The Boston Globe-20 hours ago
By Mitch Smith New York Times November 27, 2015. CHICAGO — Demonstrators filled the streets of this city's premier shopping district on Friday, demanding ...
Anger Over Killing by Police Halts Shopping in Chicago
Comparing: Anger Over Killing by Police Halts Shopping in Chicago
See the difference?
Three are killed in siege at Colorado clinic
It's the lead story this morning.
Shootout at Planned Parenthood Clinic Leaves 3 Dead »
What has them all worked up anyway?
"Judge orders Chicago police to release shooting video" Associated Press November 20, 2015
CHICAGO — A judge said Thursday that the Chicago Police Department has less than a week to release a video of an officer fatally shooting a black teenager, refusing to give the department more time pending a possible appeal.
The video is graphic, according to some who have seen it: The 17-year-old wielding a small knife is walking away from police when one officer opens fire, shooting the teen 16 times.
Police had refused to release footage of the October 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald, [and] McDonald’s mother also doesn’t want the video released. She fears it could lead to violent protests like those in Baltimore and Ferguson, Mo., after police-involved deaths of black residents in those cities, according to the family’s attorney, Jeffrey Neslund.
Neslund, who has seen the video, said the footage shows that McDonald was armed with a small knife. But he said it also clearly shows that the teen was walking away from police when a white officer, who was about 15 feet away, opened fire.
‘‘You see the officer begin to shoot, and he [McDonald] spins and falls to the ground,’’ he said. Neslund said the officer then ‘‘continues to shoot him.’’
The Chicago City Council took the unusual step in April of approving a $5 million settlement with McDonald’s family, even though the family hadn’t filed a lawsuit, after being advised to do so by a city attorney who had seen the video....
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"Amid unrest, US will investigate Minn. killing" by Greg Moore Associated Press November 23, 2015
MINNEAPOLIS — In a separate development, police in Chicago are under court order to release by Wednesday a police video of the fatal shooting of a black 17-year-old by a white police officer there.
According to a few people who have viewed it, the video shows Laquan McDonald being struck by 16 bullets, some of them hitting him even after his body had fallen to the ground along a street on this city’s southwest side in October 2014. Some of the bullets, an autopsy shows, entered the back of his body.
A lawyer for McDonald’s family said the video showed him moving away from Officer Jason Van Dyke, the police officer who fired all of the shots, while at least five other officers never fired their weapons.
Dan Herbert, a lawyer for Van Dyke, said his client believed the shooting was justified because he feared for the safety of himself and his colleagues.
McDonald had a knife, the authorities say, and earlier punctured a squad car’s tire with it and refused to drop it.
The officers were approaching him, officials said, after the police got a report that a man with a knife was trying to break into vehicles in a trucking yard.
Van Dyke is on administrative duty pending an inquiry by a team that includes the FBI, the US attorney’s office in Chicago, and the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.
--more--"
Also see: Emanuel meets ministers to discuss police shooting video
"Chicago officer accused of murder in teen’s death; Charge comes as video is released of 2014 shooting" by Monica Davey and Mitch Smith New York Times November 25, 2015
My print version is AP.
"CHICAGO (AP) — A white Chicago police officer who shot a black teenager 16 times last year was charged with first-degree murder Tuesday, hours before the city released a video of the killing that many people fear could spark unrest.
City officials and community leaders have been bracing for the release of the dash-cam video, fearing the kind of turmoil that occurred in cities such as Baltimore and Ferguson, Missouri, after young black men were slain by police or died in police custody.
They got it worse; shopping was shut down.
A judge ordered that the recording be made public by Wednesday. Moments before it was released, the mayor and the police chief appealed for calm.
"People have a right to be angry. People have a right to protest. People have a right to free speech. But they do not have a right to ... criminal acts," Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said.
Only authority and bankers have that right.
Shortly after the video's release, protesters began marching through city streets. Several hundred people blocked traffic on the near West Side. Some circled police cars in an intersection and chanted "16 shots."
