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U.S. NEWS Saturday 6 OctOber 2018
Officer convicted of murder in slaying of Laquan McDonald

By DON BABWIN and MI- hopes for change.
CHAEL TARM "I think Chicago would
CHICAGO (AP) — A white have erupted," he said.
Chicago police officer Defense attorney Dan Her-
was convicted of sec- bert called Van Dyke "a
ond-degree murder Fri- sacrificial lamb" offered
day in the 2014 shooting by political and commu-
of a black teenager that nity leaders "to save them-
was captured on shock- selves." He said it was a
ing dashcam video that "sad day for law enforce-
showed him crumpling to ment" because the verdict
the ground in a hail of 16 tells officers they cannot do
bullets as he walked away their jobs.
from officers. "Police officers are going to
The video, some of the become security guards,"
most graphic police foot- he said.
age to emerge in years, The verdict was the lat-
stoked outrage nation- est chapter in a story that
wide, and the high-stakes accelerated soon after a
case gripped the nation's judge ordered the release
third-largest city for nearly of the video in November
three years. The shooting 2015. The case put the city Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke, left, is taken into custody after jurors found him guilty of
also led to a federal gov- at the center of the na- second-degree murder and aggravated battery in the 2014 shooting of black teenager Laquan
ernment inquiry and calls to tional conversation about McDonald, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018, at the Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago.
reform the Chicago Police police misconduct and ex- Associated Press
Department. cessive force.
Jason Van Dyke, 40, was The 12-person jury included what the footage actually excessive force. Though lie about what happened
the first Chicago officer to just one African-American proved. he was never disciplined, a to protect Van Dyke. They
be charged with murder member, although blacks During closing arguments, jury did award $350,000 to have all pleaded not guilty.
for an on-duty shooting in make up one-third of Chi- prosecutor Jody Gleason a man who filed an exces- Even before the trial, the
about 50 years. He was tak- cago's population. The noted that Van Dyke told sive-force lawsuit against case affected law enforce-
en into custody moments jury also had seven whites, detectives that McDonald him. Van Dyke testified that ment in Chicago. The city's
after the verdict was read. three Hispanics and one raised the knife, that Van McDonald was the first per- police superintendent and
The second-degree verdict Asian-American. Dyke backpedaled and son he ever shot. the county's top prosecutor
reflected the jury's finding Some jurors said they spent that McDonald tried to get To boost their contention both lost their jobs — one
that Van Dyke believed his much of their deliberations up off the ground after be- that McDonald was dan- fired by the mayor and
life was in danger but that discussing whether to con- ing shot. gerous, defense attorneys the other ousted by voters.
the belief was unreason- vict on first-degree or sec- "None of that happened," built a case against the It also led to a Justice De-
able. The jury also had the ond-degree murder, not an she said. "You've seen it on teenager, who had been a partment investigation that
option of first degree-mur- acquittal. video. He made it up." ward of the state for most found a "pervasive cover-
der, a charge that required They said Van Dyke's testi- But Van Dyke and his attor- of his life and wound up in up culture" and prompted
a finding that the shooting mony did not help him. One neys maintained that the juvenile detention after an plans for far-reaching po-
was unnecessary and un- woman said he "messed video didn't tell the whole arrest for marijuana posses- lice reforms.
reasonable. up" and should not have story. sion in January 2014. A week before jury selec-
Second-degree murder testified. His attorneys portrayed the Among those testifying tion, Mayor Rahm Emanuel
usually carries a sentence Jurors' names were not officer as being scared by were several current or announced he would not
of less than 20 years in pris- made public during the the young man who he former employees at the seek a third term, although
on, especially for someone trial, and they were not dis- knew had already punc- Cook County Juvenile Tem- his office insisted the case
with no criminal history. Pro- closed Friday during inter- tured a tire of a squad car porary Detention Center had nothing to do with his
bation is also an option. views with reporters at the with the knife. Van Dyke who said they had violent decision. He faced criticism
Van Dyke was also con- courthouse. testified that the teen was run-ins with McDonald. that he fought the release
victed of 16 counts of ag- One juror said Van Dyke advancing on him and ig- They also pointed to an au- of the video until after his
gravated battery — one for needed to "contain the noring his shouted orders to topsy that showed he had re-election in April 2015.
each bullet — and acquit- situation, not escalate it." drop the knife. the hallucinogen PCP in his Ahead of the verdict, the
ted of official misconduct. He said the jury settled on Van Dyke conceded that system. city prepared for the possi-
The teen, Laquan McDon- second-degree murder be- he stepped toward Mc- Prosecutors stressed that bility of the kind of massive
ald, was carrying a knife cause Van Dyke believed Donald and not away from Van Dyke was the only of- protests that followed the
when Van Dyke fired at him he was experiencing a real the teen, as Van Dyke had ficer to ever fire a shot at release of the video in No-
on a dimly lit street where threat. initially claimed. But the of- McDonald. vember 2015, with an extra
he was surrounded by oth- On the night of the shoot- ficer maintained the rest of They called multiple offi- 4,000 officers being put on
er officers. ing, officers were waiting for his account, saying: "The cers who were there that the streets.
One of Chicago's leading someone with a stun gun to video doesn't show my per- night as they sought to The issue of race permeat-
civil rights attorneys said use on the teenager when spective." chip away at the "blue wall ed the case, though it was
the conviction sends a Van Dyke arrived, accord- The officer had been on the of silence" long associated rarely raised at trial. One of
message to minority com- ing to testimony and video. force for 13 years when the with the city's police force the only instances was dur-
munities that the police re- The video, played repeat- shooting happened. Ac- and other law enforce- ing opening statements,
forms that began after the edly at trial, showed him fir- cording to a database that ment agencies across the when special prosecutor
video became public were ing even after the 17-year- includes reports from 2002 country. Three officers, in- Joseph McMahon told the
not just for show. old lay motionless on the to 2008 and 2011 until 2015, cluding Van Dyke's partner jurors that Van Dyke didn't
Andrew Stroth said an ac- pavement. he was the subject of at that night, Joseph Walsh, know anything about Mc-
quittal would have sent the Prosecutors and defense least 20 citizen complaints have been charged with Donald's past when he en-
opposite message, dashing attorneys argued over — eight of which alleged conspiring to cover up and countered him that night.q