16 Shots (2019)

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16 Shots was released on June 14, 2019, in the USA. The American film was produced by Midnight Films. The film was written and directed by Rick Rowley. The movie was displaying how the death of Laquan McDonald, a 17-year-old African American boy, rippled the Chicago's officials[1].

Plot

On October 20, 2014, Laquan McDonald, a 17-year old African American boy, who had PCP was carrying a knife and suspected of trying to break into vehicles in a truck yard. Several police officers replied to the call and found McDonald walking down a nearby street. He neglected the instructions to drop the knife and was walking away thus, Van Dyke shot him. After McDonald fell to the ground, Van Dyke extended to fire 15 more times within a few seconds. The incident was captured on a police dashcam video that was posted to the public, perhaps due to technical error. The footage is shown at the end of the movie and makes for a very tormenting appearance. Massive protests broke out across the city by outraged citizens, and eventually Van Dyke was found guilty of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to just six and a half years. In the end, the chief of the Chicago Police Department was fired, the state attorney lost her bid for re-election, and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel decided to not continue as a mayor for a third term[2].

Black Empowerment

Laquan McDonald. Photograph: Courtesy of the McDonald family[3]

Despite the tragedy, the dashcam video has outraged people to urge the Chicago officials to change the system. As shown by the film, the release of the dashcam video has created a battle for a criminal trial against a police officer who would shot people to death based on his assumption. Within the four-year period from the incident to the final verdict, the city overthrew Chicago Police Chief Garry McCarthy and the state attorney, Anita Alvarez. While several people saw it as an onslaught on their circumstances, activists in the city saw it as a path to change the system in the right direction, chanting "Two down, one to go!". As said by one of the activists "This was historic", it was like a David and Goliath battle, and many activists believe this could be a start to create a better future with equality as they have changed what seemed impossible which led to the Chicago Mayor decision not running for the third term, "Heads rolled with this verdict. And they’re continuing to roll. We did that. So what else is possible now?”[4].

Controversy

The dashcam video shows that McDonald does not attack anybody. Yet, Van Dyke shot 16 times without hesitation. What even worse was Van Dyke claimed that McDonald was actually trying to assault him. His colleagues on the scene said the exact same language as "attacking" and erased the CCTV footage from nearby Burger King. The police are also said to threaten the eyewitnesses to not speak the truth. This has shown that the implementation of equal rights seems to be only lip service. If the dashcam video is not made public, it is very likely that the case would not be heard and it might not accelerate the urgency of equal rights and fighting against prejudice[5].

References

  1. 16 Shots (2019). IMDb. Retrieved January 18 2021
  2. Frank Scheck. '16 Shots': Film Review. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 18 2021
  3. Laquan McDonald TheGuardian. Retrieved January 18 2021
  4. Dream McClinton. 16 Shots: behind a shocking film about an unlawful police shooting TheGuardian. Retrieved January 18 2021
  5. Brian Tallerico. 16 Shots RogerEbert. Retrieved January 18 2021