Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and community leaders are holding a news conference at 8pm local time (1pm ET) ahead of the video release.
In a joint statement Thursday, the mayor’s office and the lawyers for Adam’s family said they met on Wednesday and “both parties agree that all material should be released, including a delayed compilation of events” that led to the 13-year-old dead.
According to police, the teenager was shot dead early on March 29 when officers responded to a call from a shot on the West Side. One of them was armed, according to police, and ran away. One officer opened fire and hit one person in the chest.
“We acknowledge that the release of this video is the first step in the process of healing the family, the community and our city,” the joint statement said on Wednesday. “We understand that releasing this video will be incredibly painful and evoke an emotional response for anyone who sees it, and we ask that people express themselves peacefully.”
The boy’s family saw the video on Tuesday and asked that the video and other evidence not be made public immediately, according to a statement. this week of COPA, which investigates all police shootings.
“COPA has remained sensitive to the family’s grief and is making the release in accordance with the City’s video release policy,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.
“COPA’s core values of integrity and transparency are essential to building trust in the public, especially in incidents involving an officer involved in the shooting, and we are steadfast in our commitment to uphold those values.”
In an earlier statement, the law firm representing Adam’s family said watching the video was “very difficult and heartbreaking for everyone there, especially the family.”
“We also want to thank the leaders and members of the Latino community for remaining peaceful in their demonstrations and calls for justice,” the statement said. “Adam’s memory can best be honored by restraining violence and working constructively for reform.”
Mayor Lightfoot said Wednesday she also saw footage of the shooting, acknowledging the family’s ongoing grief.
“I want to respect the family, but I also think that something like a police shooting, especially under these circumstances, is important for us to be transparent,” Lightfoot said.
Asked if she would prefer the video to be released after Chauvin’s trial, the mayor said it was not really part of the calculus.
“It’s about being respectful and balancing the need for transparency with this grieving family that is extremely difficult.”
Prior to the release of the video, the Chicago Police Department issued a new order to its officers governing actions during protests.
Under the new order, officers will not ‘disrupt, intimidate, harass, discriminate or arrest’, ‘comment on views’,’ use violence as punishment or retaliation ‘,’ obstruct or prevent members of the public from of the Department, “or” interrogate participants or otherwise question their views “during demonstrations with the first amendment, except in very limited circumstances.
Collectively, the two orders restrict interactions between police and protesters exercising the rights of the first amendment, but command them to distinguish between the “disruptive, violent, criminal or riotous behavior of members of the crowd.”
The police can still order distribution, arrest and use pepper spray in cases where certain conditions are met.
CNN’s Brad Parks and Joe Sutton contributed to this report.