“16 Shots”: Chicago Police Killing of Laquan McDonald

          Exposed a System Built on Lies 

The documentary “16 Shots” examines the 2014 murder of African-American teenager Laquan McDonald in Chicago and the attempt by the city’s police department to cover up the events. McDonald, who was 17, was shot 16 times by former police officer Jason Van Dyke. Van Dyke was found guilty in 2018 of second-degree murder and sentenced to six years and nine months in prison for McDonald’s murder. He was also found guilty on 16 counts of aggravated battery—one count for each of the 16 bullets he fired at McDonald. The film is screening on Showtime. We speak with Rick Rowley, director of “16 Shots.”

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! I’m Amy Goodman, as we turn to a remarkable new documentary that just premiered on Showtime. The film is called 16 Shots. It examines the 2014 murder of African-American teenager Laquan McDonald in Chicago. This is the trailer.

    UNIDENTIFIED: Chicago Police Department averages maybe 30 police shootings a year.

    WILLIAM CALLOWAY: I think it’s a level of people being desensitized from the violence.

    JEFFREY NESLUND: When you look at the police reports that were signed off, it’s a justified shooting.
 

 Chicago protesters march against 'racist' police union, several arrested after obstructing traffic

Protesters holding signs accusing the Fraternal Order of Police of being racist gathered Monday in Chicago's Union Park to not only slam the city's police union but also demand criminal justice reform. 

 “We are here to call out the hypocrisy of FOP and declare that they are a racist organization and they must be shut down,” the Rev. Kwame Pitts, of Augustana Lutheran Church, said. ANOTHER CONFLICT OF INTEREST POPS UP IN KIM FOXX'S HANDLING OF JUSSIE SMOLLETT CASE 

The Chicago Tribune reported protesters held signs with messages like "No one is safe under #Racist FOP’s policies” and “When will you denounce white nationalists?" 

 Organizers and activists from The People'sLobby, Reclaim Chicago and SOUL also called for increased accountability from the police union. 

Some of the speakers pushed for the creation of an elected civilian agency that has the power to hire and fire the city's top cops and investigate police misconduct. 

Anthony Clark, a history teacher at Oak Park and River Forest High School, was suspended earlier this year after allegedly helping students stage a walkout on the anniversary of the death of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old fatally shot by neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman in a controversial 2012 incident. Clark didn't mince words. 

 “This is an institution built upon white supremacy. Built upon it,” the Chicago Sun-Times reported Clark as saying. “And they say police officers and police departments are supposed to serve and protect, but who the f— are they protecting? The system.” 

 

TORONTO MACHO POLICE: TTC DEADLY SHOOTING

 From Toronto Life
The killing of Sammy Yatim
The death of Sammy Yatim unleashed a torrent of anti-police outrage. For most Torontonians, the video was the verdict. But what really happened on the Dundas streetcar that night? The untold story of the cop who pulled the trigger—and why

Within an hour, a cellphone video was posted to YouTube and quickly went viral. It was reposted on Facebook and ­Twitter and led every newscast across the city. Toronto was transfixed by the last 90 seconds of Sammy Yatim’s life. A city-wide consensus quickly formed: this 18-year-old didn’t have to die. The police could have held their fire and waited for the ­Taser. They could have tried to talk Yatim down instead of working him up, or shot the knife out of his hand, or used ­pepper spray. There had to be a non-lethal option available. And the question on everyone’s mind was, what kind of cop shoots a troubled teenager nine times?