On 20 October 2014, the streets of Chicago witnessed the assassination of Laquan McDonald (who was an African American) as he was walking down a road. The Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke shot the victim 16 times and was charged with first-degree murder of the victim.
The tragic event took place a little former than 10:00 p.m. when police received numerous calls from the area of 4100 South Pulaski Road which reported that the victim was allegedly holding a knife and was involved in B&E of cars and automobiles in a trucking yard at 41st Street and Kildare Avenue.
In a confrontation with the police officers, Laquan used the same knife he was holding to slash a car tire of a nearby vehicle and break its windshield. The victim failed to drop his weapon in spite of numerous warnings and instructions from the police. The officers requested backup to detain Mr. Laquan McDonald.
Conversely, as the court proceedings were carried forward some videos concerning this case were disclosed showing some crucial facts that the white police officer named Van Dyke was pressing forward on McDonald and the victim McDonald was trying to run away from Van Dyke when he was shot for the first time.
The first shot made McDonald stumble and fall to the ground afterward and numerous shots were fired into him by the same police officer. Research showed that the poor guy was shot 16 times in 14 seconds.
Witnesses revealed that the officer who shot Laquan started shooting the victim after a mere time span of six seconds as soon as he left his car. The opening reacting officer thought that the use of such brutal force was entirely unnecessary and no officers present at the scene felt the need to use force against McDonald nor did they fire any of their weapons.
Laquan McDonald was admitted to Mount Sinai Hospital by the task force where he was declared dead within minutes.
Protests
I was a part of various protests against the unfair assassination of Laquan McDonald which took place in the Washington Park neighborhood on Dec. 7, 2015, in Chicago.
The protest was joined by thousands of African American people of the Chicago community along with the white people as well who joined hands together to raise their voices against the unfair act. They all stood together to fight for justice as soon as the video of the 17-year-old black teenager Laquan McDonald came into view with court proceedings.
All the protestors called for the immediate resignation of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel even though they received his apology at a City Council meeting on Dec. 9, 2015. They all called for a common element, justice for Laquan McDonald and due punishment for Jason Van Dyke as he was responsible for the first-degree murder of the victim.
As a result of the protests, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch took the case into her consideration and proclaimed on Dec. 7 that the case of the unfair death of McDonald’s would be looked into by the Justice Department which would further have an in-depth inquiry into the Chicago Police Department.
Reference
- http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/chicago-protests-over-police-shooting-of-laquan-mcdonald/
