CHICAGO (AP) – The latest on the fatal police shootings in Chicago (all times local):
10:25 a.m.
Chicago-area Democratic leaders have thrown their support behind a challenger to embattled Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, who has been facing heavy criticism over her office’s handling of alleged police misconduct cases.
The Cook County Democratic Party initially decided to stay neutral in the March primary, but decided to revisit the decision about whether to endorse any of the three candidates.
During a meeting Thursday that Alvarez didn’t attend, her two challengers for the Democratic nomination made their pleas to party leaders. After less than a half-hour of deliberating in private, the committeemen announced they were backing Kim Foxx, a former chief aide to the county board president.
Alvarez has been facing calls to resign since waiting a year to charge a white Chicago police officer with murder after he shot a black teenager 16 times in 2014.
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10:15 a.m.
A federal judge has granted the release of 2013 surveillance video showing a white Chicago police officer fatally shoot a 17-year-old black carjacking suspect.
The judge lifted a protective order that barred the release after the city dropped its objections. Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration and the police force have come under intense scrutiny in recent months over police shootings and cases of alleged misconduct.
A city Law Department spokesman didn’t immediately respond to an email Thursday asking when the video would be released.
The officer shot Cedrick Chatman during a January 2013 foot chase. The officer says he fired after seeing Chatman turn toward officers with a dark object in his hand. Investigators later determined it was an iPhone box.
A Chatman family lawyer says the video will show he never turned and posed no threat.
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1:50 a.m.
A judge will decide whether to allow the release of a video showing a white Chicago police officer fatally shooting a black car-theft suspect in 2013.
The hearing Thursday comes a day after the city did an about-face and dropped its opposition to making the video public.
It’s not clear how soon the city will release the footage of Cedrick Chatman’s death if the judge lifts a protective order, as expected.
Chatman was suspected in a car theft when an officer killed the 17-year-old during a foot chase.
Questions about the Chatman video follow the Nov. 24 release of a video showing a white officer fatally shooting black teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times. The city fought its release for more than a year.