On October 20, 2014, Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke shot 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times. Van Dyke is white and McDonald was black. Once the video footage was finally released, it showed that McDonald was walking away from the police with a 4-inch knife in his hand—a fact that contradicted the Van Dyke’s story. Three of his fellow officers wrote up incident reports about the investigation corroborating his story. It turns out, they lied. And now there seems to be enough evidence to charge all three of them on conspiracy charges in McDonald’s death.
Three current or former Chicago police officers were indicted Tuesday on state felony charges of conspiracy in the investigation of the 2014 shooting death of Laquan McDonald.
Former Detective David March, and former Patrol Officer Joseph Walsh and Patrol Officer Thomas Gaffney were charged with conspiracy, official misconduct and obstruction of justice, according to a news release from Special Prosecutor Patricia Brown Holmes' office.
The officers are charged for writing reports that "contained important false information in an attempt to prevent or shape any criminal investigation." In other words, they knew that Van Dyke murdered Laquan McDonald without reason (except for the fact that he was black) and they tried to cover it up—but they got caught. They wrote that McDonald had assaulted police officers and was threatening Van Dyke with a knife. Too bad they didn’t count on video evidence that showed him walking away, in the complete opposite direction, from Van Dyke.
Van Dyke, himself, has been indicted on six counts of first-degree murder. He has a history of excessive force complaints while on the job and at least one complaint of having used a racial slur. Somehow though, in almost every case, he was cleared, allowing him to be back on the streets. This is completely unacceptable. Why is it so hard to police the police? Why are so many officers with documented histories of abuse and racism allowed to be out in public? With guns? It is no wonder that they take lives. And they have full support to do so, from police unions to juries to the public.
The Chicago Police Department says that this shooting in particular has changed how they do business.
"The shooting of Laquan McDonald forever changed the Chicago Police Department and I am committed to implementing policies and training to prevent an incident like this from happening again," police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said. "We will also continue to implement meaningful reforms that build community trust, provide greater training and resources to our dedicated officers, and make Chicago safer."
We’ll see about that. Talk is cheap. Black lives are at stake and history is almost always on the police officer’s side—even when there is clear, photographic evidence that they are in the wrong. Just ask the family of Philando Castile. Let’s see if a jury actually gives Lacquan McDonald and his family justice. But let’s not hold our breath.