Cedrick Chatman police-shooting video may be released Thursday
CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) - Another video showing a Chicago police-involved shooting could be released as soon as Thursday, with this one showing the death of 17-year-old Cedrick Chatman. He was killed three years ago, but since 2014, the city has been fighting to keep the video of Chatman's shooting under wraps.
But on Wednesday, city lawyers filed a motion in federal court to remove the protective order.
Video of the fatal shooting was recorded on three cameras near the intersection of 75th and Jeffrey, and an attorney for the Chatman family says it will clearly show what happened as police chased the 17-year-old across 75th and shot him after he fled from a stolen car.
“He is running away as fast as he can from them. He is not carrying a gun in his hand, he is not carrying a knife, he is not taking any type of movements towards the officers to put them in the fear of their life,” said Brian Coffman, the Chatman family attorney.
Police said they saw a dark object in Chatman's hand, which turned out to be a cellphone box. The attorney representing the two officers, Kevin Fry and Lou Toth, argued the video supports the officers version of what happened.
"Officers Fry and Toth identified a carjacked vehicle and had reason to believe that the suspect was armed. After disobeying the officer's order to exit the vehicle, the suspect reached to the floor and ran out of the vehicle with a dark object in his hand,” said attorney Andy Hale.
He claimed that Chatman turned towards the officers, which caused one of them to open fire.
“A nationally recognized police use of force expert has also produced a report concluding that this shooting was justified,” Hale said.
On Monday, activists rallied at the scene and called on Mayor Emanuel's office to release the video, even as they announced a new protest in the financial district for Friday to coincide with Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday.
Now, one activist is claiming victory and said the mayor bowed to public pressure.
“What we're seeing here is brutality, we're seeing cover-ups, we're seeing corruption and it's an embarrassment for the city of Chicago, which is my home (and it's) being seen in this way around the world,” said Gregory Livingston, President of the Coalition for a New Chicago.
Livingston said the release of the Chatman video is important for one major reason: truth.
“In terms of us healing as a city, we first have to get rid of the cancers and part of that it, one of the cancers in terms of that, which corrupts Chicago, is the fact that for so long we've allowed people to get away with things that no one should get away with,” Livingston said.
The City said the initial decision to seek the protective order was done based on a decades old policy. The videos are being released as part of an effort to strike a balance between transparency and the public interest, and the need to protect the integrity of investigations.