*Former Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke, who fatally shot Black teen Laquan McDonald, will be released from prison early next month.
In 2018, Van Dyke was found guilty of second-degree murder for the 2014 shooting of McDonald. We previously reported that Van Dyke was accused of shooting 17-year-old McDonald, who was armed with a knife, 16 times. Van Dyke was charged with murder, aggravated battery and official misconduct.
A dashboard camera video released more than a year after the Oct. 20, 2014, shooting in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by a journalist, showed police gunning down McDonald who fell to the ground.
The video of McDonald’s shooting sparked days of protests in Chicago led to the dismissal of the city’s police superintendent and calls for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel resignation.
Van Dyke was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison but reportedly will only serve a little over three years pending release. On Thursday, community activists called on federal prosecutors to bring charges against him, WGNTV reported.
“We don’t want to see Cartier being vandalized or watch Burberry and Louis – that goes against what we believe in. That does hurt our cause. But at the same time, being Black, and being Black in America for 32 years, I understand, and I get it,” said justice reform advocate William Calloway.
“We can see with clear eyes that Jason Van Dyke has been given preferential treatment,” Dr. Lashawna Littrice of Make Noize for Change said.
“He does not deserve to walk free on Feb. 3, and we’re going to make sure that he doesn’t,” Littrice said.
Racial justice activists want US Attorney John Lausch to bring federal charges against Van Dyke.
“We need John Lausch to step up and show that his office has integrity,” community activists Ja’Mal Green said.
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