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Preckwinkle: Releasing Jason Van Dyke is a “Gross Miscarriage of Justice”


Toni Preckwinkle, gross miscarriage of justice
Toni Preckwinkle. (Cook County Government)

Chicago, IL-(ENEWSPF)- Referring to the murder and case of Laquan McDonald as a “gross miscarriage of justice,” Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle issued a statement on the release from prison of Jason Van Dyke.

“In 2014, the murder of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald changed our city forever,” Preckwinkle said. “We continue to grieve his loss and what this tragic death represented for Black lives across the nation.

“Today as Jason Van Dyke is released from prison after just 81 months, we are again forced to reckon with this gross miscarriage of justice and the pervasive inequities built into our criminal justice system.

“While Van Dyke being convicted at all was a step in the right direction, his short sentence is at odds with the thousands of Black and Brown people behind bars for nonviolent offenses. And in the years following Laquan’s murder, we have lost more young Black and Brown men at the hands of police.

“I pray for peace for the McDonald family today and remain resolved to creating a criminal justice system that is truly fair and just,” President Preckwinkle concluded.

While the phrase “gross miscarriage of justice” might be used to describe wrongful convictions, that was not the intent in Preckwinkle’s statement. As she stated, “In the years following Laquan’s murder, we have lost more young Black and Brown men at the hands of police.”

CNN reported:

From “16 shots and a cover-up!” to 16 shots and an early release from prison.

The former became a familiar rallying cry for protesters on the streets of Chicago after the 2014 murder of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. The latter is the newest reality for former Chicago Police officer Jason Van Dyke, who was released from prison Thursday after serving just a little more than three years of a nearly seven-year prison sentence for killing the Black teenager.

16 shots and an early release: Former officer Jason Van Dyke, who killed Laquan McDonald, leaves prison


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