Laquan McDonald and Ronnie Johnson...alive and well.
On Oct. 12, 2014, Chicago Police Department officers shot and killed Ronald Johnson,
a 25-year-old father of five who was beloved in his community.
On the night in mid-October, Johnson had been with his cousin and other friends when he came across flashing police lights. He recognized a Chicago police presence in his neighborhood as a danger, so began to run. Plainclothes officers ran after him and opened fire.
Witnesses have told Dorothy Holmes that the officers didn't identify themselves, and that Johnson stopped and asked why they were shooting at him. When he received no answer, he turned and continued running. Police shot him as he fled--his death from multiple gunshot wounds has been ruled a homicide.
Apparently a police dash cam filmed the shooting, but the police and the city refuse to release it
in spite of repeated requests from Johnson's family and a Freedom of Information Act request from their attorney.
This isn't the only video being concealed by Chicago officials.
Laquan McDonald was shot 16 times and killed by Chicago police on Oct. 20, 2014. His family received $5 million in a settlement, but officials refuse to release the video of his killing. It has since been reported that police deleted 100 minutes of video from a nearby Burger King.
Ultimately, it's my strong belief that every video of police brutality and murder should be released immediately—not after prosecutors decide not to do anything, not after all charges are dropped, but as soon as it is humanly possible to upload them to YouTube. The videos are public property, paid for by tax dollars, and inform the public far better than fictional press releases ever will.
If videos record people being wrongly murdered by police, the public deserves to know and these police officers should be held accountable. That this is even a conversation is preposterous.