VAN DYKE TRIAL TIMELINE
• Oct. 20, 2014: Laquan McDonald is shot 16 times by Officer Jason Van Dyke. Police went to the 4100 block of South Pulaski Road after receiving a call that someone was breaking into cars.
•Feb. 10, 2015: Jamie Kalven of the Chicago-based Invisible Institute publishes a story in Slate on McDonald’s autopsy, which shows that the teenager was shot 16 times, not solely in the chest as was originally reported.
•April 15, 2015: The City Council approves a $5 million settlement with McDonald’s family.
•May 26, 2015: Freelance journalist Brandon Smith and activist William Calloway file a Freedom of Information Act request for the dashcam video.
•Nov. 19, 2015: Cook County Judge Franklin Valderrama orders that the video be released by Nov. 25.
•Nov. 24, 2015: Van Dyke turns himself in after being charged with McDonald’s murder. The dashcam video is released, touching off protests in Chicago that would continue for months.
•Dec. 1, 2015: Mayor Rahm Emanuel fires Garry McCarthy, Chicago’s top cop.
• Dec. 5, 2015: The city releases hundreds of pages of documents related to the shooting showing that some officers’ version of events differed from the dashcam video.
• Dec. 7, 2015: Then-U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announces a federal probe into the patterns and practices of the CPD.
• March 15, 2016: Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, who took heat for how she handled the case, loses re-election to challenger Kim Foxx in the Democratic primary. Foxx won 62 percent of the vote and Alvarez lost every predominantly black ward in Chicago.
•May 13, 2016: Emanuel announces plans to close the Independent Police Review Authority and replace it with a civilian agency to investigate police complaints.
• Jan. 13, 2017: Just before leaving office, Lynch unveils a 164-page Justice Department report finding “reasonable cause” that the police department engaged in a pattern of using excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
•March 23, 2017: A new indictment charges Van Dyke with 16 additional counts of aggravated battery with a firearm.
• July 27, 2018: Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan unveils a proposed 225-page consent decree aimed at limiting police use of force in some instances and attempting greater transparency in cases of police discipline.
• Sept. 17, 2018: Van Dyke’s murder trial begins in earnest with opening statements and testimony.
• Oct. 5, 2018: Van Dyke is convicted of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery.