The city of Chicago released dashboard camera footage Tuesday evening that shows the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old black teenager in October 2014.
The video is six minutes long, and appears to show Laquan McDonald walking down the middle of a street before he is shot. Jason Van Dyke, the officer who allegedly shot McDonald, was charged with first-degree murder Tuesday; prosecutors say he fired 16 rounds at McDonald in roughly 14 seconds, and was reloading when another officer told him to hold his fire, the Chicago Tribune reports.
A court ordered the release of the video after a freelance journalist filed a Freedom of Information Act request, going against the wishes of McDonald's family. "No one understands the anger more than us, but if you choose to speak out, we urge you to be peaceful," the family said in a statement. "Don't resort to violence in Laquan's name. Let his legacy be better than that." Before the video was posted, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy held a news conference, urging residents to remain calm. "The officer in this case took a young man's life, and he's going to have to account for his actions," McCarthy said. "People have a right to be angry, people have a right to protest. " While he did not predict "doom and gloom," he did say he believed the tape would spark protests. The graphic video can be viewed on the Chicago Tribune website.