Cook County district attorney James Murphy was placed on administrative leave on Friday after suggesting to court that 13-year-old Adam Toledo, who was shot and murdered by a police officer in March, was armed when he was shot. the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times report.
Why it matters: Videos of the shooting show that a moment earlier, Toledo dropped what appeared to be a weapon and threw his hands in the air before being fatally shot. A Toledo family lawyer said on Thursday that if the teen “had a gun, he threw it away.”
- The officer said, ‘Show me your hands.’ He agreed. He turned around, “the lawyer added.
Details: At an April 10 hearing, Murphy told Judge Susana Ortiz that Toledo did not drop the gun until after he was shot, according to the Sun-Times.
- The officer tells [Adam] to drop it as [Adam] turns to the officer. [Adam] has a gun in his right hand, ”Murphy said. The officer fires one shot [Adam], punch him in the chest. The gun that [Adam] landed against the fence a few feet away. “
What they say: “In court last week, a lawyer in our office has not fully presented the facts surrounding the death of a 13-year-old boy,” Foxx spokeswoman Sarah Sinovic said in a statement, per the Sun-Times.
- “We have given that person leave and are conducting an internal investigation into the matter.”
- “For many of you it may have been shocking to see our statement on this matter,” state attorney Kim Foxx reportedly wrote in a letter to prosecutors Friday night. “It is indeed a rarity to see the Bureau make such a public statement regarding the actions of one [assistant state’s attorney]It is not done lightly. “
The big picture: Amid the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin – which was described by advocates as one of the most pivotal civil rights cases in decades after Chauvin was charged with the murder of George Floyd’s death – the murder of black people by police sparked nationwide protest.
- The protests continued after Kim Potter, the former police officer charged with second-degree manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright, was released on Wednesday with $ 100,000 bail.