CHICAGO (AP) — A judge has refused to throw out the murder charges against a white Chicago police officer charged after he shot black teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times.
Officer Jason Van Dyke’s attorney had argued that Van Dyke acted properly and was only charged because of the intense political pressure that prosecutors were under as a result of the release of the dashcam video that showed the 2014 incident.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that attorney Dan Herbert argued during a hearing on Thursday that Van Dyke was not only justified in shooting the 17-year-old who was armed with a knife but was obligated to shoot at the teenager to prevent “this dangerous, armed individual” from escaping.
But Cook County Judge Vincent Gaughan denied Herbert’s motion to dismiss the charges.
