NAACP Seeks Federal Charges for Cop Who Killed Laquan McDonald
Jason Van Dyke, who fatally shot Black teenager Laquan McDonald, is scheduled to be released from prison Feb. 3,, after serving less than half his state prison term of six years and nine months,
Landwebs
The NAACP is urging Attorney General Merrick Garland to bring federal civil rights charges against the white former Chicago police officer, and convicted murderer, Jason Van Dyke, who fatally shot Black teenager Laquan McDonald and is scheduled to be released from prison Feb. 3,, after serving less than half his state prison term of six years and nine months, reports the Associated Press. A series of breaks for Van Dyke, who became the first Chicago police officer convicted of murder for an on-duty shooting in a half century, resulted in a much shorter sentence, including a jury convicting him of second-degree murder instead of first-degree murder and a judge sentencing him for second-degree murder and not any of the 16 counts of aggravated battery for which he was also convicted.
The sentence for murder can be cut in half for good behavior, but a single count of aggravated battery carries a sentence of 6 to 30 years in prison, which would have resulted in Van Dyke having to serve 85 percent of his sentence under the law. To bring federal civil rights charges, federal prosecutors must prove that an officer’s actions willfully broke the law and were not simply the result of a mistake, negligence or bad judgment. It has been a consistently tough burden for federal prosecutors to meet across both Democratic and Republican administrations.
