CITY EXHALES
Relief over verdict tempered by caution; schools cancel events
Elation and relief echoed across the city after the guilty verdict against Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke came down.
But even as fears of potentially violent protests diminished, schools around Chicago canceled after-school events — even homecoming festivities — set for Friday and this weekend as a precaution to ensure students were kept safe.
Chicago Public Schools canceled all athletic competitions Friday night and over the weekend.
Jones College Prep High School in the South Loop dismissed students an hour earlier than scheduled and canceled activities, including Friday evening’s homecoming dance. Amundsen High School also canceled Friday night’s homecoming dance.
In addition, Providence Catholic High School forfeited football games scheduled at Mount Carmel High School on Saturday.
“Providence Catholic has forfeited the sophomore and varsity game this weekend. Obviously, we are disappointed and we pray for peace in our communities,” said Dan LaCount, Mount Carmel’s athletic director.
After the verdict, a group of nearly 300 marchers took to Michigan Avenue along the Magnificent Mile to rally. Antonio Magitt, of the youth anti-violence group Good Kids Mad City, said the feeling in the group was largely one of relief — and shock.
“We don’t see cops getting convicted when they commit murder in our communities,” Magitt said. “So it’s more progress that needs to be done in the Chicago Police Department, and that’s going to be our next step, to make sure that progress is made.”
Activists whose protests helped propel the murder of Laquan McDonald into the national spotlight claimed victory after Van Dyke was convicted of second-degree murder.
“We got something to celebrate,” Frank Chapman, of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, told a crowd of about 200 people gathered outside City Hall as the verdict was read. He also said activists still had more work to do.
“This is the beginning — the beginning of [change] that we’ve been needing in this city for a long, long time,” Chapman said.
On the South Side, residents in the South Shore community rallied as they awaited the verdict. Some saw it as a first step toward justice in cases of police-involved shootings.
“As this is the first time a Chicago police officer was [on] trial for killing a black man, I think this is a positive step,” said Lee Brandon Coleman, a South Shore resident. “You can’t do everything at once.”
Lashauna Mabry, also of South Shore, pondered what precedent this verdict may have set.
“What’s going to happen next? Is this going to make a difference in future trials? That’s what we’re ultimately hoping for,” Mabry said.
Outside a row of stores on Madison Street east of Pulaski Road on the West Side, motorists honked their horns, seemingly in approval of the guilty verdict. Clusters of police officers, stationed on the street corners, looked on.
Gregory Davis, 56, said he was satisfied with the verdict but said the West Side could still boil over with anger if Van Dyke gets a sentence that’s perceived to be light.
“So far, it’s OK. He was found guilty. But if they try to sentence him to like two, three, six years, people will be upset by that,” he said.
As the verdict was read live, dozens of workers in downtown Chicago who had been allowed to go home early watched at Chicago News Room bar at the Ogilvie Transportation Center.
Most said they were glad that they had been dismissed early — given the potential for violence — but few expected any following the second-degree murder conviction.
Mohammad Hassan, 18, a student waiting at Ogilvie to catch a train home to West Chicago, had stopped off at a mosque on State Street after his noon class at UIC. In the middle of prayers, an urgent voice came over the loudspeaker.
“They were telling people to get out of here as fast as possible. They said, ‘If you need to use the back exit, please do so,’” Hassan said.
But the guilty verdict calmed Hassan’s fears of possible violence.
“I was definitely kind of nervous because I know what people are capable of when something like this happens and the decision is questionable — especially in a city like this,” Hassan said.