"I'm so hurt and so angry," said Jedidiah Brown, a South Side activist and pastor who had just seen the video. "I can feel pain through my body."
Small groups of demonstrators marched up Michigan Avenue with a police escort before being stopped by officers as they headed toward Lake Shore Drive. After a short standoff, the crowd turned around.
"You had this tape for a year, and you are only talking to us now because you need our help keeping things calm," the Rev. Corey Brooks said of Monday's community gathering with the mayor.
An autopsy report showed that McDonald was shot at least twice in his back and PCP, a hallucinogenic drug, was found in his system.
Aaaah!
At the time of his death, police were responding to complaints about someone breaking into cars and stealing radios."
That's worthy of a 16 shot fusillade and death.
Comparing: Anger Over Killing by Police Halts Shopping in Chicago
See the difference?
Three are killed in siege at Colorado clinic
It's the lead story this morning.
Shootout at Planned Parenthood Clinic Leaves 3 Dead »
Related: Another Mass Shooting Just in Time to Flip the Script
See what has been knocked down to second this time?
See what has been knocked down to second this time?
What has them all worked up anyway?
"Judge orders Chicago police to release shooting video" Associated Press November 20, 2015
CHICAGO — A judge said Thursday that the Chicago Police Department has less than a week to release a video of an officer fatally shooting a black teenager, refusing to give the department more time pending a possible appeal.
The video is graphic, according to some who have seen it: The 17-year-old wielding a small knife is walking away from police when one officer opens fire, shooting the teen 16 times.
Police had refused to release footage of the October 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald, [and] McDonald’s mother also doesn’t want the video released. She fears it could lead to violent protests like those in Baltimore and Ferguson, Mo., after police-involved deaths of black residents in those cities, according to the family’s attorney, Jeffrey Neslund.
Neslund, who has seen the video, said the footage shows that McDonald was armed with a small knife. But he said it also clearly shows that the teen was walking away from police when a white officer, who was about 15 feet away, opened fire.
‘‘You see the officer begin to shoot, and he [McDonald] spins and falls to the ground,’’ he said. Neslund said the officer then ‘‘continues to shoot him.’’
The Chicago City Council took the unusual step in April of approving a $5 million settlement with McDonald’s family, even though the family hadn’t filed a lawsuit, after being advised to do so by a city attorney who had seen the video....
--more--"
"Amid unrest, US will investigate Minn. killing" by Greg Moore Associated Press November 23, 2015
MINNEAPOLIS — In a separate development, police in Chicago are under court order to release by Wednesday a police video of the fatal shooting of a black 17-year-old by a white police officer there.
According to a few people who have viewed it, the video shows Laquan McDonald being struck by 16 bullets, some of them hitting him even after his body had fallen to the ground along a street on this city’s southwest side in October 2014. Some of the bullets, an autopsy shows, entered the back of his body.
A lawyer for McDonald’s family said the video showed him moving away from Officer Jason Van Dyke, the police officer who fired all of the shots, while at least five other officers never fired their weapons.
Dan Herbert, a lawyer for Van Dyke, said his client believed the shooting was justified because he feared for the safety of himself and his colleagues.
McDonald had a knife, the authorities say, and earlier punctured a squad car’s tire with it and refused to drop it.
The officers were approaching him, officials said, after the police got a report that a man with a knife was trying to break into vehicles in a trucking yard.
Van Dyke is on administrative duty pending an inquiry by a team that includes the FBI, the US attorney’s office in Chicago, and the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.
--more--"
Also see: Emanuel meets ministers to discuss police shooting video
"Chicago officer accused of murder in teen’s death; Charge comes as video is released of 2014 shooting" by Monica Davey and Mitch Smith New York Times November 25, 2015
My print version is AP.
"CHICAGO (AP) — A white Chicago police officer who shot a black teenager 16 times last year was charged with first-degree murder Tuesday, hours before the city released a video of the killing that many people fear could spark unrest.
City officials and community leaders have been bracing for the release of the dash-cam video, fearing the kind of turmoil that occurred in cities such as Baltimore and Ferguson, Missouri, after young black men were slain by police or died in police custody.
