Mayor Rahm Emanuel faces criticism over delayed release of police shooting video (2015)
Last updated on August 10, 2016
Following the November 2015 release of year-old video footage of the police shooting of a teenager, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel came under heavy public and political scrutiny. A week later, on December 1, 2015, Emanuel fired the city's police chief and faced calls for his own resignation.
Laquan McDonald shooting
In October 2014, Chicago police were called to a trucking yard where Laquan McDonald was breaking into vehicles. The initial unit responding to the call followed him from the trucking yard through a restaurant parking lot and onto a busy road. While waiting for backup with tasers to come, police attempted to corral him and keep him away from the public. During this time, McDonald used a knife to slash the front tire of one of the police cars blocking his path.[1]
Officer Jason Van Dyke and his partner arrived on the scene 10 minutes after the initial call to police. According to the video released by authorities, both officers exited their vehicle with their guns drawn. Within six seconds of leaving his vehicle, Van Dyke opened fire on McDonald. Over the course of 15 seconds, Van Dyke unloaded all 16 rounds from the clip of his pistol. McDonald was alive when paramedics arrived but died en route to the hospital.[1]
Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder and ordered to be held without bail following the incident. Anita Alvarez, the Cook County state's attorney, said the charges were filed because the first officers to respond to the call said they felt it was unnecessary to use force against McDonald. Daniel Herbert, Van Dyke's attorney, said in court that his client had a "valid defense" in the incident and that he had feared for his life.[1]
The official police report said that McDonald was behaving erratically and refusing to comply with commands of officers, who were insisting that he drop the knife. A blood test also revealed that PCP was in McDonald's system at the time of the incident. At the time of the incident, the city's police union argued that Van Dyke acted in self-defense after McDonald charged at Van Dyke and his partner.[1]
Settlement
On April 14, 2015, the Chicago City Council approved a $5 million settlement with McDonald's family in order to prevent a lawsuit that would have required the release of the dashcam video. Alderman Edward M. Burke, chair of the council's finance committee, introduced the settlement as "Estate of McDonald, the case 14C2041." The measure was passed within 36 seconds, with no members of the council objecting to the vote.[2]
The deal was set into motion on February 27, when McDonald's lawyers contacted the city seeking a settlement for $16 million before filing a lawsuit in federal court. A reduced settlement of $5 million was presented to the finance committee on April 13. Steve Patton, Chicago's corporation counsel, supported the deal while testifying before the committee. He noted that there was "potential evidence" that could be used to press criminal charges. He later told the press that the dashcam recording played a role in the city seeking a settlement, saying it may have contradicted Van Dyke's self-defense claim.[2]
Video release and controversy
Shortly after the settlement, a freelance reporter filed a lawsuit to try to gain access to the video of the incident. On November 19, 2015, a judge ordered that the video be released after Emanuel and Alvarez spent months in court trying to keep it sealed. Prior to a city press conference to release the video, Alvarez charged Van Dyke with first-degree murder. She said she chose to press the charges at that moment "in the interest of public safety."[3]
Immediately following the video's release, many criticized Emanuel and said the delay was due primarily to an attempt to make sure he won re-election. John Kass of the Chicago Tribune hypothesized that the video's release would have caused a loss of support from the black community, which in turn would have lost him the runoff election against Jesus "Chuy" Garcia. Instead, Kass said, politicians and religious leaders in the black community rallied behind Emanuel to get out the vote, winning him the race. Garcia agreed, saying, "That video would definitely have changed the political environment. The rug would have been pulled out from under many political leaders' feet. Things would have been different."[4]
Michael Daly of The Daily Beast echoed Kass' thoughts. He wrote: "Had that video been made public and proven [Van Dyke did not act in self-defense], it unquestionably would have had an effect on the already surprisingly tough re-election fight faced by the incumbent mayor, Emanuel."[2] Kass believes the reaction of other politicians and community leaders to the video supports his argument. "You can see the truth of it by watching the other politicians scrambling for cover in the wake of the Laquan McDonald video release. They don't like questions about how they helped Rahm win. That puts the jacket on them. And they don't want to wear the jacket," Kass said.[4]
Emanuel said publicly that he did not watch the tape prior to its public release. He maintained that his only knowledge of the contents came from Patton's testimony during the settlement hearing. He also denied allegations that his re-election would have been jeopardized if the video was released during the campaign.[5] In an op-ed on December 4, 2015, he wrote:
| “ | What I strongly reject is the suggestion that the videotape of the McDonald shooting was withheld from the public because of the election. Here are the facts:
The videotape was handled in precisely the same way such tapes and evidence have been historically. Longstanding practice has been to release such material only after prosecutors and city investigators have finished their investigation. The reason for that was to prevent potential witnesses from tailoring their stories to fit the evidence. Some say I should have ordered a departure from standard procedure and released the tape before the prosecutors had acted. Had I seen the video, I might have done that. But I don’t review evidence precisely because my own emotions should not interfere with criminal investigations. The release of this type of evidence is one of many issues we need to rethink moving forward. How do we balance concerns against prematurely releasing evidence and jeopardizing prosecutions with the community’s right to see such material in a timely way? How do we promote accountability and transparency, without sacrificing one for the other? In this case, the city followed its standard policy. Within nine days of that shooting the city collected all evidence in the case, including the dash-cam video, and turned it over to prosecutors. No one could have predicted that it would take more than a year to finish the probe. It was just as likely that charges would be filed during the campaign, in which case the video would have become public before the election.[6][7] |
” |
Criticism of Alvarez
Kim Foxx, a candidate in the March 15, 2016, primary to be the Democratic nominee for state’s attorney for Cook County, Illinois, attacked two-term incumbent Alvarez for her handling of the McDonald shooting. According to Foxx’s ad: “A teen murdered. Shot 16 times. But for 400 days, Anita Alvarez did nothing.”[8] So, did Alvarez do nothing for 400 days?
The claim is not true. Our research found that Alvarez did wait 400 days to charge the police officer that killed McDonald. But during that time frame, Alvarez undertook a joint investigation with the FBI and U.S. Attorney beginning December 8, 2014.[9]
Aftermath
On December 1, 2015, Emanuel asked for the resignation of police superintendent Garry McCarthy. The following day, Emanuel faced calls for his own resignation. "We have a process called the election. The voters spoke. I'll be held accountable for the decisions and actions that I make," he said.[5]
David Axelrod, an ally of Emanuel, attacked Alvarez on Twitter over the timing of the Van Dyke charges. "Why did it take a year to indict a CPD officer who shot a kid 16 times? Would it have happened today if judge hadn't ordered video release?" he tweeted.[4]
Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (D) expressed confidence in Emanuel on December 5, 2015. "He loves Chicago and I'm confident that he's going to do everything he can to get to the bottom of these issues and take whatever measures are necessary to remedy them," she said. Bernie Sanders (D), the other major Democratic presidential candidate, said that a public official "with knowledge that the tape was being suppressed or improperly withheld should resign." Sanders did not mention Emanuel by name, however. Both candidates said that the U.S. Department of Justice should launch an independent investigation of the situation.[10]
On December 7, 2015, Loretta Lynch announced that the U.S. Department of Justice was launching a probe into the Chicago Police Department. Lynch noted that the investigation was not a direct result of the shooting but would instead focus on providing training, policies, and equipment to build trust with the community. Lynch wrote:
| “ | The Department of Justice intends to do everything we can to foster those bonds and create safer and fairer communities across the country. And regardless of the findings in this investigation, we will seek to work with local officials, residents, and law enforcement officers alike to ensure that the people of Chicago have the world-class police department that they deserve.[11][7] | ” |
On December 10, 2015, La Shawn K. Ford (D) introduced a bill in the Illinois House of Representatives aimed at changing the Revised Cities and Villages Act of 1941 to allow for the recall of Chicago's mayor.[12] Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) said he would sign a recall bill if it was sent to his desk by the legislature.[13] State Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno (R) called the efforts in the legislature "disingenuous." During a speech on January 11, 2016, she said, "even they acknowledge that most likely these recall efforts aren’t going to effect [sic] the current mayor."[14]
Recent news
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See also
External links
- Mayoral office website
- Mayoral campaign website
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- Biographies:
- Profile from Congressional Archive
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Chicago Tribune, "A moment-by-moment account of what the Laquan McDonald video shows," November 25, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Daily Beast, "Inside Rahm Emanuel’s Vote to Silence Laquan McDonald’s Family," December 2, 2015
- ↑ CNN, "Laquan McDonald shooting: Why did it take 13 months to release video?" December 2, 2015
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Chicago Tribune, "If police shooting video had been released sooner, would Emanuel be mayor?" November 26, 2015
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Politico, "Rahm Emanuel: I have no plans to resign," December 2, 2015
- ↑ Chicago Tribune, "Rahm Emanuel op-ed: I own the problem of police brutality, and I'll fix it," December 4, 2015
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Facebook, "Kim Foxx for Cook County State's Attorney," accessed March 10, 2016
- ↑ Chicago, "Anita Alvarez: 'I’ve Done Nothing Wrong,'" January 4, 2016
- ↑ The Hill, "Clinton still confident in Rahm Emanuel," December 5, 2015
- ↑ Politico, "DOJ opens investigation into Chicago Police Department," December 7, 2015
- ↑ CNN, "Illinois lawmaker introduces 'recall Rahm' bill as protests continue," December 10, 2015
- ↑ Chicago Sun-Times, "Brown: Rauner endorses recall bill; 'very disappointed' in Rahm," January 4, 2016
- ↑ Chicago Sun-Times, "GOP leader: Rahm recall effort disingenuous," January 11, 2016
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