Investigative Journalist Talks Uncovering Police Shooting Story
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- In October of 2014, 17-year-old Laquan McDonald was fatally shot by a Chicago police officer. The case seemed cut and dry, until a couple of weeks later when journalist and author Jamie Kalven, gets a tip.
"A colleague and I received a call from a whistle-blower close to the investigation, somebody within law enforcement, who said this case is not what it was reported, its horrific," she said.
Kalven took the information and ran with it. Digging deep and using public records, he uncovered what really happened to McDonald.
The teen was shot 16 times by Officer Jason Van Dyke and the crime was covered up. Police dash cam video, eventually released, proved Kalven's version of the story.
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"The video had, as we all know, this electric impact and the revelations that followed about what the city knew and the fact that they had suppressed this information for so long created a political earthquake in Chicago that completely changed the political landscape," Kalven said.
Kalven's investigation as a journalist changed a lot in Chicago and it helped to hold people accountable for their actions. Kalven is currently working on a documentary on the case, but he's also taking time to share his story with people across the country.
This week, he's here in Pittsburgh speaking at two events, highlighting the power of journalism and public records at Point Park University.
"I think as journalists we have a responsibility to the first amendment and to our readers and our fellow citizens to really be the driving force behind that kind of transparency," he said.
