covering the situation up rather than holding them accountable.
Protesters have rightfully and peacefully filed into the streets well into the weekend since the surfacing of the video. While a very small number of protesters have become combative, the overwhelming majority of those protesting have been peaceful at a time where many people would understand their desire to lash out. As shoppers flooded Chicago’s Magnificent Mile for Black Friday, protesters did the same thing, but with a different objective in mind. Protesters, joined by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, marched down Michigan Avenue and blocked shoppers from shopping with the hopes of fixing their attention on something much more important, Laquan McDonald.
Jason Van Dyke is not the only one at fault here, although he did fire all 16 shots into Laquan McDonald without reason. At fault are also our elected officials, civil servants, police union officials and our justice system that is systematically flawed to target people of color. Laquan McDonald had not hurt anyone nor was he directly threatening anyone, yet he was unmercifully shot and killed. However, a white gunman who burst into a Planned Parenthood clinic and opened fire, killing three people, was persuaded to surrender and taken into custody by police unharmed. These two instances demonstrate the unnerving truth of whose body has more value in today’s society, regardless of the circumstance.
As a society, there’s a responsibility that we as citizens must undertake to ensure that this instance and the many others like it are not forgotten. And right now that is a responsibility that not everyone has owned up to. Protesters have continually been wrongfully criticized for not protesting Black on Black violence, particularly with the unthinkable murder of 9-year-old Tyshawn Lee. In reality, countless residents from the Auburn Gresham neighborhood took to the streets the day after with flyers and posters announcing a reward for the capture of the criminals.
Just because a protest doesn’t burst with the intensity and anger of Ferguson, or just because police don’t line the streets in riot gear, or just because one protest doesn’t look exactly like the others you have seen doesn’t mean that people aren’t protesting and organizing. And have we forgotten The Bud Billiken Parade? This event takes place at the end of every summer with the mission of improving the quality of life for African-Americans through educational, social and cultural programs. Year after year the Black community invests their time and money into their own community to try and thwart the violence and inequality that has surfaced. So to say that the Black community selectively chooses who and what to protest is simply wrong.
Whether it’s the Black, White, Latin@ or any other community, at the end of the day each one is made up of human beings. And when other humans are being treated unjustly in such outspoken ways, it’s important for all of these different communities to come together and showcase the power of one united community that welcomes people from all walks of life. Criticism and finger pointing have no place at a time like this, openness and unity is what’s now more important than ever. We all must join together regardless of the color of our skin, because silence is consent.
Protesters hold up signs and chant slogans as they march down State Street in Chicago, Illinois November 24, 2015. PHOTO: REUTERS/Frank Polich
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Parker Asmann is a 2015 graduate of DePaul University with degrees in Journalism and Spanish, along with a minor in Latin American and Latino Studies. He is currently residing in Chicago while focusing on issues of social justice and human rights. He is a member of El BeiSMans Editorial Board.
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