Vol. 79/No. 45      December 14 , 2015

 
(front page)

Chicago protests win arrest
in cop killing of Black youth

Mobilizations lead to firing of police chief

 

CHICAGO — Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets daily here since the release of a damning and gruesome police dashcam video showing the police killing of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.

McDonald, who was African-American, was shot and killed Oct. 20, 2014, by Chicago cop Jason Van Dyke. The video shows McDonald walking away from police when Van Dyke shot him 16 times, 14 when he was already lying on the ground. Van Dyke was dispatched to the scene after cops reported McDonald was carrying a folding knife and had a “strange gaze about him.”

After the shooting, the video shows, cops made no effort to check his condition or render medical aid.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, prosecutors and cops suppressed the video for 13 months, claiming its release would damage the investigation into the killing. The city awarded McDonald’s family a $5 million settlement in April before they had even filed legal action.

Protesters have called for the resignation of Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy and for a special prosecutor to replace Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez.

In response to mounting pressure, Emanuel fired McCarthy Dec. 1.

Responding to a lawsuit filed by freelance journalist Brandon Smith, Cook County Judge Franklin Valderrama ruled Nov. 19 the city had seven days to make the video public.

Citing “limited bandwidth,” the city released the tape Nov. 24 by posting it on a third-party website for one hour. The site crashed almost immediately. The graphic footage has since been posted all over the web.

More than 1,000 demonstrators gathered Nov. 27 at Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive for a 10-block Black Friday march north to Water Tower Park in the heart of the trendy Magnificent Mile shopping district. Following the march, demonstrators blocked doors to a number of upscale shops.

Chanting “16 shots, 13 months” demonstrators focused their fire not only on the killing of McDonald, but also on the cover-up by city officials.

Protesters came from throughout the state. While the majority of marchers were Black, a number of others took part. Several trade unions had contingents, the largest from the Chicago Teachers Union, whose president, Karen Lewis, joined Rev. Jesse Jackson and others in calling the action.

“For 13 months they sat on this. They paid the family $5 million. Now after a judge orders the release of the video they break their silence and say how awful it was,” Brian Owens, an African-American teacher who has worked in Chicago’s public schools for 14 years, told the Militant. “Why not 13 months ago?”

“I’m here with my daughter and her friend, both of whom are 16, to protest what happened to Laquan and the cover-up,” said Nancy Lortz, a professor of theatre at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington who is Caucasian. “It’s important for young people to be a part of this. In the ’60s I was involved in the civil rights movement. Today we seem to be in a second wave of the civil rights movement. And it’s important for them to be on the right side of history.”

“What happened to Laquan McDonald is a reflection of the morals this country was built on — slavery and racism,” said Damarius Allen, a 32-year-old union pipefitter. “African-Americans need to fight back.”

“The time for change is now,” said Latoyia Kimbrough, who is African-American and an attorney for the Chicago Teachers Union. “Van Dyke shouldn’t just be charged, but convicted of first degree murder. The mayor, the police chief and the state’s attorney didn’t just cover this up. They were withholding evidence, in essence tampering with evidence, for 400 days after the murder.”

“The problem is much larger than the police. They are doing exactly what the people who control this system want them to do,” said Bill Filmore, a retired pastor who is Caucasian and grew up in South Africa. “This is the way our country works and has worked for more than 200 years. What we need is systemic change. Fights like this will help us get there.”

City officials pushed to make sure Van Dyke was charged and arrested before the video was released. After the shooting last year Van Dyke was taken out of service but kept on the police department’s payroll doing desk duty. He was charged with murder by Cook County State’s Attorney Alvarez and arraigned before Judge Donald Panarese Jr. Nov. 24, then locked up in protective custody at the Cook County Jail.

Shortly after Judge Panarese set bail at $1.5 million Nov. 30, Van Dyke was released from jail after posting a $150,000 bond.

Van Dyke is the first on-duty Chicago cop to be charged with first-degree murder in almost 35 years.

In a related development, McCarthy had announced Nov. 23 that he would recommend to the Chicago Police Board that Detective Dante Servin be fired. Servin killed 22-year-old Rekia Boyd in March 2012.

Servin was charged and tried for the killing in April, but freed by Judge Dennis Porter on a legal technicality. Porter ruled the cop couldn’t be convicted of acting recklessly, as he was charged, because pointing a gun and shooting someone is intentional.

Dan Fein contributed to this article.
 
 
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