There’s one less predator on the streets in Chicago:
A jury in Cook County, Illinois, has found white Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke, who shot and killed black 17-year-old Laquan McDonald in 2014, guilty of second-degree murder.
The jurors also convicted Van Dyke on 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm. He was found not guilty of a charge of misconduct in office.
There is no mandatory sentence for second-degree murder in Illinois, but each count of aggravated battery with a firearm can bring a sentence of 6 to 30 years—which means Van Dyke could potentially face 480 years behind bars. After the verdict was announced, the judge revoked the officer’s bail, and Van Dyke was taken into custody.
Good. Hopefully he will serve a couple of years before the new reich wing Supreme Court overturns his conviction.
A Ghost To Most
Fuck the fascists.
Mike in NC
Last year Fat Bastard addressed some police gathering and urged them not to be afraid to “rough them up a bit” when dealing with suspects. That drew yuks from the cops.
Aziz, light!
Why wait for the court? Trump pardon.
rikyrah
16 shots
He had to reload after the first 8.
RIP, LaQuan??
Dorothy A. Winsor
This was a big deal here. The closing arguments were broadcast live on NPR yesterday.
rikyrah
And , ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES
There is no way that Anita Alvarez would have brought this case forward.
Which is why she was voted out.
Thank you, Kim Foxx for charging Van Dyke and bringing forth this case.
Local prosecutors matter.
gene108
@Aziz, light!:
Thought this was a State/local trial. Trump can’t pardon.
MGB
Chicago local mostly lurker here. This was a goddamn big deal here. This is why Rahm is not running for mayor. This is why Anita Alvarez is out as Prosecutor. Elections matter. And the weirdly awesome thing, Friday evening rush hour was at holiday week levels.
eclare
This is good news, the blue line can be crossed. Hopefully a lesson to all other officers.
MomSense
@rikyrah:
I’m grateful for this verdict but even still it won’t bring him back to his loved ones. My heart breaks for them.
rikyrah
Reposting this:
About the guilty verdict today:
My side of the office is pretty loud. Yet, the only thing that you could hear for the half hour leading up to the verdict was people’s cellphones.
The co-worker who sits right across from me began to cry as the verdict was being read. I understood. I thought that I had distanced myself from it. Laquan McDonald’s execution was the last police snuff film that I watched. I haven’t seen one since.
As cynical as I am, this case smelled like a muthaphucka.?
The speed with which the city settled with his family.
The fact that we only found out about this case due to the due diligence of local reporters suing for the dashcam footage.
In many ways, McDonald’s execution signaled the beginning of the end for so much of the Chicago Law Enforcement establishment, beginning with the Police Chief, then voting out Anita Alvarez, and finally Rahm.
I understood the sense of relief in my co-workers tears.
Mary G
Shaun King, though he is an annoying Bernie Bro., has been trying to get progressive prosecutors elected, who will invalidate marijuana convictions and abolish the bail system where the poor sit in Rikers for years waiting for the state to try them. I gave a bit to Geneva Jones Wright, a public defender running against the incumbent DA in San Diego, even though she’s not in my district.
rikyrah
@MomSense:
His grandfather attended the trial everyday
banditqueen
@MGB:
Good. One less predator on the street and two evidence-suppressing jerks don’t have the limelight and megaphone.
eclare
@rikyrah: Oh that is heartbreaking. Thank you for your local input.
Ruckus
@rikyrah:
He actually just fired every round he had in his gun, it held 16 rounds.
From 10 ft away, into a man who was walking away from him. Yes the man had a knife, yes it sounds like he was erratic. He also was not a threat, walking away from the officer, who was the only one of nine officers to fire his weapon and he hadn’t even been there but a few seconds when he opened fire. The original officer on the scene said he saw no reason to fire.
This is cold blooded murder, under authority of law. That they figured out a way to try him and convict for a minimum of 96 yrs in prison is good. That the original prosecutor had to be voted out to get anything done is not. A real police shit story, one repeated all too often.
Ruckus
@rikyrah:
Let’s hope it makes a difference, it seems that it already is, with this verdict.
Aleta
When will police get prosecuted for tampering with/destroying/preventing video footage ?
I believe Alvarez and the FBI later said there was no gap. Some of the police vehicles that were required to have cameras working did not turn over video.
Brickley Paiste
@Ruckus:
There’s really no need for ordinary beat cops to carry pistols capable of holding so many rounds.
Swat and rapid response officers, maybe.
Eric S.
@MGB: I work in the Aon Building downtown. My company closed the office around 1pm and sent everyone home in anticipation of the verdict.
Eric S.
I believe the is an upcoming trial for cops that filled false reports in this case. I don’t know about the officers that deleted the BK video but I hope so
Mnemosyne
Although nothing will ever bring Laquan back, I’m glad that the McDonald family was able to get some measure of justice.
My shrink officially advised me to send some postcards to voters this weekend, and she’s going to sign up to do that herself now that she knows it’s a thing. I pitched her on Postcard Patriots as well.
Mnemosyne
@Eric S.:
I assume that all of the anticipated rioters said a prayer of thanks and then went home, leaving the suburban white boys who were hoping to cause trouble to wander the city forlornly clutching their black bandanas.
