Laquan McDonald Shooting Update: Judge Sets $1.5 Million Bond For White Chicago Officer Who Shot Black Teen 16 Times

UPDATED 6:20 p.m. EST -- Jason Van Dyke, the Chicago police officer charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a black teenager he shot 16 times, has posted bail, ABC News reported Monday evening. He had to post $150,000 -- 10 percent of his $1.5 million total bond amount -- to be released from Cook County Jail.

"He is prepared to defend himself," said Dan Herbert, Van Dyke's attorney, according to WLS-TV in Chicago. "He is very scared about the consequences that he's facing, he's concerned for his wife and his children, but he is handling it like a professional and he is ready to move on and take this step by step."

WLS-TV reporter Rob Elgas tweeted video of Van Dyke leaving the jail Monday.

Original story:

A white Chicago police officer charged with the murder of a black teenager he shot 16 times faces a $1.5 million bond set by a judge Monday, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Officer Jason Van Dyke’s bond hearing came after days of local protests over 17-year-old Laquan McDonald’s 2014 death, which was caught on a previously unreleased squad car dashboard video camera.

A small number of protesters in the courtroom let out of cries of disapproval when Judge Donald Panarese Jr. announced the bond, according to the Sun-Times. Panarese made his decision after he had watched a video of the shooting on a laptop computer. Protesters said Van Dyke should be held without bond.

Van Dyke, 37, was ordered to remain in custody after he was charged last week with first-degree murder. If convicted, he could face a minimum of 20 years in prison, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The video shows Van Dyke emerging from his squad car last year and shooting McDonald as he walked away from officers with a small knife. The video was released on the same day Van Dyke learned he would be charged, a decision that raised suspicions among local social-justice activists over the role Chicago officials might have played in withholding the release.

An separate Illinois judge ruled Nov. 19 that the video had to be released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) after an independent journalist and several other news organizations sued the city. Lisa Madigan, the Illinois attorney general, had previously said the Chicago Police Department violated the act when it refused to release the video of the shooting last year, according to local CW affiliate WGN-TV.

McDonald’s family previously said it did not want the video released. Lawyers for the family have said the video shows Van Dyke shooting the teen from about 15 feet away and the teen’s body jerking in a way consistent with his being shot multiple times. His family received a settlement of $5 million from the city in April.