They got it worse; shopping was shut down.
A judge ordered that the recording be made public by Wednesday. Moments before it was released, the mayor and the police chief appealed for calm.
"People have a right to be angry. People have a right to protest. People have a right to free speech. But they do not have a right to ... criminal acts," Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said.
Only authority and bankers have that right.
Shortly after the video's release, protesters began marching through city streets. Several hundred people blocked traffic on the near West Side. Some circled police cars in an intersection and chanted "16 shots."
"I'm so hurt and so angry," said Jedidiah Brown, a South Side activist and pastor who had just seen the video. "I can feel pain through my body."
Small groups of demonstrators marched up Michigan Avenue with a police escort before being stopped by officers as they headed toward Lake Shore Drive. After a short standoff, the crowd turned around.
"You had this tape for a year, and you are only talking to us now because you need our help keeping things calm," the Rev. Corey Brooks said of Monday's community gathering with the mayor.
An autopsy report showed that McDonald was shot at least twice in his back and PCP, a hallucinogenic drug, was found in his system.
Aaaah!
At the time of his death, police were responding to complaints about someone breaking into cars and stealing radios."
That's worthy of a 16 shot fusillade and death.
My print version again carried an AP piece:
"Small groups of demonstrators gathered, about two dozen protesters. The group held banners showing photos of other black people fatally shot by police in Chicago and elsewhere. Several protesters said they were parents of black men killed by Chicago officers. ‘‘You cannot kill our children and expect us to be quiet any longer,’’ protester Quovadis Green said. ‘‘It is unacceptable.’’ Activist Mark Carter called on people to ‘‘rise up’’ and shut down the Magnificent Mile shopping area on Friday. He said protesters also planned to target the Board of Trade and other landmarks in the coming days.
Target like terrorists!
Also Wednesday, a Cook County judge dismissed a charge against a protester accused of hitting a police officer in the hours after the video was made public. Judge Peggy Chiampas said the state’s attorney’s office recommended dropping the charge against 22-year-old Malcolm London and told London he was free to go. London, who was wearing a T-shirt with the phrase ‘‘Unapologetically black’’ on it, walked outside the courthouse to loud cheers. Prosecutors did not explain why they sought to dismiss the charge. London was among five people arrested on charges that included weapons possession and resisting arrest.
This is smelling like another controlled effort for the obvious reasons.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton also weighed in, saying in an emailed statement, that police officers across the country are doing their duty honorably ‘‘without resorting to unnecessary force.’’ For months, Chicago leaders had feared that the release of the video could provoke the kind of turmoil that rocked cities such as Baltimore and Ferguson, Missouri, after young black men were slain by police or died in police custody."
"Chicago officer who shot teen amassed 18 civilian complaints" by Michael Tarm Associated Press November 25, 2015
CHICAGO — The white Chicago police officer charged with first-degree murder in the shooting of a black teenager was the subject of 18 civilian complaints over 14 years, including allegations that he used racial epithets and excessive force, police and court records show.
Related: Obama the Hypocrite Hosts Cops in Chicago
Complaints against police are not uncommon. But the number filed against Jason Van Dyke was high, and at least one was linked to a civil trial in which jurors awarded damages to someone he arrested.
Van Dyke’s lawyer, Daniel Herbert, did not respond to a message left Wednesday by the Associated Press seeking comment.
After the complaints were filed, Van Dyke, 37, who joined the department in 2001, denied every allegation. None of the complaints resulted in disciplinary action. Here’s a closer look at some of the cases:
--more--"
Kid kind of brought it on himself:
"Chicago teen killed by officer had troubled, broken family; Protesters plan massive rally at shopping region" by Michael Tarm and Sara Burnett Associated Press November 27, 2015
CHICAGO — A black teenager shot 16 times by a white Chicago police officer was a ward of the state when he died, having spent years being shuttled among relatives’ homes and foster care from the time he was 3.
