Laquan McDonald

Should be guilty.

 

I am supportive of police in most cases. This case is pretty clear to me. The cop wad justified in shooting...once, twice, maybe three times. Once the suspect hit the ground, the threat was over. The next 12 rounds were excessive.

Murder? Not sure. 2nd degree or voluntary manslaughter more likely.

 

The police have the option of using what level of force they believe necessary for the situation.

He had a knife, was walking down the middle of the street and threatening people. These police, apparently, didn't believe a taser was appropriate for the situation. Maybe other police would have taken the chance with a less than lethal method. These didn't.

I tend to support the police in this type of high stress, life and death situation. I'm not going to second guess if they felt tasers would not be effective.

In the video, the suspect closes the distance, even though he isn't walking directly toward the police. Their weapons are drawn. There is no sound, but the police say he refused their commands to drop the knife and get on the ground.

I see a shift in his weight, as if he is going to lounge toward the officer. I suspect this triggered the officer to shoot.

I don't know anything about a cover up, but I have already stated the officer's response was excessive. He should not have continued to shoot once the suspect was down and the threat greatly minimized.

 

But shoot the guy like 14 times, even when he was down after initially being shot? If the cop would have stopped at 3 or 4 rounds after the man was down it was a justifiable action. Keeping on shooting him when the threat has been eliminated is murder, in this case 2nd degree murder as the jury has now ruled. I would not want to be this ex-cop in a Illinois prison is all I can say.

 

Murder? This will probably result in the "unintended consequences" of civilian individuals asking "who wants to be a cop?".

 

Well, if you would have read my posts you would have seen that I said almost exactly what you said, even predicting the 2nd degree murder verdict as a possibility.

As far as his life in prison, he will be segregated from the general population.

 

Maybe.

Police are trained to only use the amount of force necessary to stop the threat.

As I said earlier, I am usually supportive of police and do not 2nd guess a response in a life threatening situation, which this was.

In this case, it is clear the officer fired at least a dozen rounds after the suspect was on the ground and the threat greatly deminished.

That goes against His training. There were other officers there, at least one I think, and no one else fired a shot.

I think the jury made a good decision with 2nd degree.

 

The verdict, the protests, a family's relief: How day of Officer Jason Van Dyke's conviction unfolded


Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke was convicted Friday of second-degree murder in the death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, marking a stunning end to a racially tinged case that roiled the city when now-infamous police dashboard camera video of the shooting was released three years ago by court order. Van Dyke is the first Chicago police officer in half a century to be found guilty of murder for an on-duty shooting. He faces a minimum of 6 years in prison when he’s sentenced by Judge Vincent Gaughan.