Chicago Police Officer pleads not Guilty of Murdering Black Teen, Laquan McDonald

Chicago police officer, Jason Van Dyke, has pleaded not guilty to murder charges regarding Laquan McDonald, the black teenager who he fatally shot last year. Van Dyke was released on a $1.5 million bail.

The news of his pleading on Tuesday comes after a grand jury decided against charging two other white police officers in the fatal shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice. Rice, who was black, was playing with a toy gun at a park when he was shot in 2014.

Van Dyke is facing six murder charges on top of one count of official misconduct for the killing of McDonald, who was 17 at the time of the shooting. Van Dyke's lawyer, Daniel Herbert, is reportedly thinking about asking for a change of venue.

"We're certainly going to explore every opportunity we have in order for my client to have a fair trial," attorney Daniel Herbert said after the hearing.

McDonald's uncle, Marvin Hunter, believes that the trial should be televised.

Judge Vincent Gaughan in Cook County Criminal Court presided over the case. The next hearing has been scheduled for Jan. 29.

The McDonald case has received widespread attention especially after a video clip of the shooting revealed that Van Dyke had shot the teenager a total of 16 times. The clip showed that McDonald, who was holding a knife, was walking away from Van Dyke when the shooting started. Van Dyke also appeared to have shot McDonald when he was already lying on the floor.

Herbert had argued that the video does not provide any context regarding the shooting due to the fact that there is no audio.

"Video by nature is two-dimensional, and it distorts images," Herbert said. "So what appears to be clear on a video sometimes is not always that clear."

Van Dyke has a history of complaints mainly involving the use of excessive force. He has never been charged prior to the McDonald shooting.

Since the clip surfaced last month, there have been a series of protests carried out by the civil rights movement, Black Lives Matter, which started after a string of cases involving white police officers shooting black people occurred.

On top of the protest, many people have also been calling for the resignation of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel, who had to end his vacation plans early after two more black people died at the hands of police officers.

Over the past weekend, police officers answered a call about a domestic dispute at a home. A teenager was reportedly threatening his father with an aluminum bat. When the police arrived, they had fatally shot a 19-year-old man named Quintonio LeGreir, whom they described as "combative." The police added that a 55-year-old woman named Bettie Jones was killed accidentally. Jones was the neighbor who had opened the door for the police.

LeGrier's father, Antonio LeGrier, has filed a wrongful death suit against the city. The elder LeGrier stated that his son was unarmed and did not threaten the officers. His suit also alleges that the officers did not provide medical care while Quintonio was bleeding out on the floor.

"An innocent lady got shot as well, because the police were trigger happy," Janet Cooksey, the mother of the teenage victim, had said. "I went to the hospital. My son has seven bullet holes in him."

CNN's affiliate WLS had reported that Quintonio charged down the stairs with the bat in his hand when the officers opened fire.
The department has not released any information regarding how many officers fired shots. The officers have been put on 30-day administration duties while their readiness for field duty is thoroughly being assessed.

There are protests planned outside of Chicago's City Hall for Thursday.