Last week protests erupted after dashcam footage showed Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke shooing 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times. The officer was charged with first-degree murder and taken into custody.
Now, around a week later, he has been released on a $1.5 million bail (after his family posted 10%). He left jail just after 5pm yesterday (Mon 30 Nov 2015) and was met by his father.
Obviously a huge media presence waited his release but he ignored all questions such as “why did you shoot 16 times?”. His lawyer says he is scared what will happen and scared for his family but is dealing with it professionally.
Activists are showing agitation that he has been allowed out on bail considering the video but those on Dyke’s side say there is much more to the story and the dispute is over whether he feared for his life.
His hearing will start on December 18th and the world will be watching.
Do you think he should have been allowed out on bail? Especially in this high profile case. The video shows very clearly that he shot 16 times, it makes it hard for anyone to feel that this was ok but we’ll have to wait and see how the case grows.
See a full report below:
0 Comments