The head of the Chicago Police Union said Thursday the shooting of 13-year-old Adam Toledo was “justified” and called the officer’s actions “heroic”.
The comments of Chicago Police Union President John Catanzara came hours after Chicago’s Office of Civilian Police Accountability released bodycam footage from the March 29 incident.
The footage raised questions as to whether Toledo actually had a gun in his hand before he was shot, as police claim. A gun is not clearly visible in Toledo’s hand in the video that was released.
In an appearance on CNN’s “Cuomo Prime Time,” Catanzara said the officer’s actions were “100 percent justified.”
“I started my thesis by saying it is 100 percent justified. That officer’s actions were actually heroic, ”he said. There is a very good reason why he only fired once. Like I said, he could have been shot multiple times, but the officer judged it in a split second.
“Unfortunately he has already committed himself for the first shot, rightly so.”
John Catanzara, chairman of the Chicago Police Union, defends the actions of the officer who fatally shot 13-year-old Adam Toledo. https://t.co/681ELa7SF0 pic.twitter.com/BUuECFsijW
– Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) April 16, 2021
The video released Thursday showed the officer chasing Toledo down an alley as he shouted “stop right now” before Toledo stops at a large opening in a wooden fence.
The officer then hears shouting “let me shout your f — hands”, and Toledo turns to the officer with raised hands. The officer then shouts “drop it” twice before firing Toledo once in the chest. There was no clearly visible gun in his hand in the bodycam video.
Agents are then seen helping Toledo.
Catanzara said the officer had less than a second to determine if Toledo had the gun and could fire it.
“Time-lapse photos show the officer had 8 / 10ths of a second to determine whether that weapon was still in his hands or not,” Catanzara said. “There is no way for a rational person to say they can process that and their muscle response would take less than a second.”
Democratic lawmakers called for justice after the release of the bodycam video on Thursday.
Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin said on Twitter, “Adam Toledo was a seventh grader at Gary Elementary School in Little Village. His whole life was ahead of him. My heart breaks for his family and friends, who mourn the loss of his young life. “
“Far too many black and brown men and women have lost their lives to brutal acts of racial injustice,” he continued. “All the evidence shows that we are dealing with a legal system that is not applied equally – and we need to. To change that.”
The incident sparks new calls for police reform, as it comes during the ongoing murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin charged with the death of George Floyd that sparked nationwide protests last summer.
It also comes shortly after the high-profile murder of 20-year-old Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, last weekend.