Laquan McDonald, whose name demonstrators have shouted for two days and will likely shout again during a planned rally to disrupt the city’s famed Magnificent Mile shopping corridor Friday, lived a troubled, disadvantaged life. He had at least one previous brush with police.
School officials and the McDonald family lawyer say there were signs Laquan was trying to get his life in order, though prosecutors say he had drugs in his system and was burglarizing cars on Oct. 20, 2014 — the night a squad-car video captured officer Jason Van Dyke shooting him.
‘‘It takes a while to get a life back on track,’’ said Thomas Gattuso, the principal at the alternative high school where McDonald was attending. ‘‘With Laquan, we unfortunately never got to finish his story.’’
Protesters and civil rights activists are demanding more investigations and police reform after Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder this week. There have been two nights of small, peaceful demonstrations, and the Rev. Jesse Jackson and others have called for a ‘‘massive’’ march on Black Friday along Michigan Avenue, a swank downtown boulevard that’s normally packed with post-Thanksgiving shoppers.
He might not be the best spokesman for the job.
McDonald’s family has appealed for calm, and his mother at least initially opposed the public release of the graphic police video showing his death, attorney Michael Robbins said.
‘‘Don’t resort to violence in Laquan’s name,’’ a family statement said Monday.
The family, who received a $5 million settlement from the city months before Van Dyke was charged even without filing a lawsuit, has declined to speak with the media. Robbins would not comment on the family’s history other than acknowledging it was splintered. He said McDonald grew up without his father involved in his life.
McDonald’s mother had been trying to regain custody of her son before he was killed and had been granted permission to take a younger sister back into her home, Robbins said.
McDonald spent most of his 17 years as a ward of the state. According to Illinois Department of Children and Family Services’ records, he was taken from his mother at age 3 in 2000 because the agency had deemed she didn’t provide him with proper supervision. He was placed in a foster home.
He later moved to his great-grandmother’s and returned to his mother in 2002. But citing physical abuse by the mother’s then-boyfriend, the state took McDonald away. From around age 6 to 16, he lived with his great-grandmother and then stayed in the same house with an uncle after his great-grandmother died in 2014.
McDonald was arrested for possession of marijuana in January 2014, state records say.
On the night he was shot, police suspected him of breaking into vehicles and stealing radios, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez said. As police approached him, he allegedly slashed a tire of one of the squad cars with a knife. An autopsy report said small amounts of PCP, a hallucinogenic drug, were in his system.
Gattuso said McDonald took the initiative to attend a school for at-risk students and high school dropouts between the ages of 16 and 21. That was some proof McDonald understood he needed to get his life together, Gattuso said, describing the student as quick to smile and hug his teachers. He regularly made As and Bs, Gattuso said.
--more--"
Globe says they could have handled it better:
"Chicago botches police shooting case" by The Editorial Board November 25, 2015
When Boston Police and the Suffolk district attorney’s office moved quickly to release video in two controversial police shootings this year, they won praise for transparency. But they also raised a lingering question: Would the authorities have acted so fast if the videos in question didn’t support the police account?
Hopefully, it’ll never come to that in Boston. But if there were ever any question about the proper response, the mishandling of a police shooting case in Chicago should be an illustration of how stonewalling can undermine community trust and make bad situations worse.
The case that is now roiling Chicago has been gathering steam for a year, since a white Chicago police officer, Jason Van Dyke, shot and killed Laquan McDonald, a black teenager, as police responded to a call about car break-ins. The police initially said that McDonald was threatening officers. They did not release video of the incident, however, which was captured by a police car’s dashboard camera.
The police account was challenged by witnesses almost immediately. Then the city of Chicago reached a $5 million settlement with McDonald’s family earlier this year, before the family even filed a lawsuit — an usual decision if the shooting were truly justified. Word began to spread that the video recording showed something far different than what police initially described.
At any point, the Chicago police and Mayor Rahm Emanuel could have decided to release the video. Instead, it took a journalist requesting the recording under the state’s public records law, and a local judge, to force the city’s hand.
