Chicago braced for more protests over Laquan McDonald video
Crowds take to the streets after footage from last year shows white policeman shooting black teen dead
Tensions remain high in Chicago after police released a video showing a black teenage boy shot being dead by a white officer more than a year after the incident took place.
Officer Jason Van Dyke has now been charged with murdering 17-year-old Laquan McDonald on October 20, 2014, after his dash camera video footage showing the killing was finally released on Tuesday.
The graphic video was only made public after a judge ordered it to be released. It has no sound, but shows McDonald running down a road with what appears to be a knife.
Van Dyke pulls over, steps out of his vehicle and suddenly opens fire on the teenager, continuing to shoot at him even after McDonald falls to the ground.
After the shooting, Van Dyke was stripped of his duties but remained on the payroll, The Guardian reports.
David Axelrod, a former senior adviser to President Obama and a Chicago Tribune journalist, questioned the handling of the case:
The footage has sparked angry protests in Chicago, with more demonstrations expected in the coming days despite appeals for calm.
Hundreds of people took to the streets chanting "black lives matter" and "16 shots," representing the number of times McDonald was shot.
"The shooting and subsequent protests have become the latest flashpoint in a national debate over violence against black men by police," says the BBC.
President Obama has said he is "deeply disturbed" by the footage of the fatal shooting, while Hillary Clinton said she hoped justice would be served. "We cannot go on like this," she tweeted.
The footage has once again reinforced calls for police to wear body cameras. "If not for the video, it's unlikely that Van Dyke would be facing a murder charge," the Chicago Tribune said in its editorial.
