Chicago was bracing for more unrest after a judge Thursday ordered the release of another video showing a black teenager in a deadly confrontation with white police officers.
Federal Judge Robert Gettleman gave the green light to distribute footage of 17-year-old suspected car thief Cedrick Chatman's final moments after city lawyers dropped their opposition to releasing the two-year-old video.
Gettleman said he was "disturbed" that the city fought to keep the Chatman video under wraps and dismissed arguments that its release would taint potential jurors in a wrongful death lawsuit against the city.
"The city of Chicago has had not only the last month and a half, they’ve had over 2 1/2 years to be transparent in this case and surely you are going to see what actually happened on Jan. 7, 2013," said Chatman family lawyer Brian Coffman.
The Windy City was hit with protests and calls for Mayor Rahm Emanuel's ouster last year after footage showing the deadly police shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald was finally made public.
Chatman was killed while running away from two Chicago police officers.
Officers Kevin Fry and Lou Toth claimed they saw Chatman reach for an object before running away and that Fry fired four times because they were in fear for their lives.
Chicago’s Independent Police Review Authority ruled the shooting justified even though Chatman turned out not to be carrying a weapon and investigators found an iPhone 5 case near his body. But the authority also concluded the officer who fired the fatal shot — identified in a wrongful death suit as Fry — had no reason to believe his life was in danger.
Also, two men Chatman had been with were initially charged with his murder. Those charges were later dropped.
Cameras mounted on a traffic signal captured Chatman's demise. But a federal magistrate called the footage "inflammatory" last month and said it should remain under protective order.
Laquan was killed during an encounter with police on Oct. 20, 2014. The video, which sparked nationwide outrage when it was released, showed Officer Jason Van Dyke firing at Laquan as he lay on the ground. In total, 16 shots were fired.
Van Dyke, 37, has been charged with first-degree murder and city has been accused of trying to cover-up a crime.
