Chicago police officer Eric Stillman’s actions were “in line” with Chicago police usage law and the law, his attorney said Friday night.
Stillman is the officer who allegedly fired the shot that killed Adam Toledo, 13, late last month. Video footage of the incident was released this week.
“We are denouncing a very good police officer,” attorney Tim Grace told Laura Ingraham on Fox News Friday night in “The Ingraham Angle.”
According to Grace, the boy was holding a gun when he started turning to Stillman after Stillman ordered him to stop.
“At this point, this officer has no cover or concealment,” Grace said. “He sees this gun, he sees this individual turning to him.”
“At this point, this officer has no cover, no disguise. He sees this gun, he sees this individual turning to him.”
Grace said Stillman is being forced to make a “split-second decision” that is “in line with Chicago police general orders, guidelines for use and the law.”
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Grace said the police shooting could not be judged by a retrospective in 2020. We need to look at it from the police officer’s perspective. ‘
Gang to blame?
He laments that Stillman – rather than a gang – became the ‘villain’ in Toledo’s death. Grace claims the Latin Kings gave Toledo the gun he apparently had in his hand before he was shot.
“The Latin Kings are the ones who recruited him, stamped him with a tattoo and then had him shot at passing cars in the middle of the night,” he said.
‘The Latin Kings are the ones who recruited [Toledo], stamped him with a tattoo and then had him shot at passing cars in the middle of the night. ‘
He added that he believed Ruben Roman, 21, who was allegedly with Toledo when he was killed, should be charged in connection with the death, and said people should be concerned about violence in Chicago involving police not involved.
Do you realize that we have a murder in this city every 11 hours? Do we take a shooting in this city every two hours? ‘ he said. ‘And they say to police officers,’ Go there, get the guns, stop the violence, we must be your sheepdogs. ‘And what do the police officers do? They go there and they do it. ‘
Do you realize that we have a murder in this city every 11 hours? Do we take a shooting in this city every two hours? ‘
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He said progressive people are trying to tie their hands so that the police can not do their job but still expect officers to stop gang violence.
“You can’t have it both ways,” he told Ingraham.
Grace praised Stillman as a decorated veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and an officer who served Chicago “honorably.”
“He does not take it lightly,” he said. “He understands that what he did and what he had to do – and all law enforcement across the country, the last thing they want to do is unload their weapons and use deadly force.”
He added that “Defund the Police” groups, in our opinion, “will make our cities uninhabitable” by taking away officers’ abilities to do their job.
An assassination
Meanwhile, the Toledo family’s lawyer, Adeena Weiss-Ortiz, claims that the boy complied with the officer’s instructions and that his hands were empty when he was shot.
“If you shoot an unarmed child with his hands in the air, it’s an assassination,” she said.
Weiss-Ortiz added that footage from the police’s body room was released this week and that other videos “speak for themselves.” She said it was irrelevant whether Toledo was holding a gun before turning to the officer.
“If he had a gun, he threw it,” she said. “The officer said, ‘Show me your hands. ‘ [Toledo] complied with. He turned around. ‘
Toledo was killed on March 29 after a chase after Stillman responded to a report of shots.
The camera footage shows Stillman pulling to the spot and immediately meeting two people, who are apparently Toledo and Roman.
Stillman forces Roman to the ground before chasing Toledo, who is seen running away. According to prosecutors, the Roman fired the shots that prompted police to respond in the area, reports FOX 32 of Chicago.
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The officer can be heard saying the boy’s “stop” and “stop right f —— now.” Toledo then pauses for a moment before turning to the officer, and then the policeman says to him, ‘Show me your f —— hand.’
Footage from a security camera offers a different perspective of the police chase, while Toledo appears to be behind the fence. The footage later shows a gun on the ground next to the fence, foot from where Toledo was shot.
There were conflicting reports whether Toledo had a gun in his hand at the time he was shot.
Stillman has not yet been charged with a crime at this stage.
Fox News’ Stephanie Pagones contributed to this report.