McCarthy says he was victim of 'witch hunt' to mask City Hall 'cover-up'

Fired Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy says he was the victim of a political "witch hunt" engineered by Mayor Rahm Emanuel to mask the fact that the "entirety of that cover-up" of the Laquan McDonald shooting video "occurred at city hall."

McCarthy let it fly in a freewheeling interview Tuesday on the WTTW (Channel 11) program "Chicago Tonight" that focused on whether he will run against the mayor who fired him.

After claiming he had McCarthy's back for weeks, Emanuel abruptly fired him on Dec. 1, 2015. At the time, the mayor said McCarthy had become a "distraction" in the unrelenting furor after the court-ordered release of a video played around the world of white Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke firing 16 shots at black teen Laquan McDonald.

On "Chicago Tonight," McCarthy contrasted Emanuel's quick-trigger firing to the leadership stability that followed what he called the "quote-unquote `illegal chokehold death'" of Eric Garner in New York City.

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