NJlonghorn
2,500+ Posts
It took WAY longer than it should have, and it doesn't go far enough, but finally there is more progress towards justice almost 2 years after the Laquan McDonald shooting in Chicago. Fox News link
If you may recall, the incident happened in October 2014. A half dozen police witnesses gave statements that were consistent with each other, so the pro-police crowd assumed that their story was accurate. When the SJW folks finally secured release of the video over a year later (November 2015), it showed that the police were all lying. It was clear that they had gotten together to reconcile their lies, so it wasn't just perjury -- it was conspiracy to commit perjury.
The same day the video was released publicly, Jason Van Dyke (the police officer who emptied his gun into McDonald) was indicted. He has since entered a guilty plea and is awaiting sentencing. Mysteriously, though, the cops who lied to protect Officer Van Dyke were not indicted. But finally, just today, the Chicago PD announced that it is taking formal steps towards removing the lying officers from the force.
It's about freaking time. Incidents like this are, thankfully, very rare. But I'm not sure they are as rare as we may think. More importantly, the black community doesn't think incidents like this are as rare as we think (or event that they are rare at all). Sometimes, perception is reality -- and to change reality, we first have to change perceptions.
To make this happen, two things need to happen. First, police need to be able to prove that incidents like this are rare. They only way to do this is to record every encounter between police and civilians, no exception. Second, when those videos show police misconduct, remedial action must be taken quickly. Within days of the Laquan McDonald incident, it must have been clear to the investigators that the cops were lying. If there had been terminations and indictments in late 2014, the trust level between police and citizens in Chicago would be much higher than it is today.
To be clear, I'm not saying that the riots in Chicago are justified. Taking to the streets in violence is never justified, and those who did so should be condemned. However, I do understand why inner-city blacks in Chicago are not satisfied with the way this case was handled, and why they don't trust that the next case will be handled any differently. The old phrase "Justice delayed is justice denied" is particularly apropos when it takes angry mobs to finally secure progress towards justice.
If you may recall, the incident happened in October 2014. A half dozen police witnesses gave statements that were consistent with each other, so the pro-police crowd assumed that their story was accurate. When the SJW folks finally secured release of the video over a year later (November 2015), it showed that the police were all lying. It was clear that they had gotten together to reconcile their lies, so it wasn't just perjury -- it was conspiracy to commit perjury.
The same day the video was released publicly, Jason Van Dyke (the police officer who emptied his gun into McDonald) was indicted. He has since entered a guilty plea and is awaiting sentencing. Mysteriously, though, the cops who lied to protect Officer Van Dyke were not indicted. But finally, just today, the Chicago PD announced that it is taking formal steps towards removing the lying officers from the force.
It's about freaking time. Incidents like this are, thankfully, very rare. But I'm not sure they are as rare as we may think. More importantly, the black community doesn't think incidents like this are as rare as we think (or event that they are rare at all). Sometimes, perception is reality -- and to change reality, we first have to change perceptions.
To make this happen, two things need to happen. First, police need to be able to prove that incidents like this are rare. They only way to do this is to record every encounter between police and civilians, no exception. Second, when those videos show police misconduct, remedial action must be taken quickly. Within days of the Laquan McDonald incident, it must have been clear to the investigators that the cops were lying. If there had been terminations and indictments in late 2014, the trust level between police and citizens in Chicago would be much higher than it is today.
To be clear, I'm not saying that the riots in Chicago are justified. Taking to the streets in violence is never justified, and those who did so should be condemned. However, I do understand why inner-city blacks in Chicago are not satisfied with the way this case was handled, and why they don't trust that the next case will be handled any differently. The old phrase "Justice delayed is justice denied" is particularly apropos when it takes angry mobs to finally secure progress towards justice.
