Chicago Police Union Supports Cop Charged With Murder Of Black Teen

The Chicago lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), the main Chicago police union, has posted a bail fund and appeal for police officer Jason Van Dyke, who stands accused of first-degree murder for gunning down 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, according to a report from Yahoo! News. Van Dyke was only recently charged with murder, following a 13-month delay in releasing the video of his crime to the public.

Earlier, the FOP had also linked to a GoFundMe fundraiser for Van Dyke’s defense on their front page; GoFundMe removed the fundraiser as it violated their policy on its use by criminal defendants. Instead, the FOP is paying lawyer Daniel Herbert to represent Van Dyke, himself a former FOP member. According to a series of allegedly cross-racial interviews, the FOP’s defense of Van Dyke has widespread support within the union.

The FOP also feels that the actions of the police force have become heavily-politicized and that the police department hasn’t been receiving adequate support from Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel or police chief Garry McCarthy. They feel the decision by Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez to seek a charge of first-degree murder was a political move intended to head off protest.

Many of the police officers who were interviewed, asking to remain anonymous, seemed to feel that 16 bullets in six seconds after exiting a vehicle is an acceptable response to a teenager with a knife.

According to The Columbus Dispatch, Officer Van Dyke stands accused of exiting his patrol car on October 20, 2014, and firing 16 shots into Laquan McDonald within six seconds, which is clearly visible in the greatly-delayed video. The video is available on YouTube; the confrontation begins a little after the five-minute mark. Be warned; it is somewhat graphic.

The president of the Cook County chapter of the National Black Police Association, Dion Trotter, condemned the decision to withhold the video so long, saying that it had frayed relations with the community. He did, however, support the FOP’s decision to stand with Van Dyke.

“It’s the FOP’s job to support him.”

It is hard to argue that the decision to issue a charge of first-degree murder seems flawed. While we certainly don’t know every fact in this case, first-degree murder indicates that the murder was premeditated; it is hard to believe that Van Dyke could have made a plan in advance to kill a random black teenager walking down the street with a knife. State’s Attorney Alvarez will likely seek to prove that Van Dyke intended to gun down McDonald before stopping and exiting his vehicle, thus making the crime premeditated; not an unwarranted assumption, given how quickly and decisively the shooting happened.

Meanwhile, the case – particularly the protracted delay in releasing the footage – has sparked protests in Chicago, with protesters blocking streets and disrupting Black Friday shopping on Chicago’s “Magnificent Mile.”

Mayor Emanuel and Chief McCarthy have defended the delays, indicating that their police union contract tied their hands. Black aldermen calling for McCarthy’s ouster have indicated that the contract, which expires in 2017, will be carefully-scrutinized by their group. Alderman Pat Dowell stated that “our caucus has vowed to work with other caucuses and other of our colleagues to review the FOP contract to make sure there are tougher policies and sanctions against police officers who do egregious or illegal acts.”

Van Dyke was placed on administrative leave shortly after the incident, but continued to draw a police paycheck until he was charged on Tuesday, as per the terms of the FOP contract.

FOP lodge president Angelo noted that those same aldermen had previously approved the contract unanimously. “Now, because it’s advantageous to their political career, the FOP contract needs to go.”

[AP Photo/Paul Beaty/File]