It doesnt matter how long it will take justice finally takes its course.Apparently for the first time in city’s history, a police officer has faced criminal charges stemming from an on-duty shooting.
Ex-Chicago policeman Jason Van Dyke has been sentenced to six years and nine months in jail for the 2014 killing of black teenager Laquan McDonald.
Video of Van Dyke firing repeatedly at the 17-year-old was released a year later, and led to street protests.The teenager, Laquan McDonald, became a national symbol of police brutality.
Dyke’s other past animosity on residents also came after him during his Friday hearing.
One witness told the court Van Dyke, 40, had put him in a stranglehold after he refused to spit out a cough drop.
Another claimed that he had pushed a gun to his head as he was leaving a petrol station, and screamed racist epithets in his face.
Laquan’s great-uncle, the Rev. Marvin Hunter, said it was a qualified victory that a police officer was going to prison for murder. But he said the sentence was far too short, and reduced Laquan to “a second-class citizen.”
Justice might have beenserved but still many have expressed on twitter the sentencig wasn’t fair comparedto the damage done.
Rod Blagojevich doing a 14 year prison sentence for stealing money
& Jason Van Dyke doing half at 6 years for shooting a 17 year old black boy 16 times on camera
Proves that this country cares more about money/capital than it does black lives
— Disco Ric (@RicWilson) January 18, 2019
So six years is the sentence for second degree murder if you’re a White cop who kills a Black teenager in Chicago, because the judge has to “take into consideration all the feelings” & sees “pain on both sides.” https://t.co/rfh6tF5cQC
— Rebecca J. Kavanagh (@DrRJKavanagh) January 19, 2019