The police story of this murder was a lie

Last night, November 24, 2015, the police video of the murder of Laquan McDonald was released to the public. Hundreds of young Black people took to the streets to express their outrage and to demand that Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department Garry McCarthy be fired. Lucretia Birtz from Black Youth Project (BYP100) but also representing four other Black youth organizations, said: “The institutions that are in place to hold police accountable do just the opposite. The police have impunity. As a step toward police accountability, we demand that Mayor Emanuel fire Superintendent McCarthy.”

The edited police video that was released last night reveals that the police story of this murder was a lie. Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Cook County state’s attorney Anita Alvarez knew it was a lie yet they sat on it for a year and allowed this killer cop to continue on the City payroll as a desk cop. In other words they violated their oaths of office and had to be forced by court order to release the video. Moreover, the Mayor made a multi-million dollar settlement to the McDonald family and part of the settlement was to keep the video recording of the murder from public view.

Officer Jason Van Dyke has now been charged with first-degree murder as he should have been a year ago. But we maintain that Mayor Emanuel, Prosecutor Alvarez, Superintendent of the CPD McCarthy, the Police Board, the Independent Police Review Authority and the Internal Affairs Department of CPD are all guilty! We need a system change here and it’s not going to happen unless we, the people make it happen.

In the coming days of action, we will be heightening the campaign in the neighborhoods for an all-elected Civilian Police Accountability Council and building for a protest rally at Federal Plaza on December 10. Join us! Call: Chicago Alliance Against and Political Repression 312-939-2750 or 312-513-3795.

Photo: Protesters link hands Nov. 24, in Chicago. White Officer Jason Van Dyke who shot Laquan McDonald 16 times last year was charged with first-degree murder Tuesday, hours before the city released a video of the killing. Chris Sweda | Chicago Tribune via AP