Watch: Chicago policeman shoots black teenager 16 times

A white Chicago policeman who shot a black teenager to death was charged with murder on Tuesday in a prosecution hastened in hopes of averting renewed racial turmoil over the use of lethal police force that has shaken the United States for more than a year.

A highly anticipated video of the 2014 shooting, taken from a camera mounted on the dashboard of a police squad car, was released under orders from a judge hours after the officer in question, Jason Van Dyke, made his first appearance in court.

Amid intense interest from the media and public, the police department website where the footage was posted became overwhelmed and initially crashed. The city braced for demonstrations but so far only a group of about 100 people were protesting about a mile south of Chicago's business district.

Watch the video here: