CHICAGO — The court has spoken and the city of Chicago has given up the fight over the release of a controversial police video.
The police dashcam video showing the shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald will be seen by the public soon.
Today in court, a judge ordered that the 2-3 minute dashcam videotape be made public no later than Nov 25th.
McDonalds family does not want this video released-after racially charged riots played out in Ferguson and Baltimore.
His mother fears for her community.
Mayor Emanuel issued a statement in response to the ruling saying:
Police officers are entrusted to uphold the law, and to provide safety to our residents. In this case unfortunately, it appears an officer violated that trust at every level. As a result, the city’s Independent Police Review Authority promptly sent this case and the evidence to state and federal prosecutors who have been investigating it for almost a year. In accordance with the judge’s ruling the City will release the video by November 25, which we hope will provide prosecutors time to expeditiously bring their investigation to a conclusion so Chicago can begin to heal.
The officer who did the shooting is on desk duty pending the outcome of an investigation.
The family has already accepted a 5 million dollar settlement from the city.