I can understand there being some bad apples, but the rest of them letting them get away with it is scary.Really makes me question all police shootings even more.
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Is there any clearer evidence of why so many Americans think that the police are an occupying force? Or of how perverted the relationship between the policeāwho are supposed to be public servantsāand the populace have become?
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We were watching the dash cam recording of another patrol car that arrived on the scene seconds before Van Dyke opened fire.
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The back story here, according to the Chicago papers, is that police had received calls about some dude acting crazy, slashing tires, and stumbling around in the middle of the street wielding a knife. They didnāt just stumble on McDonald out of the blue ā according to press reports for the last few weeks, they were responding to calls, and numerous other officers had been trying to get him to drop the knife for a while. Oh, and to top it off, the autopsy indicated that McDonald had PCP in his system. Now, does that excuse that horrible cop from racing onto the scene and pumping 16 bullets into him like he thought he was in a Swartzenegger movie? NO ā and the cop should rightfully face charges (although first-degree murder seems like HUGE stretch). But as usual with these incidents, it ticks me off that so much of the reporting leaves out all the material facts ā good and bad ā as if this shooting wouldnāt be bad enough even without white-washing the victimās conduct (pardon the very bad pun).
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It really pisses me off when the police unions come out after an incident like this one and say not to judge it by what you see on the video. Thatās the way NPR framed their position tonight. And yet, video footage of criminals breaking the law is routine and nobody bats an eye at it. In the criminalās case, people are trusted to draw the proper conclusions about the behavior, but when we see a copās use of deadly force and itās clearly egregious, weāre told that we donāt have the whole story. Iām tired of the boilerplate responses. Itās past time for accountability.
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Is this how the police in London would handle a similar situation? Because they certainly have similar crimes taking place. The problem is that American cops are trained to be warriors, not guardians, and itās cost countless lives.
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This story is emblematic of so many levels of corruption in my city, it sickens me. From the mayor to the city council to the police dept. and police union to the stateās attorney to the inept mainstream media that failed to expose it for more than a year - all of them directly or indirectly, willfully, negligently or ineptly colluding to hide the truth of this horrible injustice.
No coincidence either that Mayor Rahmbo faced a runoff election that might have gone differently if this crap had been exposed last spring. Iāve never voted for the SOB and voted against my own long-time alderman last spring because crap like this just keeps on and on and on. Chicago has always had political and civic corruption, but Iāve never seen it this bad before.
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There is this thing called āOmertaā. Cops just donāt rat on fellow cops.
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The shooter wonāt be convicted. This is all a stunt to show they ādidā something. First degree murder??? No way.
First off, they are showing the video to taint the jury pool, guaranteeing an appeal a mistrial or hung jury.
Secondā¦charging 1st degree murder means it was premeditated, the cop seen the knife and open fired, it will be impossible to prove planned or premeditated.
Thirdā¦the kid was armed. he had a knife and just robbed a store. The defense will take that and run with it all day long.
The only thing the prosecution has is the video, a policeman, on duty, confronting an armed robber. I donāt see a conviction, and the prosecutor knows it. Just like Ferguson, the cop will walk.
EDITā¦ Plus, heāll sue the city for a couple million dollars and move to Costa Ricoā¦
Five cops walked into Burger King, spent three hours reviewing recordings, and by the time they left, 86 minutes of recordings were erased. BTW, ironically, thereās a recording of them erasing the 86 minutes. If that isnāt a cover-up what is?
The official reports said McDonald was shot once and died in the ambulance, but SURPRISE the dashcam shows him being shot 16 times in about 16 seconds, by an officer who was out of his vehicle for 6 seconds before he started shooting.
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In Illinois, if you point a gun and fire, itās an intentional act- so you can only be charged with murder
WRONG. The Police were not called over someone robbing stores. Thereās nothing in the media about him robbing stores, but nice try. BTW, a three inch blade is legal.
The original story from Police was McDonald was confronted, slashed a tire on a police car and lunged at officers. The dash cam clearly shows all that was a lie. Van Dyke might still get off though, but not because he didnāt shoot that kid down for no reason.
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And donāt forget the number 1 excuse in the world - āhe reached for his waistbandā.
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Similar to Tamir Rice, no?
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And not one of those āFriends and Helpersā even thought to lend aid to a person lying shot in the street. What is wrong with America these days?
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Links? I gave you a link showing all cops at the scene said there was no use of force required.
If there was a coverup by those cops, why did they show the dashcam footage? There were several other cop cars there that were not facing the shooting, just use those.
Sounds like your issue is with the police union, and I would agree 100% with you on that.
No, this is nothing like Ferguson. In Ferguson the cop was attacked twice as established conclusively by the DOJ Report, not even debatable. Even the number of shots was determined as justified since Brown did not stop charging until the last shot, and Wilson was backpedaling telling him to stop. All credible eyewitnesses (yes, they were black) stated that, and forensics backed them up 100%. In fact, a couple said they would have shot sooner. In this case, the kid was running away and got executed. COMPLETE opposite. This is more like the Walter Scott case, an āexecutionā. Is that cop walking? Heāll be doing a lot of walking in his cell maybe.
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No, those cops practiced bad procedure that led to a death for sure. Reckless and irresponsible. But they did not shoot the kid 15 times while he was on the ground. Both bad, but this was far worse.
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Good to know, that is not always the case. I am having a hard time trusting these prosecutors after all the antics I have witnessed.
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That has a name: accomplice
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