Chicago officer charged with murder; city to release video of shooting

By Mary Wisniewski CHICAGO (Reuters) - A white Chicago policeman was charged on Tuesday with murdering a black teenager, a prosecution that was speeded up in hopes of staving off a fresh burst of the turmoil over race and police use of deadly force that has shaken the United States for more than a year. A highly anticipated video of the Oct. 20, 2014 shooting was to be released on Tuesday afternoon, a day earlier than expected, after a shorter version came into the possession of Chicago media, a police spokesman said. Seventeen-year-old Laquan McDonald was shot 16 times by police officer Jason Van Dyke, who emptied his gun and prepared to reload, prosecutors said. Van Dyke, 37, has said through his lawyer and the police union that the shooting was justified because he felt threatened by McDonald. "Clearly, this officer went overboard and he abused his authority, and I don't think use of force was necessary," Alvarez said at a news conference after the hearing. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel appealed for calm as the city prepared for possible protests. "It is fine to be passionate but it essential to remain peaceful," Emanuel told a news conference to announce the release of the video, which was taken by a police patrol car's dashboard camera. The Chicago Public Schools district, one of the biggest in the country with 400,000 students, sent a letter to parents saying they have prepared teachers to discuss the video with children at school. "Please know that this video will not be shown in our schools. Even so, we know that many students will likely be discussing it and may be upset by its violent content," the letter said. Van Dyke was denied bail at a hearing in Chicago's main criminal courthouse hours after top Cook County prosecutor Anita Alvarez announced charges of first-degree murder. If convicted, Van Dyke could face 20 years to life in prison. At the brief court hearing, prosecutor Bill Delaney told Cook County Circuit Court Associate Judge Donald Panarese that a video of the 2014 shooting does not show McDonald, who was armed with a knife, advancing on Van Dyke, and that witnesses concur on that fact. The judge scheduled another hearing for Monday and asked to see the video then in order to reconsider the issue of bond. (Reporting by Mary Wisniewski; Additional reporting by Fiona Ortiz and Justin Madden in Chicago and Ben Klayman in Detroit; Writing by Grant McCool; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Lisa Shumaker)