The federal prosecutor has refused to charge former Chicago police officer Jason Van Dick, who is on trial at the state level for the murder of a black teenager, Lacuan MacDonald.
John Laush, a U.S. attorney in the Northern Illinois area, announced Monday that his office will not prosecute White Van Dick in federal criminal cases. In the statement, the office said the decision was “in accordance with Department of Justice policy and made in consultation with Mr. McDonald’s family.”
Jurors convicted Van Dyke in 2018 for second degree murder and 16 aggravated charges per battery, one for each bullet Van Dick fired at McDonald’s in October 2014. McDonald’s was 17 years old.
Van Dick was sentenced to 81 months in state-wide prison for high-profile murder and released in February after serving less than half an hour.
A growing number of votes demand that Lausch Van Dick, including activists and members of Congress, be blamed. Five women and four men named “Lacuan Nine” Arrested and fined at the federal level In front of the Chicago Federal Courthouse after a protest against the release of Van Dick.
Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression Published an open letter Earlier this year, Lausch asked the former police officer for indictment, saying it was a “farce of justice”. The letter was signed by defense organizations and elected officials at the city and federal levels. ).
A statement from Lausch’s office states that federal prosecutors must prove to jurors beyond a reasonable doubt that Van Dyke “acted with the specific intent and intent to do what the law prohibits” and that his actions were not “wrong.” “Fear, neglect or bad judgment.”
“Federal prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt what Mr. Van Dyke was thinking when he used lethal force and that he knew the force was excessive,” the statement read. “Federal law introduced a very high threshold, more stringent than the state charges on which Mr. Van Dick was tried.”
He wrote CAARPR on Twitter That activists will “continue to harass” Lausch, the Justice Department and all other authorities until Van Dyke is prosecuted.
“Let me tell U.S. Attorney John Losh because he clearly doesn’t understand: Sixteen bullets in Lacuan’s body is a clear violation of his civil rights,” said Kina Collins, a congressional candidate and one from of Laquan Nine. Ad for HuffPost. “A white officer who fired sixteen bullets into the body of a seventeen -year -old black boy – and then reloaded his weapon – is facing federal charges. The conversation is over. “
Source: Huffpost
