THINK AGAIN

New Chicago Mayor Wants to Re-Examine Laquan McDonald ‘Code of Silence’ Police Acquittals

Three officers were accused of covering up police killing of the black teen.

Chicago Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot has urged her former colleagues at the U.S. Attorney’s Office to look again at the “code of silence” acquittals of three police officers accused of covering up the police shooting of Laquan McDonald. The three cops—former Officer Joseph Walsh, Officer Thomas Gaffney, and former Det. David March—were accused of lying in their reports to protect their colleague, Officer Jason Van Dyke, who was convicted of murdering the 17-year-old black teenager. However, in January, a Cook County circuit associate judge found the officers not guilty of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and official misconduct. In an interview with NPR, Lightfoot said federal prosecutors should reopen their grand jury investigation. She said if they find there are no civil-rights violations they can bring against the officers, “they need to have a fulsome grand jury report.” Van Dyke was sentenced to 81 months in prison for McDonald’s murder.

BEHIND BARS

Jason Van Dyke Gets Six Years for Murdering Laquan McDonald

Pilar Melendez