3 cops charged with covering up shooting won't testify

Source: Associated Press

Published 6:28 pm CST, Thursday, December 6, 2018

CHICAGO (AP) — Three Chicago police officers charged with lying about the shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald won't testify at trial and their attorneys have rested their cases.

Attorneys for former Officer Joseph Walsh, Officer Thomas Gaffney and ex-Detective David March announced they were through calling witnesses on Thursday. Closing arguments in the bench trial will begin Thursday afternoon before Cook County Judge Domenica Stephenson.

One witness testified Thursday — a retired detective who says that March couldn't have changed the report filed by an officer at the scene of the October 2014 shooting by Officer Jason Van Dyke.

Van Dyke was convicted in October of second-degree murder and aggravated battery in McDonald's death. He is awaiting sentencing.

Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/us/article/3-cops-charged-with-covering-up-shooting-won-t-13448579.php

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Protesters on Wednesday took to the streets of Chicago for a second day in response to the release of graphic dashcam video that shows the final moments of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald's life.

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Peaceful protests day after release of Laquan McDonald shooting video
By Greg Botelho, CNN

Updated 10:10 PM ET, Wed November 25, 2015

(CNN)Protesters on Wednesday took to the streets of Chicago for a second day in response to the release of graphic dashcam video that shows the final moments of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald's life.

Demonstrators chanted and marched through The Loop, a major downtown business district. The protests were peaceful -- even amicable in places.
Two protesters were seen walking alongside a police officer, chatting and laughing. When they left, they waved goodbye and wished the officer a Happy Thanksgiving.

One day earlier, Jason Van Dyke, the Chicago police officer who shot McDonald 16 times on a city street, was charged with first-degree murder.

"Like many Americans, I was deeply disturbed by the footage of the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald," President Barack Obama said in a statement Wednesday.

https://www.cnn.com/2015/11/25/us/laquan-mcdonald-chicago-shooting-main/index.html




Jason Van Dyke, the Chicago police officer who shot McDonald 16 times on a city street