Brandon Smith is the independent journalist based in Chicago who sued under the Freedom of Information Act to force the release of the video showing a Chicago police officer killing Laquan McDonald, over the objections of the city of Chicago. After the video was released the police chief resigned. Critically, all the major news organizations in Chicago had the opportunity to do the same thing that Brandon did, but declined. It took an independent journalist to bring transparency to the case and hold the police agency accountable.