Chicago Officials Offer Weak Reform As Protests Rage Over Police Shooting Of Laquan McDonald
After five straight days of protests over the police shooting of of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) and Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy offered their new plan to hold police officers accountable: more body cameras.
The move may not appease the thousands of Chicagoans who have joined the protests. Though dashboard camera footage existed showing Officer Jason Van Dyke unloading his pistol at McDonald’s, officials withheld it from the public for over a year and lied about its contents until they were forced to release the video by court order last week. Emanuel and McCarthy have been accused of participating in a cover-up of the shooting.