IN October 2014, a white police officer, Jason Van Dyke, shot and killed an African-America teen, Laquan McDonald.
Since his shooting, more than a year ago, justice has evaded Van Dyke as he was protected by the police and the Cook County State Attorney Anita Alvarez.
According to Alvarez, it takes long to investigate and prosecute cases involving police officers because there are ‘highly complex’ legal issues and she would rather take the time to get it right than ‘rush to judgment’.
For months, Laquan’s family has been pushing for the release of a video of the recording of what transpired when the teen was shot more than 16 times by the police.
Activists and journalists have long pressed for the video’s release, only to be told that it had to be kept private as long as the shooting was under investigation.
This week a judge ordered that it be released.
Following the pronouncement by the court that the video should be released, officials prepared themselves for its release, proving again that in America, justice for blacks is still a pipe dream.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, at a press conference, urged calm and city officials called for a meeting with black community leaders.
Alvarez has finally also formally pressed charges against Van Dyke.
On the night of the shooting, police were responding to complaints about someone breaking into cars and stealing radios.
From the black and white dashcam video, with no audio, viewers see McDonald jaywalking along the middle of the road at 5:18pm, with his arm outstretched and holding a small knife.
A police vehicle is seen approaching to the left of the screen and two officers get out with guns drawn.
As McDonald moves away from the officers, his body fills the video frame.
He is then seen twisting around and falling to the ground.
A puff of smoke lifts from his body as a bullet appears to strike.
Without audio, there is no way of knowing what, if anything, was said.
It is also impossible to discern how many shots were fired simply from viewing the video.
McDonald appears to move his arms several times.
At 5:45pm, another puff of smoke is seen leaving his body.
At 5:51pm, a police officer enters the frame and kicks the knife out of McDonald’s hand.
Another police vehicle drives up and at this point, because of the vehicle lights, what appear to be pools of water around the body, possibly blood, can be seen.
Soon after the video was released, protesters began filling the streets.
Some chanted, ‘16 shots’! in reference to the number of times McDonald was allegedly struck.
This is of course an expected response because from that video, what is deduced is that Van Dyke was the only officer of the several who were on the scene to open fire.
Yet his defence for the shooting is that he feared for his life.
He was on the scene for just 30 seconds before he started shooting, empting his 9 mm pistol of all 16 rounds.
He opened fire just six seconds after getting out of his vehicle and kept firing even though McDonald dropped to the ground after the initial shots.
The shooting lasted 14 to 15 seconds and of that, McDonald was on the ground for 13 seconds.
The Chicago Police Department, prompted by this latest development, has moved to discipline a police officer who had shot and killed an unarmed black woman in 2012 in another incident causing tensions between the department and minority communities.
Superintendent Garry McCarthy recommended firing Officer Dante Servin for the shooting of 22-year-old Rekia Boyd, saying Servin showed “incredibly poor judgment”.
A judge acquitted Servin of involuntary manslaughter and other charges last April and Alvarez was accused of having not prosecuted the case properly.
Commenting on developments in Chicago, prominent African-American leader, Reverend Jesse Jackson called for a special prosecutor to oversee Van Dyke’s case because it is quite clear that Alvarez will not do her job.
So far this year, 24 unarmed black men have been shot and killed by police – one every nine days, according to a Washington Post database of fatal police shootings. 
During a single two-week period in April, three unarmed black men were shot and killed.
All three shootings were either captured on video or in one case, broadcast live on local television.
The Post’s analysis shows that black men were seven times more likely than white men to die by police gunfire while unarmed.