Chicago cop Jason Van Dyke appears briefly in court on murder charges

The execution-style shooting touched off calls by civil rights activists for the resignation of Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez and embattled Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

The judge announced the indictment unsealed earlier this week against Jason Van Dyke and set an arraignment date for December 29th.

The Department of Justice began investigating Chicago’s police department after the video was released this month, showing Police Officer Jason Van Dyke shooting Laquan McDonald in October 2014. While several officers who were at the scene when McDonald was shot reported he was aggressively swinging a knife at Van Dyke, video of the shooting shows the teen walking away from police when he was shot.

Van Dyke had to link arms with supporters to get through the crowd to reach a black pickup truck that had pulled up in front of the courthouse on California Avenue to pick him up. He says Van Dyke will attend.

“We intend to seek a change of venue and quite frankly Exhibit A is going to be the mayor and his comments”, Herbert said.

He has been indicted by a grand jury on six counts of first-degree murder and one charge of misconduct. Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder on November 24, just hours before the video was released to the public. “The truth is, if next week we had the best police department in America, we would still have second class citizenship because we have folks living in second class communities”, Pfleger said, referencing Emanuel’s address to City Council last week where he said “No citizen is a second class citizen in Chicago”.

Change-of-venue motions are unusual and rarely granted.

MURDER/STRONG PROB KILL/INJURE DISCHARGE FIREARM PROXIMATELY: The police officer unjustifiably shot and killed Laquan McDonald while armed with a firearm, knowing the act created a strong probability of death or great bodily harm to Laquan, and while committing the crime he personally discharged his gun, causing Laquan’s death. The trial was moved out of Los Angeles to Simi Valley, a predominantly white city in a neighboring county, where the four officers were acquitted of most of the charges, setting off rioting that left 54 people dead. But that might be tough in this instance, said Ronald Allen, a professor at Northwestern University’s law school. Herbert said that Emanuel has unfairly tarnished Van Dyke with his repeated statements about the officer.

“What is said has to be something that stirs passions”, said Allen, adding that many people may not even have heard what the mayor said.