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For the first time in more than a decade, a Chicago police officer has been indicted for shooting at a car full of six unarmed Black teenagers, wounding two of them.

A retired Cook County judge released the dash cam video of the 2013 incident to The Chicago Reporter. The video shows Officer Marco Proano fire his weapon 16 times into the car, which the Department of Justice has called “unreasonable force.”

Two teenagers were wounded and eventually won a settlement with the city of more than $300 thousand dollars. Proano is charged with two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Susan Richardson, Editor and Publisher of The Chicago Reporter, joined Roland Martin on NewsOne Now to talk about the release of the video, which may not have seen the light of day if it had not been for Former Cook County Judge Andrew Berman.

According to Richardson, Judge Berman saw the video in a related trial and was so appalled, “He called the officer’s behavior gangster-like.” She also recalled Judge Berman saying during their first interview with him, “If these had been White kids, this would not have been handled this way.”

“Judge Berman, who actually heard a related piece of the case, wanted us to have the video because he wanted it to be public,” Richardson said.

As a part of the settlement in the case, video of the shooting was barred from being shared as a result of a protective order. Richardson said, “That video would not have been made public” if Judge Berman had not taken a stand and released it.

Watch Roland Martin, Susan Richardson, and the NewsOne Now panel discuss the shocking police shooting video in the clip above.

PHOTO CREDIT: Getty

Watch NewsOne Now with Roland Martin, in its new time slot on TV One.

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