Cheers, Tears and Relief: Demonstrators React to Jason Van Dyke Conviction
As the jury deliberates the fate of Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke, the city prepares for protests in reaction to the final outcome. (Chicago Tribune)
Juan Perez Jr., Tony Briscoe, Ese Olumhense, Dawn Rhodes and Patrick M. O'Connell
Chicago Tribune
On the steps of the Leighton Criminal Court Building and the sidewalk outside City Hall, demonstrators and curious Chicagoans gathered nervously Friday afternoon, huddled around cellphones and television screens, holding their collective breath as they awaited the verdict in the trial of police Officer Jason Van Dyke.
When the verdicts rolled in — guilty of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery for the shooting death of Laquan McDonald — the demonstrators watched silently, riveted to the hand-held screens. They pressed their ears to cellphone speakers, straining to hear. When the jury forewoman finished reading, the crowd erupted in cheers.
“Thank you, Jesus!” shouted one woman, gathered near the steps of the courthouse at 26th Street and California Avenue, as the verdicts were read slowly, one by one, inside the courthouse five floors above them.
A few passing cars on California Avenue honked their horns as news of the verdicts spread. Others in the group outside the courthouse began to march. “Justice for Laquan! Justice for Laquan!” they chanted.
“It feels like a victory for black Chicago,” activist Jedidiah Brown said. “This is the best moment as a Chicagoan that I've ever experienced in my life. This is my best experience as a black man, as a Chicagoan, as an Illinoisan and as a man in the United States of America. We never get justice. Today we got justice. ... Today, it looks like a new day in America."
A small group of demonstrators then swelled around the front steps of the courthouse. “Van Dyke: guilty. CPD: guilty of conspiracy,” the crowd bellowed, while more than two dozen officers watched in silence.
The city had been bracing for the jury’s decision since midday Thursday, when the panel began deliberating their decision in the case that has riveted the city. Businesses in the Loop issued bulletins to workers, and schools announced plans to close early and reschedule Friday night sports events. All Chicago Public Schools athletic events for Friday and all weekend activities were canceled. Classes are out of session Monday for the Columbus Day holiday and will resume Tuesday. Both CTA and Metra trains were packed early Friday afternoon as many businesses in the Loop sent employees home early for the weekend in anticipation of demonstrations and protests.
“It was kind of a mass exodus,” said Natashia Bryson, a contractor for Kraft Heinz, who was headed to Metra early after her manager told her team they could work from home. She said there was a flurry of laptops clicking shut and bags flying over shoulders once the team was allowed to leave.
But with the announcements of the guilty verdicts, the situation both downtown and throughout the city remained relatively calm.
The largest demonstration Friday originated at City Hall and headed through the heart of the Loop on Madison Street. Protesters shouting, “All lives won’t matter till black lives matter!” and “Back up, back up, we want freedom, freedom, all these racist-a-- cops we don't need ’em!” marched east in the street, blocking traffic at intersections as they headed toward Michigan Avenue.
Despite the guilty verdicts, demonstrators directed anger and frustration toward the police officers handling crowd control. Protesters heckled the officers, calling out, “Guilty!” At several points, bike officers formed a blockade, refusing to let protesters pass. Marchers shouted, “Let us through!” At Michigan Avenue and Monroe Street, protesters raised their arms and taunted police, “Hands up — they still shoot!”
For the most part, the protests seemed celebratory and onlookers showed their support. Drivers stopped in traffic beat their horns in approval. Restaurant workers flashed smiles as they gathered by windows to watch.
The demonstration ended in the early evening on the Magnificent Mile, the location of protests that occurred in 2015 in the wake of the release of video of the shooting.
The activity downtown was a far cry from 41st Street and Pulaski Road, where Van Dyke shot McDonald nearly four years ago. There, the scene was quiet and calm Friday afternoon. Two police troopers parked along Pulaski prepared for demonstrations that did not materialize.
Two women, who declined to give their names, stopped by the nearby strip mall to do some quick shopping. But they stopped in the parking lot and waited inside their black sedan to listen to to the verdict live on the radio.
“They got him. Second degree,” one woman said as she got out of her car. “And all 16 shots,” referring to the convictions on each aggravated battery charge.
Asked how she felt about the conviction, she said she thought first-degree murder was more appropriate.
“It’s OK, though. We’re all right,” she said.
Huey Amaru, 27, of South Shore, wandered over to a demonstration at 71st Street and Jeffery Avenue, near the home base of one of the protest groups.
He said he was unsure about what impact the verdict would have.
“Nothing can bring his life back,” Amaru said of McDonald. “(Van Dyke) should go to jail for the rest of his life. But it could be 500 years. It’s not enough.”
In other parts of downtown, the trial results produced barely a ripple. Many around Curtis Bach, a clerk at the Loop station post office, had their eyes fixed on their phone screens, watching and listening to streams from the courtroom. The 80-year-old, however, had only a late lunch on his mind.
“I kinda thought it would go either way,” Bach said. “But I was hoping he’d be found guilty — he shot that poor boy so many times.”
Amid the cheers at City Hall in the aftermath of the verdict announcement, Keena Carson, a Bronzeville resident and organizer, broke into tears and doubled over with emotion.
“It just felt like all those years of work from the time the video came out was worth it,” Carson said. “Like all the organizing and being out in the streets, it was worth it. It was worth it — for once.”
