The Chicago police officer charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a black teenager was released on Monday evening after posting bond.
Officer Jason Van Dyke, who was shown on local media outlets leaving Cook County jail, had his bond set at $1.5m, and needed to post $150,000 to get out.
Van Dyke, who is white, was arrested on 24 November and charged with first-degree murder in connection with the 2014 shooting death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. The arrest came just one day before a court-ordered deadline for the city to release a dashcam footage of the incident.
Hours later, authorities released the video showing McDonald armed with a small knife and walking down a street on the city’s south-west side being shot repeatedly by Van Dyke, 37.
City officials and community leaders had been bracing for the release of the video, fearing an outbreak of unrest and demonstrations similar to what occurred in Ferguson, Baltimore and other cities after black men were killed by police. The announcement of the murder charge and slow release of details of the video before the actual dashcam footage appeared timed to lessen the chances for violent reactions.
Protesters did take to the streets after the video’s release, with crowds stopping traffic downtown, but were largely peaceful. And on Friday, protesters sought to disrupt shopping in the city on the traditionally busy day after the Thanksgiving holiday.
Since the death of Laquan the Chicago police union and the lawyer representing the officer have maintained that Van Dyke felt the teenager presented a serious danger to himself and other officers.
Van Dyke is the first on-duty officer to be charged with murder while working for the Chicago police department in nearly 35 years.
