Ocasio-Cortez says Chicago prosecutor ‘lied’ in Adam Toledo killing

A Chicago prosecutor “lied” by stating that 13-year-old Adam Toledo had a gun in his hand when he was shot by police in Chicago, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said in a tweet on Thursday.

The New York Democrat said it wasn’t an error by a prosecutor, but an untruth. Chicago officials have said the remark made over the weekend was an error. 

“The prosecutor did not ‘make an error.’ He lied. He lied about the police killing a child,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. “Ending this isn’t just about consequences for who pulls the trigger. It’s about admitting to and confronting an entire system that exists to protect, defend, and cover up state violence.”

The prosecutor did not “make an error.” He lied.

He lied about the police killing a child.

Ending this isn’t just about consequences for who pulls the trigger. It’s about admitting to and confronting an entire system that exists to protect, defend, and cover up state violence. https://t.co/pKkb8PMchR

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 16, 2021

Chicago on Thursday released body camera footage of the March 29 incident, which raised questions about whether Toledo had a gun in his hand before he was shot.

Authorities have said that Toledo had a gun in his hand, but the footage doesn’t clearly show one. A prosecutor made the claim in court over the weekend during a bond hearing for 21-year-old Ruben Roman, who fled police with Toledo the night he was shot.

The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office later told The Hill and other news outlets that the prosecutor failed to “fully inform himself before speaking in court.”

“Errors like that cannot happen and this has been addressed with the individual involved. The video speaks for itself, the office said.

The footage shows an officer, who was identified as Eric Stillman, chase Toledo as he screams “stop right f—— now” before Toledo stops at a gap in wooden fencing. Stillman then demands to see Toledo’s hands, and Toledo slowly turns with both of his hands raised.

A gun was not clearly visible in either of Toledo’s hands, but Stillman yells “drop it” twice before shooting Toledo once in the chest. When Toledo falls to the ground, there also isn’t a gun clearly seen on the ground.

Stillman and other officers then rush to render aid to Toledo.

The video garnered calls for justice, as it came during the murder trial of Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer who knelt on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, resulting in Floyd’s death in May.

It also came as the nation grapples with the death of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, who was fatally shot by former officer Kim Potter in a Minneapolis suburb on Sunday.