Oct 5, 2018

Officer in Laquan McDonald shooting found guilty of murder

Jason Van Dyke. Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images

Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke has been found guilty of second degree murder in the shooting of Chicago teenager Laquan McDonald.

Why it matters: McDonald's shooting in 2014 was highlighted as part of a trend of fatal police shootings of black men that sparked waves of protests throughout the country and also prompted an investigation from the Department of Justice, as well as new department initiatives.

The Details: The prosecution argued that Van Dyke shooting McDonald 16 times was "completely unnecessary" and focused on the shots that hit McDonald as he laid on the ground.

Van Dyke testified that he and McDonald never lost eye contact and waved his knife at him and said he feared officers on the scene were under attack.

The backdrop: McDonald was shot 16 times by Van Dyke just seconds after he arrived on the scene after hearing dispatch reports of someone breaking into vehicles of in a trucking yard. Dashcam footage showed McDonald moving away from officers, contradicting Van Dyke's testimony.

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Scoop: Inside the Trump campaign's big hedge on Facebook

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

The Trump campaign has invested most of its advertising budget to date on Facebook, testing thousands of versions of ads per day to maximize its spending.

But behind the scenes, a source familiar with the campaign tells Axios, the thinking has shifted: "As everyone can see, we still have strong spending on Facebook, but the percentage of our total media budget [on Facebook] is shrinking."

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Trump's revenge tour has the House in its sights

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But after the GOP reckoning in 2018, and experiencing firsthand how damaging a Democratic-led House has been to him, Trump is now personally invested in helping Republicans regain the majority in November, several people familiar with his thinking tell Axios.

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Pelosi warns U.S. allies against working with China's Huawei

Nancy Pelosi, Feb. 16. Photo: Sven Hoppe/picture alliance via Getty Images

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday cautioned U.S. allies against allowing Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei to develop their 5G networks, arguing at the Munich Security Conference that doing so is akin to “choosing autocracy over democracy," CNBC reports.

Why it matters: Pelosi's hawkish stance marks a rare area of agreement with the Trump administration, which believes Huawei is a national security threat because the Chinese government may be capable of accessing its equipment for espionage.

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