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Jason Van Dyke, the Chicago officer charged in the death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, was released from jail after posting 10 percent of his $1.5 million bond.

Van Dyke was surrounded by a plethora of cameras and reporters as he walked out of the West Side jail complex shortly after 5 p.m., The Chicago Tribune reports.

Police union members contributed to a fund set up to support Van Dyke’s wife and two children, said Dean Angelo Sr., president of the Fraternal Order of Police. However, it was not specified how much of that money contributed to the $150,000 bond.

Van Dyke was previously denied bail because the judge wanted to see video of the incident first. During this week’s bond hearing, Judge Donald Panarese Jr. viewed the dashcam footage, which was publically released last week. In it, McDonald is shot 16 times by Van Dyke – less than 10 seconds after he exited his squad car.

Prosecutors attempted to keep the 37-year-old incarcerated without bail, but his lawyer Daniel Herbert insisted Van Dyke would not be a risk to himself or others.

While the bond hearing occurred in the Leighton Criminal Court Building, protests grew outside. Singing and marching with empty caskets, NAACP President Cornell William Brooks and others blocked traffic to pray on LaSalle Street outside City Hall. Brooks was arrested with a group of supporters. In less than an hour, they were released. The Huffington Post reports Brooks planned to be arrested “to break the man’s law to uphold moral law for transformation in the city of Chicago.”

The group was given citations before they were released.

In the meantime, Herbert said Van Dyke is prepared to clear his name during the expectedly long trial.

SOURCE: The Chicago Tribune, The Huffington Post 

 

Cop Who Fatally Shot Laquan McDonald Free After Posting Bond  was originally published on newsone.com