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Former Chicago cop evades federal charges in Laquan McDonald’s death

CHICAGO – Federal authorities on Monday said they would not criminally charge Jason Van Dyke, the Chicago police officer convicted of murder in 2014 shooting death of black teenager Laquan McDonald.

The United States Attorney’s Office in Chicago said in a press release that the decision was made after consulting with the McDonald’s family and that “the family has agreed not to pursue a second prosecution.” two.”

According to the statement, prosecuting Van Dyke on federal charges will be much more difficult than prosecute him in state court bbecause the burden of proof is much higher.

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Federal prosecutors “will not only have to prove that Mr. Van Dyke acted with the will and specific intent to do something prohibited by law, but also that his actions were not the end result. result of mistake, fear, negligence or bad judgment,” the office explained in the release. “It requires federal prosecutors to reasonably demonstrate what Van Dyke was thinking when he used deadly force, and that he knew that such force was excessive. ”

Van Dyke, who was arrested in the teen footage 16 times, was convicted in Chicago in 2018 of second-degree and aggravated murder and sentenced to 81 months in state prison. Former officer who served less than half of his previous sentence he was released from prison in February.

Civil rights leaders, community activists and others Those angry about what they see as a lenient sentence have called on federal prosecutors to charge Van Dyke again.

Relatives of McDonald’s were not immediately available for comment on Monday, but an aunt, Tanisha Hunter, rejected with the Chicago Sun-Times that her family was made aware of federal prosecutors’ decision to drop the case.

“I am very sad,” she told the newspaper, “that is all I can say. How can they say that? We are the ones who should make that decision, no one else. We are talking about his mother, his grandmother. This is crazy.”

Other relatives disagreed with the possibility of federal charges.

After The news broke earlier this year that Van Dyke would be released from prison, McDonald’s great-uncle, Rev Marvin Hunter, said that while he thought Van Dyke should have received a much longer sentence, he did not want to see Van Dyke charged before federal court. .

“If you set the precedent of re-convincing people because you don’t think he has enough time, hundreds of thousands of blacks in Illinois alone could be harmed,” Hunter said at the time. “They will use this case as a way to keep them in custody. This is a back door to perpetuating slavery. We should be very careful with this kind of precedent.”

A statement from the US Attorney’s Office on Monday suggested another prosecution would not satisfy critics and that even if Van Dyke were found guilty again, a federal judge would consider factors such as the length of his service and his good conduct behind bars led to his early release.

“Given these factors, there is a substantial prospect that a second prosecution will undercut important outcomes already achieved,” it wrote.

Office of the United States Attorney John R. Lausch Jr. also points out that not only Van Dyke will never be a cop againHis arrest and conviction – he was the first Chicago police officer in half a century to be convicted for a shooting while on duty – led to a series of reforms.

Today, for example, videos of police shootings must be released within 60 days; Chicago fought for months to stop release of police video showing McDonald’s being killed before the judge order city for wide publication.

Additionally, Van Dyke’s name was not made public until he was charged in McDonald’s death more than a year after the shooting. Today, while police have yet to release the name of an officer who has not been charged, agency that evaluates those shootings.

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