Does Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel have KNOWLEDGE about a possible police coverup?

Definitely, as he had to sign off on the $5,000,000 payoff, er, compensation to the mother whose son was a ward of the State of Illinois at the time of his death. It was only in response to a court order when freelance journalist prevailed in Freedom of Information Act lawsuit that the video was released. Damn straight this jerk of a mayor knew from day one.

My answer, as usual, is a picture.

He could not have avoided knowing about it. The cover-up came just before his close election and involved both the Justice Dept. and Obama for whom he was once his Chief of Staff and is still his close friend.

Consider the difference in which the White House and Justice handled Ferguson and Baltimore and how they handled Chicago. Coincidence? - I don't think so.

Don't you have to be corrupt to hold political office in Chicago? /rimshot

Let's put it this way. Sure there is a chance he didn't know about it and in turn never knew about that $5M payoff to the family. But then I have to ask just how incompetent of a mayor he is to not be aware of a $5M decrease in his budget. Yes, I think he knew about it and knowing the politics he's played in the past, it does not surprise me that he would withhold the information during a reelection to ensure he wins. Either way, Emanuel should resign or be impeached/recalled. It's bad enough we have a perception problem by some about the Police in this country. His action/inaction has likely made things much worse.

Absolutely, I think he knew.
One might question if he knew prior to the election in 2014, but he undoubtedly knew before now.
He has already fired the Police Commissioner in the hopes that will placate a very angry citizenry.

As an aside, while I think BLM has missed the mark on multiple occasions, this video looks completely indefensible for the police. Shooting the guy sixteen times, most of it while he was on the ground...
Real bad.

Of course. I may not have a lot of respect for him as a man, but he definitely isn't one not to be misunderstood as not knowing what is going on, he is a particularly intelligent person. He will do as most Democrats have done so far, duck and cover until the next general election and it will go away. Only fly in the ointment is the BLM movement, they could scuttle him, if they want to.

It is ridiculous to think that the mayor had no idea about what was going on. They paid $5mil because it was a smart business decision, and one that did not happen without the mayor being in the loop. Pay a little early vs a ton after the criminal case is over. Cannot blame the city on that one.

The shooting? Based solely on the video (that is all the knowledge I have), the shooting certainly looks bad. I cannot believe that it took 400 days to decide to file charges, they had the tape, they knew which officers were on scene. Interview, review, debate, discuss and move. No department wants to hang out their guys, so they have to be thorough in the investigation.

Key point to take away from this, in my opinion, is: A bad thing happened. It is not a reason for rioting, racism, cops suck behavior. Do not lose sight of the fact that this was in fact a criminal. It may very well be a "bad shoot", it may very well be that the city hoped the "payoff" would make it all good. That city has approx 12,000 police officers, and the criminal violence is off the charts. Does not justify bad shootings, but it also does not condemn the department.

Wouldn't be surprised. But the cover-up related to the dashcam video has many branches, no doubt about it.

He's the Chief Executive of a major city. He either knew or he should have known about the workings of "his" city. Unless shootings (by police) are so commonplace that they are no longer noteworthy, he should have had "some" periodic briefing of the ongoing investigation. This would have put him in the prime seat to know things as they happened. At that point you either claim ignorance OR incompetence. Think of it like Volkswagen and their recent scandal (they are choosing to claim malfeasance rather than incompetence).