Mary G
@Mnemosyne: I’m listening to the Dodgers on Sling and writing postcards. I watched “Up” after I had to go offline and that movie is one of my favorites.
delk
Good day for me to have surgery in that it allowed me to tune out the anguished rape apologists that are praising dishonesty.
Second generation 56 year old Chicagoan here. I always joked that I cold run for mayor because I’m 50% Polish, 50% Mexican, gay, and married to a Jew.
I honestly thought that Rahm could win again if he ran. I also think asshole, blowhard, republican Gerry McCarthy chances just lessened.
Very nice too see a lot of young candidates that I really need to learn more about before I early vote. I also have to vote for a new alderman (47th Ward). Definitely will not vote for candidate that Ricketts is dumping dark money into.
scav
Have to echo “Good” from this former Chicagoan.
Now: More.
Mnemosyne
@Mary G:
A friend of mine at work made me a copy of “A Matter of Life and Death,” with David Niven. I may be watching that this weekend.
I may also drag out some of my gorier Italian horror movies. Sometimes their combination of gore and weird moralizing can make me feel better when I’m enraged.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
Just couldn’t help yourself, huh? Well, the Court was already pretty right-wing anyway. Perhaps Kavanaugh will self-destruct at some point and die. I don’t know. His life is basically over anyway
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Mary G:
I really liked Zootopia the first time I watched it and I still do. But it hasn’t aged well post Nov 8, 2016. I know they were working on a sequel but I don’t know how given current events it’s fundamental message will work.
Eric S.
@Mnemosyne: There were some marchers (protesters / revelers / activists/ other) in the downtown and Mag Mile area. I’ve been watching baseball since I’ve been home but i’m not aware of any serious issues.
Lyrebird
@rikyrah:
Hear, hear.
For me, it would be so easy to get swamped by my disgust over the Supreme Court awfulness, so thanks JC and you Rikyrah for more evidence that each step forward matters. I think kitty pictures and re-reading the news about elections in Ferguson, MO are what I am going to have to stick with this weekend. Plus some tiny donations here and there.
In case anyone knows:
Do those postcard-writing campaigns figure you have a printer and cardstock?
i couldn’t tell from the website I looked at.
satby
Yes, this was a bit of good news. Hope it starts a trend of holding trigger happy cops accountable.
I have to thank all the people who mentioned The Good Place as a show to watch. It’s been a balm this last week when real life just got to be too much.
Darkrose
@Eric S.: Yes. Three cops will be tried for conspiracy for filing false reports. Trials begin next month.
MisterForkbeard
@Brickley Paiste: Yep, total agreement on that.
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: The message is “We can all get along”, isnt it? I think that’s a good thing to teach your kids in general, even if I dont think its particularly true any more.
Brickley Paiste
@Darkrose:
Yeah, this is utterly amazing to me as a former Chicagoan.
The police force was the most violent, thuggish organization I ever dealt with — and I lived on the same block as a a Gangster Disciples trap house.
I am enormously gratified that this guy was convicted but I confess I am even more pleased that various officers refused to cover for him. Some did, for sure, but this is real progress.
CarolPW
@Lyrebird: Most seem to be hand-written on blank postcards from the Post Office. Some are quite artistic, but if you do not have that kind of talent it is not essential.
Mnemosyne
@Lyrebird:
I purchased a pack of cute voting-related postcards from Etsy, but you can also buy pre-stamped ones from the post office.
@satby:
G just reminded me that we didn’t watch last night’s episode of TGP yet, so I’m going to avoid the purity troll in the thread below, have some banana cream pie, and go watch that with him.
Mary G
I bought postcards on Amazon and a bunch of stickers so I wouldn’t have to write so many words.
Mary G
I know it’s Laura Ingraham celebrating something with a beer (no idea what, sound can be off), but watch it anyway for the ending:
Aleta
@Mary G: Take care of your hands though. There are gentle stretches for the fascia that ‘make bank deposits’ against repetitive stress effects.
John Revolta
@Mary G: She……….she didn’t even go for the laugh!!
WHAT MANNER OF CREATURE IS THIS???//?/???/??
P.S. Style points for how they cut straight to Bill Clinton though.
Mary G
@Aleta: I’ve had RA and degenerative joint disease since 1979 and every time a hand surgeon takes X-rays, they say there’s no way I should be able to use them. All eight carpal bones are disintegrated, so there’s not much worse they can get. I do exercise them twice a day, soak them in hot paraffin and/or ice them, and I played piano badly for 25 years, so the muscles do a lot more work than they might.
Mnemosyne
@Mary G:
Okay, I laughed. Though, as someone in the replies said, “What kind of cyborg watches someone fall backwards off their chair and just continues on?”
Laura, you’re crossing the desert and you see a tortoise laying on its back …
ETA: Oh, edit function. I missed you so. Never leave me again.
Aleta
@Mary G: Your writing postcards is an incredibly generous and selfless act. Thank you.
Aleta
@Mary G: @Mnemosyne: Good god I think she puts a hand on his arm and levers him onto the floor.
trnc
@Aziz, light!:
Yup. It’s sitting right by Van Dyke’s congressional medal of honor.