James Van Dyke, the officer that was charged in the murder of Laquan McDonald, was released in Chicago on Monday after his father posted $150,000 bond.
Laquan McDonald was a black teenager that was killed by a white police officer in a highly publicized police dash cam video. Van Dyke is shown in the video to have shot McDonald 16 times. While Van Dyke claimed that McDonald was lunging at him with a knife, different versions of the tape show McDonald was walking away from Van Dyke.
Van Dyke's lawyer said he fears for his safety now that he's out on bail. "He's very scared about the consequences that he's facing," said Dan Herbert, Van Dyke's attorney, according to the Chicago Tribune. "He's concerned for his wife and his children, but ... is ready to move on and take this step by step."
In the wake of the shooting, Mayor Rahm Emanuel vowed to create a police task force to investigate police brutality in Chicago.
"The task force will review the system of accountability, oversight and training that is currently in place for Chicago's police officers," said a statement from Emanuel, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Despite the promises of accountability, critics of Emanuel and the Chicago Police Department want more action. The shooting happened a year ago, but was only recently viewable after a freelance reporter fought to have the Laquan McDonald video released. Many believe there was a cover-up involved because Emanuel and state's attorney, Anita Alvarez, knew about the video when Emanuel was running for reelection in November 2014. The video was released after Emannuel's re-election in a run-off in April.
"We're tired of this police cover-up and the state's attorney's cover-up," said the Rev. Michael Pfleger, a Catholic priest in Chicago and local social activist, according to CNN . "People are mad here in Chicago."
