Justice for LaQuan McDonald continues today.
Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson has announced today that he will recommend to the Chicago Police Board that seven officers accused of lying about the McDonald shooting be immediately terminated, reports DNAInfo.
McDonald was a 17-year-old Black teen shot sixteen times by Chicago PD officer Jason Van Dyke on October 2014.
In their account of the shooting, seven officers (who have remained unidentified in the news report) provided false statements about the events that day. Early reports from DNAInfo also revealed Van Dyke intentionally damaged the dash cam video that recorded the incident.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who has foregone a wealth of criticism about his slow response, said he “fully supports his [Johnson’s] decision.”
“As the city takes these important steps to hold individuals accountable, we must also recommit ourselves to partnering together to rebuild trust between our police department and our residents,” Emanuel said in a statement.
The gruesome murder of McDonald has shone a harsh light on the policing tactics of the Chicago police department.
A domino effect of resignations and terminations reveal a host of key players involved in hiding the shooting from the public for over a year. Following the release of the dash cam footage that showed McDonald being gunned down by police, Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy was relieved of his duty as top cop in the city.
Mayor Emanuel announced his decision to dismiss McCarthy was based on “an undeniable fact” that the public has lost trust in the police department’s behavior. State Attorney Anita Alvarez, who led the criminal investigation into Van Dyke, lost a hard fought reelection campaign after it was discovered her office waited 400 days before filing criminal charges against the accused officer.
The Deputy Chief David McNaughton, who signed off on the police report that justified the shooting by Van Dyke, also resigned.
Mayor Emanuel has managed to evade political repercussion, despite a public apology and a relentless group of Chicago political figures that have called for his resignation.
Van Dyke was charged with six counts of first-degree murder and is pleading not guilty to the charges.