Chicago Tribune’s Ally Marotti, Annie Sweeney, Jeremy Gorner and Mary Wisniewski contributed.
jjperez@chicagotribune.com
tbriscoe@chicagotribune.com
eolumhense@chicagotribune.com
drhodes@chicagotribune.com
poconnell@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @PerezJr
Twitter @_TonyBriscoe
Twitter @essayolumhense
Twitter @rhodes_dawn
Twitter @pmocwriter
Juan Perez Jr., Tony Briscoe, Ese Olumhense, Dawn Rhodes and Patrick M. O'Connell
Chicago Tribune
On the steps of the Leighton Criminal Court Building and the sidewalk outside City Hall, demonstrators and curious Chicagoans gathered nervously Friday afternoon, huddled around cellphones and television screens, holding their collective breath as they awaited the verdict in the trial of police Officer Jason Van Dyke.
When the verdicts rolled in — guilty of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery for the shooting death of Laquan McDonald — the demonstrators watched silently, riveted to the hand-held screens. They pressed their ears to cellphone speakers, straining to hear. When the jury forewoman finished reading, the crowd erupted in cheers.
“Thank you, Jesus!” shouted one woman, gathered near the steps of the courthouse at 26th Street and California Avenue, as the verdicts were read slowly, one by one, inside the courthouse five floors above them.
A few passing cars on California Avenue honked their horns as news of the verdicts spread. Others in the group outside the courthouse began to march. “Justice for Laquan! Justice for Laquan!” they chanted.
“It feels like a victory for black Chicago,” activist Jedidiah Brown said. “This is the best moment as a Chicagoan that I've ever experienced in my life. This is my best experience as a black man, as a Chicagoan, as an Illinoisan and as a man in the United States of America. We never get justice. Today we got justice. ... Today, it looks like a new day in America."
A small group of demonstrators then swelled around the front steps of the courthouse. “Van Dyke: guilty. CPD: guilty of conspiracy,” the crowd bellowed, while more than two dozen officers watched in silence.
The city had been bracing for the jury’s decision since midday Thursday, when the panel began deliberating their decision in the case that has riveted the city. Businesses in the Loop issued bulletins to workers, and schools announced plans to close early and reschedule Friday night sports events. All Chicago Public Schools athletic events for Friday and all weekend activities were canceled. Classes are out of session Monday for the Columbus Day holiday and will resume Tuesday. Both CTA and Metra trains were packed early Friday afternoon as many businesses in the Loop sent employees home early for the weekend in anticipation of demonstrations and protests.
“It was kind of a mass exodus,” said Natashia Bryson, a contractor for Kraft Heinz, who was headed to Metra early after her manager told her team they could work from home. She said there was a flurry of laptops clicking shut and bags flying over shoulders once the team was allowed to leave.
But with the announcements of the guilty verdicts, the situation both downtown and throughout the city remained relatively calm.
The largest demonstration Friday originated at City Hall and headed through the heart of the Loop on Madison Street. Protesters shouting, “All lives won’t matter till black lives matter!” and “Back up, back up, we want freedom, freedom, all these racist-a-- cops we don't need ’em!” marched east in the street, blocking traffic at intersections as they headed toward Michigan Avenue.
Despite the guilty verdicts, demonstrators directed anger and frustration toward the police officers handling crowd control. Protesters heckled the officers, calling out, “Guilty!” At several points, bike officers formed a blockade, refusing to let protesters pass. Marchers shouted, “Let us through!” At Michigan Avenue and Monroe Street, protesters raised their arms and taunted police, “Hands up — they still shoot!”
For the most part, the protests seemed celebratory and onlookers showed their support. Drivers stopped in traffic beat their horns in approval. Restaurant workers flashed smiles as they gathered by windows to watch.
The demonstration ended in the early evening on the Magnificent Mile, the location of protests that occurred in 2015 in the wake of the release of video of the shooting.
The activity downtown was a far cry from 41st Street and Pulaski Road, where Van Dyke shot McDonald nearly four years ago. There, the scene was quiet and calm Friday afternoon. Two police troopers parked along Pulaski prepared for demonstrations that did not materialize.
Two women, who declined to give their names, stopped by the nearby strip mall to do some quick shopping. But they stopped in the parking lot and waited inside their black sedan to listen to to the verdict live on the radio.
“They got him. Second degree,” one woman said as she got out of her car. “And all 16 shots,” referring to the convictions on each aggravated battery charge.
Asked how she felt about the conviction, she said she thought first-degree murder was more appropriate.
“It’s OK, though. We’re all right,” she said.
Huey Amaru, 27, of South Shore, wandered over to a demonstration at 71st Street and Jeffery Avenue, near the home base of one of the protest groups.
He said he was unsure about what impact the verdict would have.
“Nothing can bring his life back,” Amaru said of McDonald. “(Van Dyke) should go to jail for the rest of his life. But it could be 500 years. It’s not enough.”
In other parts of downtown, the trial results produced barely a ripple. Many around Curtis Bach, a clerk at the Loop station post office, had their eyes fixed on their phone screens, watching and listening to streams from the courtroom. The 80-year-old, however, had only a late lunch on his mind.
“I kinda thought it would go either way,” Bach said. “But I was hoping he’d be found guilty — he shot that poor boy so many times.”
Amid the cheers at City Hall in the aftermath of the verdict announcement, Keena Carson, a Bronzeville resident and organizer, broke into tears and doubled over with emotion.
“It just felt like all those years of work from the time the video came out was worth it,” Carson said. “Like all the organizing and being out in the streets, it was worth it. It was worth it — for once.”
Chicago Tribune’s Ally Marotti, Annie Sweeney, Jeremy Gorner and Mary Wisniewski contributed.
jjperez@chicagotribune.com
tbriscoe@chicagotribune.com
eolumhense@chicagotribune.com
drhodes@chicagotribune.com
poconnell@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @PerezJr
Twitter @_TonyBriscoe
Twitter @essayolumhense
Twitter @rhodes_dawn
Twitter @pmocwriter
No comments:
Post a Comment