3 Officers Acquitted of Covering Up for Colleague in Laquan McDonald Killing


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https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/17/us/laquan-mcdonald-officers-acquitted.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

    In 2014, there was a young black teenager by the name of Laquan McDonald who was shot by a white officer by the name of Jason Van Dyke. There were two other officers that were involved in this case who lied to protect the officer who shot and killed Laquan. On Thursday, all of the charges against these officers were acquitted and many viewed this as a "code of silence" in the police department. The prosecutors came forward to present the jury with as much evidence that they could provide.  The prosecutors also argued that the officers "shooed" away the witnesses so that it would be easier to cover it up. I believe that these officers knew what they were doing and that they had made a mistake. This would then bring me to believe that they were trying to cover it up. This connects to a case in 1955 in Mississippi on a 14 year old boy named Emmitt Till. He was accused of offending a white woman and was brutally murdered and this case was later acquitted. This proves that African Americans aren't always given a fair trial.


Do you think that the officer was trying to cover up what he had done to Laquan?
Do you think that the officer will eventually be charged?


Comments

  1. Martin JorgensenJanuary 21, 2019 at 11:55 AM

    Even though the article is a few years old, it is unfortunately a very current topic, and a sad reminder that as a society we still have some way to go... I believe there have been some examples recently of police officers being charged and convicted with unlawful shootings, so it looks like some progress is being made even though it clearly is not going fast enough. Do you have any idea how many young people die at the hands of the policy every year? That would be interesting to know.

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  2. AnonymousJanuary 24, 2019 at 9:18 AM

    Van Dyke was actually charged with second degree murder, however, this doesn't defer the actions of the other officers involved. The video clearly disproves the statements given by the other officers. Lying after witnessing your fellow officer murder someone is an extremely immoral act and the other officers should receive some type of punishment. If these are the people that are so supposed to protect us, I can understand why many people have little to no faith in law enforcement.

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