The uneven, unfair hand of justice prevailed again in Chicago, where white officer Jason Van Dyke was given a light sentence in the shooting death of Black teen Laquan McDonald. To add insult to injury, three officers were acquitted of conspiring to conceal the incident.
Outrage broke out again in the city with many activists planning to take to the streets protesting what they deem as a court that has failed to stand “against systemic racism.”
Whereas the Aldermanic Black Caucus of the City Council expressed similar outrage, Mayor Rahm Emanuel did not mention the acquittals at the 33rd annual Martin Luther King Interfaith Breakfast Friday, an event boycotted by many community leaders, including Bishop Larry Trotter, who was slated to deliver the opening prayer.
According to several familiar with the shooting and sentencing of Van Dyke, he will probably serve but half of a nearly seven-year sentence for shooting McDonald 16 times in 2014. Cook County Judge Domenica Stephenson, who acquitted retired detective David Marsh, ex-patrolman Joseph Walsh and officer Thomas Gaffney, decided they did not conspire to cover up the incident and were not guilty of obstruction of justice. They faced up to five years in prison.
Judge Stephenson, who also sentenced Van Dyke, said the “court finds that the state has failed to meet its burden on all charges. Defendants are discharged.” The officers chose to have a bench trial rather than have their fate determined by a jury.
Marvin Hunter, McDonald’s great-uncle, was disappointed with the outcome. He said he was surprised that the judge took upon herself “to make the entire country know what I’ve known all the time, that justice is for everybody but African-Americans in this county of Cook.”