It took more than a year for Chicago police – under pressure from the media and the public – to release video footage of the 2014 shooting that left Laquan McDonald dead, 16 bullets in his body. When a judge finally insisted the video be released, it cast major doubt on the police department’s version of events.
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As witnesses and family members had maintained all along, the video showed that McDonald hadn’t lunged at police with a knife. He did have a knife and had slashed a tire on the police cruiser, but then began walking away. In the video, which was from a police dashboard camera, it looked as though the 17-year-old had been gunned down without provocation. Officer Jason Van Dyke has been charged with first-degree murder.