Laquan McDonald

FILE - Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke, left, attends his sentencing hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago, for the 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald, Jan. 18, 2019. Federal authorities say they will not criminally charge Van Dyke, convicted of murder in the 2014 shooting death of McDonald. In a news release Monday, April 18, 2022, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago said the decision was made after consulting with the McDonald family. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool, File)

Van Dyke avoids federal charges in Laquan McDonald’s death

Federal authorities say they will not criminally charge Jason Van Dyke, the Chicago police officer convicted of murder in the 2014 shooting death of Black teenager Laquan McDonald.

Protesters call for federal civil rights charges during a rally after former Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke was released from prison Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022 at Federal Plaza in Chicago. Former Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke left prison on Thursday after serving less than half of his nearly seven-year sentence for killing Black teenager Laquan McDonald, angering community leaders who feel the white officer's punishment didn't fit his crime.. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune via AP)

Van Dyke protesters fined $200 each, ordered to stay away

William Calloway speaks during a news conference Friday, Feb. 4, 2022, with other community organizers, the day after their civil disobedience and arrests at the Dirksen Federal Building in Chicago. Calloway and others continue to call for federal charges against a former police officer Jason Van Dyke, who left prison on Thursday after serving less than half of his nearly seven-year sentence for killing Black teenager Laquan McDonald. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Chicago activists want federal charges for Jason Van Dyke

Protesters call for federal civil rights charges during a rally after former Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke was released from prison Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022 at Federal Plaza in Chicago. Former Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke left prison on Thursday after serving less than half of his nearly seven-year sentence for killing Black teenager Laquan McDonald, angering community leaders who feel the white officer's punishment didn't fit his crime.. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune via AP)

Ex-Chicago officer who killed Laquan McDonald leaves prison

FILE - Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke, left, attends his sentencing hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago, for the 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald, Jan. 18, 2019. Van Dyke is scheduled to be released from prison on Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022, after he served less than half of his 81-month sentence. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool, File)

Anger, questions as ex-cop who killed Black teen is set free

More News

FILE - Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke, left, attends his sentencing hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago, for the 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald, Jan. 18, 2019. The NAACP is urging Attorney General Merrick Garland to bring federal civil rights charges against the white Chicago police officer who fatally shot Black teenager Laquan McDonald. NAACP President Derrick Johnson's letter comes days before Officer Jason Van Dyke is scheduled to be released from prison after serving less than half of his state prison term. Van Dyke was convicted in October 2018 in the killing of McDonald. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool, File)

NAACP urges federal charges in Laquan McDonald’s killing

The NAACP is urging Attorney General Merrick Garland to bring federal civil rights charges against the white Chicago police officer who fatally shot Black teenager Laquan McDonald.

FILE - Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke, left, attends his sentencing hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago, for the 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald, Jan. 18, 2019. The NAACP is urging Attorney General Merrick Garland to bring federal civil rights charges against the white Chicago police officer who fatally shot Black teenager Laquan McDonald. NAACP President Derrick Johnson's letter comes days before Officer Jason Van Dyke is scheduled to be released from prison after serving less than half of his state prison term. Van Dyke was convicted in October 2018 in the killing of McDonald. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool, File)

Ex-Chicago officer who killed Laquan McDonald to be released

The white Chicago police officer convicted in the 2014 shooting death of Black teenager Laquan McDonald is days away from walking out of prison after just over three years behind bars.

U.S. Ambassador to Japan nominee Rahm Emanuel speaks during a hearing to examine his nomination before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Japan envoy pick Emanuel: Chicago teen shooting weighs heavy

Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel says he did nothing improper but still fell short in his handling of the fatal police shooting of a Black teenage seven years ago in the city.

Danaka Katovich of Code Pink, holds a sign during a rally to protest former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's ambassador to Japan appointment outside the Chicago Police Headquarters Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021, in Chicago. The fatal police shooting of a Black teen in Chicago seven years ago is looming large over the city’s former mayor, Emanuel, as he looks to win confirmation as President Joe Biden’s ambassador to Japan. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Police shooting looms over Emanuel in confirmation battle

The fatal police shooting of a Black teen in Chicago seven years ago is looming large over the city’s former mayor, Rahm Emanuel, as he looks to win confirmation as ambassador to Japan.

