Laquan McDonald Update: Chicago Releases Thousands Of Emails Related To Shooting

City officials in Chicago released hundreds of emails Thursday that had been exchanged pertaining to the fatal police shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. The emails released revealed that the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) — the agency that determines whether police shootings are justified — conversed repeatedly with Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration in the wake of the McDonald’s death, the Chicago Sun Times reported.

An email dating back to Dec. 5, 2014, between former IPRA Chief Scott Ando to Janey Rountree, a top aide to the mayor on public safety issues, included a list of three pending cases by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Justice Department, two of which resulted in criminal charges. There were also 23 cases of possible police misconduct “pending Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office review,” 20 of them about “officer involved shootings.” Out of those 23 cases, only two resulted in criminal charges as of the time of the email, according to the Chicago Sun Times.

Some of the emails released also included messages in which officials questioned how they should respond to demands for the dashcam footage of the officer shooting McDonald, according to the Associated Press.

The published emails began in the wake of McDonald’s shooting, Oct. 20, 2014, and end Dec. 7, 2015. Some emails were redacted or withheld for various reasons, WTTW reported. The emails were released after several news organizations requested them through the Freedom of Information Act.

Emanuel’s administration has been emerged in controversy after the release of dashcam footage of the shooting ignited weeks of protests. The city released the video last month under court order over a year after officer Jason Van Dyke shot and killed McDonald. Van Dyke has been charged with first-degree murder, and the U.S. Department of Justice has led an ongoing civil rights investigation into the Chicago Police Department.