Chicago is bracing for riots after the release of a video of a black teenager, 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, being shot 16 times by a Chicago police officer.

And you know what? I have a lot of sympathy for the protesters’ grievances. If any city government deserves to be torn down brick-by-brick over its contempt for the rights and well-being of the majority of its subjects, it’s Chicago’s Democratic Machine.

It’s always a good idea not to jump to conclusions about supposedly “racist” shootings by cops, to treat both sides with skepticism until all the evidence comes in. I’ve set out a few rules to help the media avoid writing the story first and gathering the facts later. But the video of the Laquan McDonald shooting is pretty unambiguous. Judge for yourself.

From what we know, McDonald was hopped up on hallucinogenic drugs and in his addled state had attacked a police car and slashed its tires with a knife, so he was definitely a danger to himself and others and needed to be apprehended. But when he was shot, he was trying to walk away from police and did not pose an immediate danger to them, so the hail of bullets that took him down—and kept pumping into him after he was on the ground—was grotesquely excessive.