Chicago Cop Will Be Charged With Murder in Fatal Shooting of Unarmed Black Teen: Report
A charge of murder is expected to be filed against a white Chicago police officer accused of shooting a black teenager 16 times, just a day ahead of a deadline by which a judge has ordered the city to release a squad-car video of the incident.
Veteran officer Jason Van Dyke is expected to be indicted Tuesday on a murder charge in the killing of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, an official close to the investigation told The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity so as not to pre-empt an announcement of the charges.
City officials and community leaders have been bracing for the release of the video, fearing an outbreak of unrest and demonstrations similar to what occurred in Baltimore, Ferguson, Missouri and other cities after young African American men were slain by police. The judge ordered the dash-cam recording to be released by Wednesday after city officials had argued for months it couldn’t be made public until the conclusion of several investigations.
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