BY COLIN DAILEDA
The city of Chicago released another
long-buried video on Thursday that shows another police officer fatally
shooting yet another black teenager after officials there officially dropped
their objection to its release.
Protests have wracked Chicago and officials
have scrambled to appear transparent ever since the November release of a
similar video in which an officer shot a black teenager named Laquan McDonald
16 times.
This latest video shows an officer gunning
down 17-year-old Cedrick Chatman, who was unarmed and fleeing police when he
was shot and killed.
Officer Kevin Fry, who was not reprimanded
for the fatal shooting, said Chatman turned and pointed a "black
object" at him as Chatman fled, an action not seen in the video.
Fry has been the subject of 30 complaints
throughout his career, according toDNAInfo, and yet he has never once been
disciplined.
Fraternal Order of Police spokesman Pat
Camden attempted to justify the fatal shooting and said Fry had been in fear of
his life.
Camden has lied about police shootings in the
past, and is often among the first officials to try to establish a narrative
after an officer kills someone, an investigation by the Chicago Tribune showed.
Chatman and two friends had robbed a man of
$400 earlier that day, and Chatman had taken off in the man's car. Fry and
another officer recognized the car and approached Chatman, at which point he
got out of the vehicle and fled.
Police initially charged Chatman's two
collaborators with his murder, though they were not at the scene when Fry
fatally shot the teenager.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel fired Police
Superintendent Garry McCarthy after the release of the McDonald video, and has
desperately tried to appear transparent and dedicated to police reform in its
aftermath.
Protesters, however, are calling for his
resignation, fed up with years of violence at the hands of police and what they
say is an ongoing attempt to cover up the killings.
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