And that's all well and good, at least something is being done about the public slaughter of Mr. McDonald but it certainly also raises questions.
The biggest issue, to me and to a lot of people,
I think, is that it took more than a year for anything to be even examined about this killing. The police had the video. They knew what was on it. They knew it might be a problem, at least. Not only did the police department and the city, in fact, know there were problems with the killing of Laquan McDonald but the city knew so well there were problems, they gave the McDonald family 5 million dollars.
Five million dollars.
The McDonald family hadn't sued at all.
Oh, yeah. The city of Chicago and the Chicago Police Department knew. They also knew the video was a problem and that it was incriminating.
If it hadn't been for one reporter, pushing for release of the video, we wouldn't know to this day how the officer ran up and shot down Laquan McDonald with 16 rapid shots.
Then there's the question of what other shootings and killings by the Chicago police have maybe been covered up? The fact is, the city of Chicago has more police shootings than any other major US city, according to PBS Newshour. What else don't we know? Who else was needlessly shot down? 1? 5? 20? 100? How do we know? How can we be sure? How can Chicagoans trust their police and police department?
Finally, how long now until Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has to step down, if, in fact, he needs to? What did the Mayor know and when did he know it? And if he didn't truly know anything further about the shooting and killing of Laquan McDonald, didn't he owe it to this citizen of the city and to his family and friends---heck, owe it to all the citizens of Chicago--to be certain this case and this person was handled properly? Doesn't he owe it to every Chicagoan to make sure no one is ever needlessly, unnecessarily and tragically, even criminally gunned down on their own streets by the police?
Is Rahm Emanuel done for?
The shooting and killing of Laquan McDonald is America's problem and troubles, too, let's never forget.
Link: Chicago Mayor Fires Police Chief in Wake of Video Release
The Latest: Illinois Attorney General Asks for Federal Probe
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