Jason Van Dyke became the first Chicago police officer in history to be charged with murder for an on-duty shooting that left a 17-year-old boy dead.
And only because a judge ordered the release of the dash cam video that Chicago police had refused to release for more than a year.
Earlier today, prosecutors slapped Van Dyke with an additional 16 charges of aggravated battery with a firearm – one for each bullet he fired at Laquan McDonald – whom police claimed had “lunged” at the cop with a knife.
The video shows McDonald never lunged at him nor is a knife visible in his hands, which sparked protests throughout the country, resulting in first-degree murder charges filed against Van Dyke November 2015.
The video also shows Van Dyke walking up to the teen while continuing to shoot, even after the teen had collapsed on the street.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times:
A new indictment handed up by a grand jury last week adds 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm, apparently one for each shot Van Dyke fired at McDonald, special prosecutor Joseph McMahon said in a hearing at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse.
The new indictment, returned on March 16, still includes the six counts of first-degree murder and one count of official misconduct that were charged in November 2015, when the case was being handled by former State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez.
Lawyers for Van Dyke had filed motions to dismiss the original charges against Van Dyke, claiming “irregularities” by prosecutors tainted the grand jury that returned the original indictment.Daniel Herbert has argued that the grand jury that originally handed up charges against Van Dyke was given false or incorrect information, and that Alvarez raced to file the case because of intense interest in the case. Thursday, Herbert said the new indictment was an acknowledgment that the grand jury process had been plagued by problems.
“I disagree with Mr. Herbert,” McMahon told Judge Vincent Gaughan.
We can only hope they file charges against the cops who destroyed 86 minutes of surveillance video from a local Burger King.
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