Several sources have tipped off CBS 2 Investigators that Jason Van Dyke is expected to be transferred to Illinois ahead of his release that was initially intended to go through on the 3rd of February.
Van Dyke, who was primarily sentenced and jailed for the death of Laquan McDonald in 2018, was convicted of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery, one for each time he had painstakingly shot McDonald on Oct. 20, 2014.
The white patrol officer’s judgment to fire 16 shots into McDonald as the Black teenager walked away from authorities while holding a knife once seemed destined to alter the trajectory of a city that is long plagued by allegations of police brutality and a code of silence that allowed the routine trampling of the privileges of citizens.
Van Dyke was sentenced to nearly seven years in prison, but he turned out to serve half that time after becoming eligible for an early release on good behaviour. The location of where he served his time has still been kept a secret to the public from the officials in charge of his arrest.
Former Chicago Police officer Jason Van Dyke will be all set to go home after spending 1214 days in custody for the murder of Laquan McDonald.
Authorities speak up on the Jason Van Dyke’s Transfer:
There will be a day of civil disobedience observed on Thursday, and this is the day Van Dyke is set to be released from judicial custody.
On Monday, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was joined by McDonald’s aunt and grandmother, announced a march on Michigan Avenue in response to Van Dyke’s release.
“We will fight back on this one, and on that specific day, there will be a major march on Michigan Avenue. The time will be decided by the events,” added Jackson to his speech.
“He gets out of good behaviour. And what is good behaviour? We have hundreds of convicted people and are spending much more time on fewer crimes. It’s an unexpected disappointment,” remarked Bishop Tavis Grant, the national field director for Rainbow. “No other defendant or convicted murderer in the state has been coddled and covered as Jason Van Dyke has.”
Community activists had actively protested in front of the governor’s house Friday night, ramping up calls for federal charges to be brought against Jason Van Dyke through officials.
Governor JB Pritzker spoke publicly yesterday about the case against the former Chicago police officer, who was convicted of the 2014 killing of Laquan McDonald.
And in many ways, the city in the U.S. that Van Dyke will return to has changed.
The mayor whose mishandling of the crisis helped derail a third term is gone and now the newly minted U.S. ambassador to Japan. The Chicago Police Department has seen a lot of leadership changes.
Activists protest against the ruling:Â Jason Van Dyke
Activists and protestors have also called on CTA union members to stop providing their service if Van Dyke is released and wanted the U.S. Attorney General to file federal charges to keep Van Dyke in prison, eventually calling his release a slap in the face.
Body-worn cameras are practically now the norm for beat cops, as it was a video of the teen’s killing that spread around the world, and videos of shooting incidents that used to be kept under wraps are now released to the public as a matter of policy and public safety. A federal consent decree is in place with the hopes of ushering in even more reforms across the country to ensure the sanity and well-being of its citizens.
