The Laquan McDonald Email Dump Shows Rahm Emanuel’s Administration in Crisis Mode

[marmar]

from In These Times:


The Laquan McDonald Email Dump Shows Rahm Emanuel’s Administration in Crisis Mode
A guide to the documents released by City Hall in the aftermath of the Chicago police shooting.

BY REBECCA BURNS


New Year’s Eve in Chicago may lack an iconic midnight ball drop, but this year the city got a massive document drop as it prepared to ring in 2016. On Thursday morning, Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office released hundreds of internal emails and other documents related to the October 2014 fatal police shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald. Thirteen months passed before the city released the graphic video showing McDonald’s death, stoking suspicions of a cover-up and fueling calls for Emanuel’s resignation.

The emails were made public in response to open records requests, but some found the timing of the release suspect—Chicagoans headed out to celebrate the new year were unlikely to wade through 3,000 pages split across seven PDFs. Some readers launched an online collaboration to catalog all the emails and their contents for easier reference. The catalog, nearly complete, can be viewed here. Its contributors include Streetsblog Chicago reporter Steven Vance, Chicago Teachers Union member Luke Carman, Twitter user natalie solidarity and numerous others who pitched in after news of the effort began circulating online on New Year’s Eve.

In These Times sifted through the documents and compiled some of the most significant information about City Hall’s handling of the case, annotated for reader reference (the seven files we refer to can be found in chronological order here). The emails show that the McDonald case was on the Emanuel administration’s radar within two months of the fatal shooting.

They also suggest that as the mayor prepared for a tough re-election campaign, his office was often more focused on running damage control than investigating disturbing questions about McDonald’s death and the broader police culture that may have enabled it. Mayor Emanuel’s office did not respond to a request for comment for this article. ................(more)

http://inthesetimes.com/article/18729/laquan-mcdonald-rahm-emanuel-emails-foia

[Octafish]

1. Damage Control IS Just-Us.

In These Times makes clear what the priorities are for our elected leadership.

Perhaps the central question surrounding the killing of Laquan McDonald has been what Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration knew and when. The speedy settlement negotiated by the city—$5 million paid to the family without a trial—during the height of Emanuel’s re-election campaign has been scrutinized by many.

C.Y.A.

[Scuba]

2. Rahm's not worried; Hillary has his back.

[libodem]

3. If he gets thrown out

He won't be unemployed long. Hillary needs a running mate.