Laquan McDonald Video: 17-Year-Old Laquan Shot 16 Times — #LaquanMcDonald ‘Thug, Riot, Live Stream’ Trends [Graphic Video]
The video of Laquan McDonald getting shot by Officer Jason Van Dyke has finally been released, one day before the November 25, 2015 deadline set for the video of Laquan being shot was ordered to be released by a judge.
Warning: The following video contains graphic images of violence. Viewer discretion is advised.
As reported by Heavy, the shooting of Laquan was violent, and McDonald’s shooting took place on October 20, 2014. The flashing time on the cop’s dash cam shows 9:55 p.m. as the video begins, ultimately ending in the shooting death of Laquan. It was the Chicago policeman named Jason Van Dyke who shot the 17-year-old Laquan to death, as seen in the video.
The attack on #LaquanMcDonald was horrific and justice cannot go unserved. His family & the community deserve action pic.twitter.com/3POjCgxfmD
— NAACP (@NAACP) November 25, 2015
According to CNN, people protesting the shooting death of McDonald have already taken to the streets to protest Laquan’s death. The video shows Laquan being shot at approximately five minutes into the video. It’s a video of Laquan getting shot that took police more than a year to release.
On Twitter, not only is Laquan’s name trending, but related searches also show exactly what’s on the minds of Chicagoans as Thanksgiving Day approaches: any publications calling McDonald a thug, or the live stream video of any riots happening in Chicago.
The graphic video of Laquan being shot is something that McDonald’s family didn’t want released, as disturbing as the Laquan shooting video is — that’s an understandable notion. However, Laquan’s family called for calm in the wake of the leak of the dash-cam video showing 17-year-old Laquan being shot to death. Mayor Rahm Emanuel also called for calm in the wake of the McDonald shooting video being released. Laquan’s family spoke of peaceful protests that allow voices to be heard, not riots that tear apart the city of Chicago.
“I believe this is a moment that can build bridges of understanding rather than become a barrier of misunderstanding. I understand that the people will be upset and will want to protest when they see this video. We as a city must rise to this moment.”
Either way, the City of Big Shoulders has been preparing for protests after Laquan’s video was released, which was ordered to be released to the public by Wednesday, November 25.
The video itself of Laquan’s shooting is six minutes and 53 seconds long, but the shooting itself doesn’t occur until around five minutes into the video. The Chicago cops can be seen racing with several patrol cars one behind the other. Eventually, they race past someone who points them toward Laquan, who runs down the center of the street with a knife in his hand.
Laquan is soon shot by the officer, and as McDonald is shot, smoke arises from the bullet wounds and entry points. Perhaps it’s the temperature of the warm body being shot; however, the video is disturbing in the fast manner in which Laquan is running, the knife in his hand, and the way Laquan is shot down in the street. The only audio on the Laquan video is a sort of screeching sound and the sound of the police sirens. An individual can be seen pointing police toward’s Mcdonald’s direction prior to the shooting in the video.
The speed at which Laquan was shot — 16 times in approximately a 30-second spate of time — is what’s at the heart of the issue. Van Dyke was the sole officer to fire on Laquan within seconds of getting out of his SUV. Laquan was repeatedly shot while on the ground. The autopsy report for Laquan was also released.
Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder for shooting and killing Laquan, the same day the video was released, on Tuesday, November 24, 2015.
(Chicago Police Department via AP)
