McCarthy asks Illinois AG to investigate claims of Laquan McDonald shooting cover-up

CHICAGO (Fox 32 News) - Mayoral candidate Garry McCarthy is now naming names in what he calls a "cover-up" of the Laquan McDonald dashcam video.

He made the explosive accusation after appearing in FOX 32's second mayoral forum.

The candidate has sent a letter to the attorney general calling for a formal investigation into the video cover-up, saying the investigation should focus on Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his "accomplices" at City Hall, whom McCarthy says hid the video so they could win re-election.

McCarthy was Chicago police superintendent when Laquan McDonald was shot and killed in 2014 and was still in charge when the dashcam video was released, which took more than a year.

FOX 32: Were you part of that cover-up?

“Would I be doing it if I was part of it Mike? That would be pretty silly wouldn't it?” McCarthy responded.

The now mayoral candidate is asking Attorney General Kwame Raoul to investigate the delay in the release of the police shooting.

McCarthy is calling it a "...blatant case of “official misconduct” on the part of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his former corporation counsel, Steve Patton..."

“I cannot say the mayor was the architect. What I can say is that Steve Patton carried it out through the Corporation Counsel,” McCarthy said.

He also cited a $5-million-dollar settlement between the city and Laquan McDonald’s family.

“A deal was struck between the Corporation Council and the family to give the family $5-million-dollars not to release the video. This was done while the mayor was in a runoff with Chuy Garcia,” McCarthy said. “I think it's criminal to give away $5-million-dollars of taxpayer money to steal an election.”

McCarthy, who was fired following the McDonald controversy, says now is the time to investigate.

“Van Dyke has been convicted and sentenced, the officers who allegedly assisted in a cover-up have been tried. It's time to go to the next level, which is people need to know what happened to that video,” McCarthy said.

The former superintendent appears to be changing his tune a bit. Several months after the video was released he said the following: "If I was asked, and I was not, I would have recommended not releasing the Laquan McDonald video. For no other reason, then we don't release evidence in a criminal investigation."

McCarthy’s communications director released the following statement tonight: "The alleged cover up did not happen on the criminal side of the investigation. It occurred on the civil side, out of the red hot glare of the criminal investigation. It was on that civil side where the Emanuel administration managed to falsely claim that Officer Van Dyke acted within the scope of his employment, in order to convince the Finance Committee to hand over $5 million dollars to payoff McDonald's relatives so that the video would not be made public ahead of his runoff election with Jesus 'Chuy' Garcia."

FOX 32 reached out to Steve Patton, the former city attorney, for comment and have not heard back.