Chicago braces for protests over police shooting of black teen

CHICAGO — For months, leaders here watched as other cities faced angry demonstrations over police conduct, shootings and relations with black people.

Now, Chicago finds it- self grappling with the prospect of facing similar actions. The city has been ordered to release, by Wednesday, a police video of the fatal shooting of a black 17-year-old by a white police officer in October 2014. Even the officer’s lawyer has described the video, which the city sought for months to block from public view, as “violent” and “difficult to watch at some points.”

Leaders in Chicago have been holding urgent private talks with community activists. Law enforcement officials are trying to anticipate what response the video may bring and how best to prepare police forces here for that. And the mayor, Rahm Emanuel, appeared to try to calm the city, taking the unusual step of publicly condemning the police officer and urging prosecutors to take action in the case before the release of the video.

According to people who have viewed the video, it shows Laquan McDonald being struck by 16 bullets, some hitting him after he had fallen to the ground. Some of the bullets, an autopsy shows, entered the back of his body.

A lawyer for McDonald’s family said the video showed him moving away from Officer Jason Van Dyke, the policeman who fired all of the shots, while at least five other officers never fired their weapons.

Dan Herbert, a lawyer for Van Dyke, said his client believed the shooting was justified because he feared for the safety of himself and his colleagues. McDonald had a knife, the authorities say, and earlier punctured a squad car’s tire with it and refused to drop it.