CHICAGO — Relatives of Laquan McDonald held a news conference Thursday morning, during which they demanded federal charges be filed against former Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke, who shot and killed 17-year-old McDonald in 2014.
Due to good behavior rules, Van Dyke is expected to be released Feb. 3 after serving three years behind bars. He was sentenced to six years in prison.
Tracie Hunter, Laquan McDonald’s grandmother, called Van Dyke’s time in prison “a slap on the wrist.”
“I just want justice, the right justice,” Hunter said. “I’m not going to rest or be satisfied until this man does his rightful time.”
Congresswoman and Democratic Party Chair Robin Kelly said the video that captured Van Dyke shooting McDonald 16 times shook her to her core.
“The same charges against (Van Dyke) are the same charges of the man who killed George Floyd,” Kelly said. “He got 22 years — still not enough — but 22 years compared to six years? There’s something terribly wrong with that, that is not justice.”
“It’s an unfortunate reality that we have been so programmed and so used to getting nothing, that getting anything sometimes feels like a win,” said Black Caucus Chair Kam Buckner.
The Rev. Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina Church on the South Side, where the news conference was held, said he wants people to rise up all across Chicago.
“This is not a Black issue,” Pfleger said. “Everyone who believes in justice should be shouting and screaming that Jason Van Dyke should not be getting out of jail.”
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