Seventeen-year-old Laquan McDonald was shot 16 times and killed by Officer Jason Van Dyke October 21, 2014. Occurring amidst the ongoing “Black Lives Matter” protests originating in Ferguson, Missouri, the release of Van Dyke on bail awakens new protests and outrage in Chicago.

Van Dyke, a white male, is being charged with the first degree murder of McDonald, a black teen. The same day that Van Dyke was released on bail, a video was released documenting the murder of McDonald. The video gives insight to the reality of what happened October 21, and protests have heated up. As one protester, Jeddidiah Brown, claims, “when Van Dyke walked out, what that said to me is that my life doesn’t matter to this mayor and this city,”

The video shows McDonald being shot 13 times once already on the ground, after according to the prosecution, but not shown in the video, he punctured a tire of a squad car. The video does not tell the same story that the police department and prosecution have been pushing, which is that McDonald, who prosecutors said had PCP in his system and was holding a knife with a 3-inch blade, lunged at Van Dyke before he opened fire.

WHHS senior Nicole Loffredo also noticed the difference between the two stories. “I think that the Black Lives Matter campaign is justified, especially with the recent differences between the police department’s story and the truth in what the video shows. It’s really troubling that a grown adult would take such violent actions against a teen, especially when he was already on the ground. I just hope that the protests do not add unnecessary fuel to the fire, and that they call for change instead of increased violence.”

Van Dyke is currently walking freely, released on bail, and awaits trial.