Dashcam video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Zz03rvyhIkYou can't make out what he's holding (other reports said it was a folding knife), but we can tell he wasn't threatening anyone with it, and wasn't walking towards any cops with it. The dashcam was looking right at him. It didn't record the cop that shot him, but the cop gunned him down and then kept shooting (I saw at least one bullet hit the pavement), as other reports said, and then a cop walked over and kicked his knife away, and then walked away again without bothering to check to see how badly injured he was - but that seems to be SOP.
Also, this is remarkable:
The lawyer for a white Chicago police officer charged with murdering a black teenager said on Wednesday his client feared for his life and that footage from a patrol car camera released this week is unreliable because video "distorts images."
...
"Video by its nature is two-dimensional. It distorts images. So what appears to be clear on a video sometimes is not always that clear," Herbert said. He said Van Dyke "truly was in fear for his life as well as the lives of his fellow police officers."
And I imagine every black man in this country is in fear for their lives every time they see a cop. Do they also have the right to defend themselves preemptively with lethal force as a result?
They don't even seem to have second amendment rights - they get shot down if a cop sees any kind of weapon, or even thinks he does. It's absurd.
The lawyer says he was threatening businesses and vandalizing cop cars, but "He did BAD THINGS" doesn't justify killing, and "I was afraid for my life" seems like an excuse these days - what's he going to do, throw the knife at you? It's not a frigging ninja star.
It's like everyone's forgotten what's written in the fifth amendment other than the part about not testifying against yourself.
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Cops shooting people dead is literally a violation of their constitutional rights.