The Final Call | National News

A federal probe of Chicago cops and more fallout as another police shooting video is made public

By Ashahed M. Muhammad -Assistant Editor- | Last updated: Dec 9, 2015 - 9:33:42 AM

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CHICAGO - Responding to calls from community leaders and many state and local political officials, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the U.S. Justice Department was launching a civil rights investigation of the Chicago Police Department.

“Today, I am announcing that the Department of Justice has opened an investigation into whether the Chicago Police Department has engaged in a pattern or practice of violations of the Constitution or federal law,” said Atty. General Lynch.

“Specifically, we will examine a number of issues related to the CPD’s use of force, including its use of deadly force; racial, ethnic and other disparities in its use of force; and its accountability mechanisms, such as its disciplinary actions and its handling of allegations of misconduct,” she said.

Atty. General Lynch spoke Dec. 7 to issues that have led to protests in the city and across the country over the past year—seen most recently in a Black Friday mobilization that shut down Chicago’s prestigious shopping district known as the Magnificent Mile.

Her announcement came just hours before Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez released dash cam video of a police involved shooting that took place just days prior to the controversial 2014 police shooting of Laquan McDonald. The year-long delay in releasing that video, which was ordered by a Cook County judge, and the horrific killing of the young Black male by officer Jason Van Dyke sparked protests. Ofc. Van Dyke has been charged with murder.

City police officer George Hernandez shot and killed 25-year-old Ronald Johnson III on October 12, 2014, near Washington Park on the city’s South Side. Police said Mr. Johnson turned and pointed a gun at Ofc. Hernandez, who fired his weapon in self defense.

Dorothy Holmes, the mother of 25-year-old Ronald Johnson, speaks at a news conference Dec. 1, 2015, in Chicago, asking that the dash-cam video of her son Ronald being fatally shot by Chicago police on Oct. 12, 2014, be released.

Attorneys for the Johnson family said the young man fled police with nothing in his hands, when the officer shot him to death. They accuse city police of planting evidence and coercing witnesses to ensure a story that suited police purposes. Dash cam video of the Johnson shooting provided by police lacked audio and did not show a struggle between an officer and the victim officials said preceded the shooting.

Mr. Johnson’s mother, Dorothy Holmes, has consistently pushed for release of the video. In a news conference Dec. 7 after the video’s release, she had words for state’s attorney Alvarez. “I hope one day that she feels the pain that I feel,” the still-grieving mother said. “I’m not going to stop until I get what I want for him and that’s justice because if that had been anybody in her family that got killed like that, that officer would have been charged with murder.”

Attorney Michael Oppenheimer said nothing presented by Ms. Alvarez proved Ofc. Hernandez was justified in shooting Mr. Johnson.

Activists and legal analysts remained critical of Ms. Alvarez saying she will either resign, or be voted out next March. The initial fallout came with the release of the McDonald video. Fourteen months after the shooting, police officer Jason Van Dyke was indicted but no other officers face charges. A number of the officers filed reports saying teen McDonald threatened them. The video shows the 17-year-old, who was shot 16 times, walking away.

This June 2014 photo provided by Dorothy Holmes, shows Holmes’ 25-yearold son Ronald Johnson, who was fatally shot by Chicago police on Oct. 12, 2014. The video was released Dec. 7. Authorities said he was armed and pointed a gun at police. Holmes, said Dec. 1, that wasn't the case and he was running away from police.

The state’s attorney’s failure to file charges in the death of Mr. Johnson is unacceptable, said activists.

Pastor Emma Lozano, founder of La Familia Latina Unida (the United Latino Family) and president of Pueblo Sin Fronteras, was “appalled” by Atty. Alvarez’s actions, including the Dec. 7 video presentation and press conference about the Johnson death. Pastor Lozano derided it as a “dog and pony show.”

In the McDonald case, Ms. Alvarez could have indicted other officers, including Joseph Walsh, who was Ofc. Van Dyke’s partner on the night of the shooting, Atty. Lew Myers told The Final Call.

Ofc. Walsh’s report corroborated Ofc. Van Dyke’s claims. In light of the video footage, their reports appear to be false. Atty. Alvarez said she is allowing the federal government to investigate these officers.

“She had the power—and has the power as I speak to you today—to bring an indictment against those individuals,” Atty. Myers said. “It is not the responsibility of the federal government to indict state employees for violating state law, and she cannot pass that responsibility on to the federal government to get it off of her.” Atty. Myers labeled the action “legal malfeasance” by the state’s attorney.

The U.S. Supreme Court found police officers should only use lethal force if “in fear of great bodily harm or death.” A fleeing or retreating suspect, as was seen in the McDonald and Johnson cases, does not warrant the use of lethal force by police if one is applying that standard, Atty. Myers argued.

To many, it seems odd that state’s attorney Alvarez would use an investigation by the Independent Police Review Authority to decide whether charges are warranted against police officers. IPRA has been controversial since its inception and widely criticized for ineffective work in probing police misconduct. Lorenzo Davis, a former IPRA investigative supervisor, said he was pressured to change his findings that many police shootings were unjustified. He was fired last summer. His conclusions were likely unpopular with the upper echelon of the police department and some city officials. He called for federal investigations into his claims related to IPRA.

The resignation of IPRA’s chief administrator, Scott Ando, was announced by Mayor Rahm Emanuel Dec. 6. Sharon Fairley, another insider, who was first deputy and general counsel in the city’s Office of the Inspector General was named Mr. Ando’s replacement. The Chicago Police Department’s chief of detectives, Constantine “Dean” Andrews, resigned Dec. 7. Police chief Garry McCarthy was fired Dec. 1.

Speaking to reporters at Rainbow PUSH headquarters, Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr., who led a Dec. 6 downtown protest march, said it is good that Supt. McCarthy was fired. But, he added, more issues remain and continued protests are needed. Officers at the McDonald shooting who appear to have falsified police reports must be immediately suspended or if evidence supports it fired, said the civil rights leader. “The police chief was fired, but the culture remains the same,” said Rev. Jackson.