FILE - In this April 20, 2021 file image from video, former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin, center, is taken into custody as his attorney, Eric Nelson, left, looks on, after the verdicts were read at Chauvin's trial for the 2020 death of George Floyd, at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis, Minn. In a ruling May 12, 2021, Judge Cahill finds aggravating factors in death of George Floyd, paving way for tougher sentence for Chauvin. (Court TV via AP, Pool, File)

Cops who kill often catch a break at sentencing time

Derek Chauvin may get sentenced to decades behind bars when he returns to a Minneapolis courtroom for sentencing. But if he does, he’ll be the exception.

Protestors proceed along Chicago downtown during a peaceful protest on Tuesday, April 13, 2021, demanding justice for Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man who was shot dead by police Sunday after a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, Minn. (AP Photo/Shafkat Anowar)

Dozens gather in Chicago to protest killing of Daunte Wright

CHICAGO (AP) — Dozens of people marched around downtown Chicago on Tuesday to express solidarity with the family of Daunte Wright, a Minnesota man fatally shot by police officer during a traffic stop.

FILE - In this Jan. 18, 2019 file photo, former Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke, left, attends his sentencing hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago, for the 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald. Van Dyke, the former Chicago police officer imprisoned for the 2014 murder of Laquan McDonald ended an effort to overturn his conviction, Friday, Oct. 9, 2020. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool, File)

Van Dyke ends effort to overturn McDonald murder conviction

CHICAGO (AP) — The former Chicago police officer imprisoned for the 2014 murder of Laquan McDonald on Friday ended an effort to overturn his conviction.

A ground mural depicting a portrait of Breonna Taylor is seen at Chambers Park, Monday, July 6, 2020, in Annapolis, Md. The mural honors Taylor, a 26-year old Black woman who was fatally shot by police in her Louisville, Ky., apartment. The artwork was a team effort by the Banneker-Douglass Museum, the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture, and Future History Now, a youth organization that focuses on mural projects. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Police contracts can stand in the way of accountability

SEATTLE (AP) — A stipulation in a Kentucky police contract prohibited officials from initially firing the officers involved in Breonna Taylor’s death in Louisville.

In this undated photo provided by the Cook County (Illinois) Sheriff's Office is former Chicago police Officer Lowell Houser. Houser, found guilty of second-degree murder in the off-duty shooting of an unarmed man in 2017 was sentenced Monday, Feb. 10, 2020, to 10 years in prison. (Cook County Sheriff via AP)

Ex-Chicago officer gets 10 years for fatal off-duty shooting

CHICAGO (AP) — A former Chicago police officer convicted of murder for fatally shooting an unarmed man in 2017 was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison.

Chicago cop convicted in Laquan McDonald’s death moved again

CHICAGO (AP) — A white former Chicago police officer convicted of second-degree murder last year in the 2014 death of black teenager Laquan McDonald, who was shot 16 times, is no longer in a federal prison in New York.

Chicago police miss deadlines, but make progress on reforms

CHICAGO (AP) — A report says the Chicago Police Department failed to meet most of its deadlines in a far-reaching court-supervised reform plan, but has made progress.

FILE - In this Jan. 18, 2019 file photo, former Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke, left, attends his sentencing hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago, for the 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald. Chicago's law department released the city's watchdog agency's investigation of the 2014 fatal shooting McDonald by Van Dyke Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2019, the first time the agency's reports have ever been made public. The release comes weeks after the City Council passed an ordinance that gives the law department the power to release the findings of the city's Inspector General's office in cases that involve police officers and other city employees in which somebody died or where there may have been a felony committed and "is of compelling public interest." (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool, File)

Chicago releases watchdog probe of Laquan McDonald shooting

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago’s law department on Wednesday released for the first time the city watchdog’s full investigative reports into the 2014 fatal shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald by a white police officer — a move the mayor has championed in her push for transparent government and to reg

In this May 4, 2019, photo, Peter Czosnyka, a lifelong Chicago resident, speaks about his experience growing up in a Polish neighborhood as part of a discussion on housing policies and segregation in Chicago hosted by the Newberry Library in Chicago. The Newberry Library is putting on a series of public programming throughout the year to mark the centenary of the Chicago riot and educate residents of this little-known event in the city’s history. (AP Photo/Noreen Nasir)

Segregation among issues Chicago faces 100 years after riots

CHICAGO (AP) — On a hot July day in 1919, a black 17-year-old swimming in Lake Michigan drifted in a dangerous direction — toward the white section of a Chicago beach.

This combination of file photos shows Laquan McDonald and former Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke. The Chicago Police Board on Thursday, July 18, 2019, fired four police officers for allegedly covering up Dyke's 2014 fatal shooting of teenager McDonald. (Family Photo, Cook County Sheriff's Office via AP, File)

A timeline of the Chicago police shooting of Laquan McDonald

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke fatally shot Laquan McDonald in 2014. He was convicted in October of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery — one for each bullet the white officer fired at the black 17-year-old.

A sign and plaque are displayed on a wall, Tuesday, July 16, 2019, in the Staten Island borough of New York, at the sidewalk area where Eric Garner was apprehended by police in 2014. Federal prosecutors announced Tuesday, they will not bring charges against New York City police officer Daniel Pantaleo in the 2014 chokehold death of Garner. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Cases in which police officers were charged in deaths

Federal prosecutors said they aren’t bringing criminal charges against a white New York City police officer in the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner, a black man whose dying words — “I can’t breathe” — became a rallying cry for those protesting how police treat black suspects.

Mayor-elect wants re-examination of code of silence case

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot wants her former colleagues at the U.S attorney’s office to re-examine the acquittals of three police officers accused of covering up the police shooting of Laquan McDonald.

Dueling protestors clash over Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx's office's decision to drop all charges against "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett, Monday, April 1, 2019, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

2 major cases add up to big doubts about Chicago prosecutor

CHICAGO (AP) — Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx was elected in 2016 mainly because of anger that the prosecutor she ousted had waited a year to charge a Chicago police officer in the killing of black teenager Laquan McDonald.

Correction: Empire Cast Member-Attack-Police story

CHICAGO (AP) — In a story March 26 about Chicago’s police superintendent and mayor being angered by prosecutors’ surprise decision to drop charges against Jussie Smollett, The Associated Press reported an incorrect age for Laquan McDonald, who was fatally shot by a Chicago police officer.

FILE--In this Nov. 2018 file photo, Illinois Attorney General Elect Kwame Raoul address the crowd at his election night party, in Chicago. The Illinois Supreme Court has let stand a less than seven year prison sentence for a white Chicago police officer convicted of killing black teenager Laquan McDonald that some critics characterized as a slap on the wrist. A Tuesday, March 19, 2019 decision denies a bid by Illinois attorney general Kwame Raoul and a special prosecutor to resentence Jason Van Dyke. The February request focused on highly legalistic issues surrounding sentencing guidelines. (Tyler LaRiviere/Chicago Sun-Times via AP, File)

Court lets Chicago cop’s sentence stand in teen’s shooting

CHICAGO (AP) — The Illinois Supreme Court on Tuesday let stand a prison sentence of less than seven years for a white Chicago police officer convicted of killing black teenager Laquan McDonald that many criticized as far too lenient.

A timeline of the Chicago police shooting of Laquan McDonald

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke fatally shot Laquan McDonald in 2014. He was convicted in October of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery — one for each bullet the white officer fired at the black 17-year-old.

FILE - In this Dec. 9. 2018 file photo, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle speaks during a news conference at the Chicago Teachers Union headquarters in Chicago. Reform has long been a dirty word among Chicago politicians, who have well-known reputations for throwing contracts to favored businesses and dealing in patronage. But after the 2014 murder of a black teenager by a police officer and corruption charges filed against a powerful alderman, the word is now on the lips of the 14 candidates running for mayor. (Colin Boyle/Chicago Sun-Times via AP, File)

The Latest: 2 black women advance in Chicago mayor race

CHICAGO (AP) — The Latest on the Chicago mayoral election (all times local):

10:20 p.m.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle will face former federal prosecutor Lori Lightfoot in a runoff to become Chicago’s next mayor.

Jennifer Blagg, an appellate attorney for former Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke, speaks with reporters in her office in Chicago on Monday, Feb. 11, 2019. Prosecutors on Monday asked Illinois' highest court to review the less than seven year prison sentence for the white Chicago police officer who fatally shot black teenager Laquan McDonald - an unusual move in what was already a rare case. (AP Photo/Teresa Crawford)

Prosecutors seek new sentence in Laquan McDonald case

CHICAGO (AP) — Prosecutors on Monday asked Illinois’ highest court to review the less than seven year prison sentence for the white Chicago police officer who fatally shot black teenager Laquan McDonald — an unusual move in what was already a rare case.

FILE - In this Jan. 18, 2019 file photo, former Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke attends his sentencing hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago, for the 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald. The Illinois attorney general's office has signaled it may be considering a rare sentencing-related appeal if it concludes the white Chicago police officer's less-than-seven-year prison sentence in the slaying of black teenager McDonald was wrongly calculated. The office said in an emailed statement Thursday, Jan. 24, it is reviewing Van Dyke's sentence. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool, File)

Judge OKs Chicago’s historic court-monitored police reforms

CHICAGO (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday approved a far-reaching plan for court-supervised reforms of the beleaguered Chicago Police Department, two years after a U.S.

Former Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke attends his sentencing hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, Friday, Jan. 18, 2019, in Chicago, for the 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool)

Call for political action after Laquan McDonald cases

CHICAGO (AP) — Activists and others who were disappointed by the outcome of two historic cases involving the killing of black teenager Laquan McDonald by a white Chicago police officer see a way forward — by turning tragedy into political power.

FILE - In this Aug. 4, 2016 file pool photo, Judge Vincent Gaughan presides over a hearing for Jason Van Dyke at the Leighton Criminal Courts Building in Chicago. Gaughan rejected allegations that the shocking video of Laquan McDonald's death proved that Chicago police officers tried to stage a cover-up in the fatal shooting of the black teen. Now another judge must decide how long the officer who pulled the trigger spends behind bars. (Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune, Pool, File)

Officer who shot black teen sentenced to nearly 7 years

CHICAGO (AP) — The white Chicago officer who gunned down a black teenager in 2014 was sentenced Friday to nearly seven years in prison, ending an explosive case that arose from one of the nation’s most graphic dashcam videos and added fuel to debates about race and policing and law enforcement’s “co

FILE - In this Aug. 4, 2016 file pool photo, Judge Vincent Gaughan presides over a hearing for Jason Van Dyke at the Leighton Criminal Courts Building in Chicago. Gaughan rejected allegations that the shocking video of Laquan McDonald's death proved that Chicago police officers tried to stage a cover-up in the fatal shooting of the black teen. Now another judge must decide how long the officer who pulled the trigger spends behind bars. (Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune, Pool, File)

The Latest: McDonald relative calls sentence partial victory

7:15 p.m.

Attorney Todd Pugh, left, who represents ex-Officer Joseph Walsh, right speaks to reporters at the courthouse Thursday, Jan. 17, 2019, in Chicago. Former Detective David March, ex-Officer Joseph Walsh and Officer Thomas Gaffney, three Chicago police officers accused accused of trying to cover up the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald by officer Jason Van Dyke in October 2014, were acquitted by a judge on Thursday.(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Judge acquits 3 Chicago officers of Laquan McDonald cover-up

CHICAGO (AP) — A judge on Thursday acquitted three Chicago officers of trying to cover up the 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald, dismissing as just one perspective the shocking dashcam video of the black teenager’s death that led to protests, a federal investigation of the police department and the r

Rev. Marvin Hunter speaks to reporters after a judge acquitted three Chicago police officers of trying to cover up the 2014 shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald, Thursday, Jan. 17, 2019, in Chicago. Judge Domenica Stephenson said that after considering all of the evidence, including police dashcam video of the killing, she didn't find that officer Thomas Gaffney, Joseph Walsh and David March conspired to cover up the shooting. The officer who shot McDonald 16 times, Jason Van Dyke, was convicted of murder in October and is due to be sentenced Friday. (Noreen Nasir/AP)

The Latest: Prosecutor hopes case cracks ‘code of silence’

4:05 p.m.

A timeline of the Chicago police shooting of Laquan McDonald

CHICAGO (AP) — A judge said Wednesday that she’ll issue her verdict Jan. 15 in the bench trial of three Chicago police officers accused of lying about the 2014 shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald to try to shield the officer who pulled the trigger from prosecution.

FILE - In this Oct. 30, 2018 file photo, from left, former Detective David March, Chicago Police Officer Thomas Gaffney and former officer Joseph Walsh appear at a pre-trial hearing at Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago. Prosecutors have laid out their case against the three Chicago police officers accused of participating in a cover-up of the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald. The trial of officers charged with lying in their reports to protect Van Dyke is set to begin on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool File)

Chicago officers accused in Van Dyke cover-up go on trial

CHICAGO (AP) — Dashcam video showing Jason Van Dyke pointing his gun at black teenager Laquan McDonald and firing 16 times was key evidence in the murder conviction of the white Chicago police officer.