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Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel tried to alleviate some of the building pressure surrounding his city's handling of the police shooting of Laquan McDonald—the 17-year-old who was shot 16 times in 15 seconds final year—by firing Police Superintendent Gary McCarthy yesterday.
Just two weeks ago,a judge ordered the release of dashcam video footage that shows the shooting. Why did it engage 13 months for the footage to be released? Why is there no audio of the footage? Why is there 86 minutes of tape lost from other key videos?At the time of the shooting in October 2014, Rahm Emmanuel was looking ahead to a hotly contested mayoral election in February 2015, or which he would later win in a run-off in April. A week after the runoff,the city awarded a pre-emptive $5 million settlement with McDonald family, which included a clause to preserve the video confidential. The timing raises questions over the city's handling of the case. For answers on just how entrenched these types of police cover-ups are in Chicago, or what this incident might mean for Mayor Emmanuel,The Takeaway turns to Clarence Page, a longtime columnist and senior member of the editorial board of The Chicago Tribune.
What you'll learn from this segment:Whether delaying the video release is the result of a deliberate cover up.
How allegations of corruption against the Chicago Police Department have played out over the years.
How protesters and activists are reacting to the footage and the mayor.
Source: wnyc.org