The video, released Tuesday evening, showed Van Dyke gunning down McDonald with little justification, and then continuing to pump bullets into the body. None of the other officers at the scene fired their weapons. On Tuesday, with the video’s release imminent, prosecutors charged Van Dyke with first-degree murder.
Chicago had no good reason to withhold the tape. Emanuel offered the traditional excuse — that release would have compromised the investigation — which the judge properly rejected. To state what should be obvious: Just because authorities claim that releasing information would jeopardize a prosecution doesn’t make it true. While it’s possible that withholding a video recording for a short period of time might be necessary in some scenarios, McDonald’s shooting was clearly not one of them. And it’s hard to imagine that the city would have been so shy if the video vindicated the officers’ accounts.
The city’s decision to withhold the video has left it with a bigger challenge than it would have had otherwise. Whatever his motivations may have been, Emanuel created the perception that he placed the police’s interest above the public’s when he kept the video secret. “The mayor has to understand, you can’t keep waiting until it looks forced,” said Jedidiah Brown, founder of Chicago’s Young Leaders Alliance in the Chicago Tribune.
It’s a self-inflicted wound in a city where police were already mistrusted. That cannot happen again — in Chicago, Boston, or anywhere else.
But I bet it will.
--more--"
Also see:
"A Chicago man was charged with first-degree murder Friday in connection with the slaying of a 9-year-old boy who police say was lured from a playground and shot in the head because of his father’s gang ties."
Related: Gang Killed Child in Chicago
The biggest gang going:
"Illinois officer spent embezzled money on coffee, movies" Associated Press November 19, 2015
FOX LAKE, Ill. — A northern Illinois police officer who authorities say killed himself after years of embezzling from a police-sponsored youth program spent the stolen money on items such as coffee, restaurant meals, and trips to the movies, according to court documents.
The records were released Tuesday by attorneys for Melodie Gliniewicz, the widow of late Fox Lake Lieutenant Charles Joseph Gliniewicz. Authorities say he staged his suicide to look like a homicide because he feared the embezzlement was about to be exposed.
Melodie Gliniewicz’s attorneys argue prosecutors wrongly froze six accounts and two credit cards on Nov. 6 and said in a news release that she can’t pay her mortgage, doctor bills, and other family expenses. Attorneys are asking for the freeze to be lifted. An official briefed on the investigation has told the Associated Press that Melodie, and Gliniewicz’s son, D.J., are under investigation.
Attorneys said in the release that Melodie Gliniewicz was asking all to ‘‘refrain from rushing to, or misplacing, judgment’’ and have “faith the truth will come out in time, and if necessary, in court.’’
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NDUs:
Murder of 9 year old Chicago Boy Tyshawn Lee is an Arch Zionist Gun Control Hoax
That might be disinfo, but who knows anymore?
"Colo. Planned Parenthood shooting suspect mentioned ‘no more baby parts,’ official says; Police scour Robert Dear’s past for clues to clinic siege" by Wesley Lowery and Danielle Paqette Washington Post November 28, 2015
My print copy was by the NYT (rewritten and reedited, of course), and honestly I've been waiting for this planned propaganda operation for a while. It now brings sympathy for the butchers at Planned Parenthood while knocking the protests in Chicago down and allowing authority to call for more gun control.
Meaning the whole thing (“extremists are creating a poisonous environment that feeds domestic terrorism”) is likely a deliberate fabrication (surveillance saved lives, they are saying!). Thus, until further notice, all mass shootings reported by the propaganda pre$$ will be considered scripted fakes and fictions until proven otherwise, and speaking of hoaxes:
"It was big news. The Boston Globe and The New York Times ran front-page reports; the story went global as TV crews and bloggers and wire services joined the fray. But doubt swiftly set in."
Takes all of about two seconds after ma$$ media reporting these days, and that's a big one, huh?
Related:
For Pope Francis, wisdom comes from the poor
Pope Francis celebrates Mass in Uganda honoring African martyrs
Everyone looks gay, huh?
Archdiocese polls Catholics on views of church, leaders
I pretty much just told them how I feel about my church, haven't I?
And not one word from the Globe on the Chicago protests today.
