Chicago bracing for verdict in police shooting case

CHICAGO — The white police officer who fatally shot a black teenager 16 times was either traumatized by fear when he arrived at the scene or brazenly decided even before his arrival to use deadly force.

The two conflicting portrayals of Jason Van Dyke emerged during a trial that is widely perceived as a watershed moment for police reform in this city. The shooting triggered a U.S. Justice Department probe of the police department, and the investigation found systemic mistreatment of black and Hispanic residents of Chicago’s poorest areas.

Closing arguments ended Thursday after nearly three weeks of testimony, and many residents are worried that an acquittal could trigger violent demonstrations. Van Dyke is charged with murder in the shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald on Oct. 20, 2014.

Before Van Dyke got to the scene on the city’s Southwest Side that night, McDonald was slowly and erratically walking down a street, a small knife in hand, as Officer Joseph McElligott followed on foot and a second officer Van Dyke trailed in a cruiser. McElligott testified early in the trial that he felt safe and was waiting for another cruiser with a Taser that would be used to subdue the teen.

In her closing argument, Assistant Special Prosecutor Jody Gleason said McDonald’s killing was never justified.

“This case has been about exaggerating the threat and hiding behind the police shield,” she told jurors. She pulled apart the defense strategy, saying Van Dyke had no reason to know that McDonald had PCP in his system.

Defense attorneys argued that McDonald died by the first or second shot, not all 16. They spent the majority of the trial portraying Van Dyke as an officer genuinely afraid for his life.

Van Dyke testified for 90 minutes Tuesday. He added to his defense team’s portrayal of McDonald, who had been breaking into vehicles in a truck yard when police were called. “His face had no expression. His eyes were just bugging out of his head. He had these huge white eyes,” he said.

But his testimony describing McDonald’s actions contradicted both the animated video his defense created to show the confrontation from his angle and the police dash-cam video recorded from behind the teen’s back.

Van Dyke said McDonald raised the knife above his shoulder even though both videos showed that did not happen.

The 40-year-old Van Dyke also testified that he continued to fire shots after the teenager fell to the ground because he could see him attempting to stand. “I could see him start to push with his left hand off the ground,” he said.

But the prosecutor dismissed his account. “None of that happened,” Gleason told jurors Thursday.

Several activists are calling for an economic boycott of downtown businesses if Van Dyke is acquitted, and police and businesses are preparing for potential violence.