On the same day the mayor of Chicago announced the addition of 50 new police officers to patrol the city’s subway system in the name of public safety, a pair of cops were caught on video shooting a man they were detaining for committing the minor infraction of moving between subway cars Friday during rush hour.
Two videos were recorded with the first one showing the cops already struggling to arrest the man on a train platform where they taser him. The second video begins in mid-action with a male cop laying on top of the man, struggling to arrest him while a female cop bends over on top of them, demanding to see his hands – both which are visible in the video. One hand is holding on to a pair of handcuffs the male cop is holding while the other hand moves up the railing.
“Shoot him!” the male cop tells the female cop who then proceeds to pepper spray him.
At one point, the two men stand up with the suspect placing his hand over his eyes, an apparent response to being pepper sprayed.
“Shoot him!” the male cops says again.
“Give him your hands,” the female cop demands before shooting him. The man begins walking up the stairs with the two cops walking behind him. A second gunshot then rings out.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the video was “extremely disturbing” to watch and suggested the cops should be criminally investigated.
Chicago police released the following statement about the shooting:
Shortly after 4:00 p.m., two officers assigned to the Mass Transit Unit attempted to stop a man who was moving between two train cars, in violation of city ordinance. A struggle ensued at the Grand Red Line station as they attempted to place the subject in custody. Both officers deployed their Tasers. At some point during the incident, officers discharged their weapon, striking the subject twice.
The victim who has not been identified is listed in critical but stable condition at a local hospital. Watch the two videos below.
