The Department Of Justice is setting out to probe the Chicago Police Department as a part of an ongoing investigation into the shooting of unarmed teenager Laquan McDonald by Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke.
The call for a federal investigation went out when a police dashcam video of McDonald being shot by Van Dyke 16 times, killing him. The video sparked protests in the city and led to the resignation of the police superintendent.
“Civil Rights Division lawyers are reviewing the many requests for an investigation, which is the department’s standard process, and the attorney general is briefed regularly on the review and expects to make a decision very soon,”
says a statement from the Justice Department.
A recently released police report says that McDonald lunged at officers with a knife, despite the fact that the video contradicts those claims. Officer Van Dyke had been on the scene for 30 seconds and out of his car for six seconds before he began firing the fatal shots that killed McDonald.
UPDATE: Atty. General Loretta Lynch announced today(Dec. 7) that a federal investigation will look into the Chicago Police Department, their use of force and if their is a racial disparity tied to this alleged police msconduct. The Attorney General also said that the McDonald case is under a separate investigation, which is being handled by federal officials that are based in Chicago.
