Earlier today a white Chicago police officer, Jason Van Dyke, was charged with the first-degree murder of black 17-year-old Laquan McDonald after fatally shooting him 16 times. The gruesome dash cam footage of the Oct. 20, 2014 incident was released by police just hours ago. The fatal police shooting happened after Van Dyke arrived on the scene and after he was told McDonald had a knife. In the video you can see McDonald walking away with his back turned to Van Dyke when he was shot down. According to Van Dyke's partner, McDonald was still alive after hitting the ground, but Van Dyke continued to shoot, and he even tried to reload.
Outraged by the graphic video and yet another senseless instance of police brutality, and protesters have taken to the Chicago streets. Although many scenes have been peaceful, there's already been clashes between protesters and police. The scene is all too familiar given past protests for Mike Brown, Freddie Gray, and others.
Chanting, marching quickly down Roosevelt #LaquanMcDonald pic.twitter.com/OhGlWyp1FZ
— Aaron Cynic (@aaroncynic) November 25, 2015
Group of protesters trying to cross bridge east of Michigan on Balbo. #LaquanMcDonald pic.twitter.com/cj9UGW8w8B
— Justin Allen (@Allen_Justin) November 25, 2015
A CNN correspondent describes protests over the #LaquanMcDonald shooting case in #Chicago https://t.co/WCzpRDCtR6 https://t.co/37nybf1lRx
— CNN (@CNN) November 25, 2015
Activists chanting and dancing while singing Kendrick Lamar. #LaquanMcDonald pic.twitter.com/FAXvV5JJh5
— Zach Stafford (@ZachStafford) November 25, 2015
#LaquanMcDonald protests heading south on State Street https://t.co/fmkuN2NUUf pic.twitter.com/7pMf4Ys1s4
— DNAinfo.com Chicago (@DNAinfoCHI) November 25, 2015
After marching for 2 hours, hundreds demonstrating the murder of #LaquanMcDonald rally at #CPD dist. 1 HQ. @WBEZ pic.twitter.com/fuqctyiW8D
— Yolanda Perdomo (@yolandanews) November 25, 2015