Six years after Laquan McDonald shooting, activists rally for justice for slain teen
Activists cried out for “justice for Laquan” Tuesday night outside Federal Plaza, six years after 17-year-old Laquan McDonald was shot and killed by former Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke.
Gathered outside Federal Plaza as rain came down in the Loop, organizers from Black Millennial Renaissance and Operation Good Trouble called for federal civil rights charges to be filed against Van Dyke. Supporters were encouraged to call U.S. Attorney John Lausch’s office.
“We’re outside of his office, where y’all at?” said activist William Calloway, who long pushed for the video of the shooting to be released and called on local and state officials to join in fighting for justice for McDonald.
“Laquan McDonald was not an isolated incident,” Calloway said, but symbolic of “everything that’s wrong” in the Chicago Police Department.
“Laquan is symbolic of all of those things, and we have to continue to lift his name up and remind the city of Chicago that his life mattered,” Calloway said.
McDonald was shot in October 2014 by Van Dyke. Video footage of the shooting released after a court order showed Van Dyke firing 16 shots at the teen as he walked away, fueling protests and sparking ongoing demands for justice for McDonald.
This month, Van Dyke, who was convicted in 2018 of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery, was allowed to withdraw his appeal of his conviction in the killing of McDonald. He was sentenced to 6 1/4 u00be years and is expected to be slated for release in February 2022.
“We spent more time fighting for Laquan than he (Van Dyke) will spend in a penitentiary,” Calloway said.
Before Jahmal Cole spoke, he said he had to wait 16 seconds. “We’ve got to stand up for what we believe in, and the time to do that is right now,” Cole said. “Justice for Laquan, justice for Breonna Taylor ... we want the Amazon Prime-type justice, we ain’t waiting no more.”
“This is a tough day for a lot of people who are standing out here,” speaker Kina Collins said. “Understand the trauma that has happened here in the city of Chicago.”
“And we know that this summer was an inconvenience for some folks who live in the Gold Coast,” Collins added. “We know that it was an inconvenience to shut down highways and shut down shopping plazas. But you know what’s also an inconvenience? Four hundred years of white supremacy and oppression.”
Along with calling for justice for McDonald, co-founder of Operation Good Trouble Andreas Nelson urged the city — especially millennials — to get out and vote. “And keep those that you are voting for accountable.”
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