4 Chicago cops fired for alleged cover-up of fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald
CHICAGO — The Chicago Police Board fired a sergeant and three officers Thursday night over the alleged cover-up of the murder of Laquan McDonald by a police officer.
The decision appeared to turn on the infamous police dashboard camera video of the fatal shooting that contradicted the officers’ police reports.
The nine-member board found that the officers exaggerated the threat posed by the 17-year-old McDonald in order to justify the actions of Officer Jason Van Dyke in shooting the teen 16 times. McDonald was high on PCP when he refused police commands to drop a knife while walking away from officers on a Southwest Side street in October 2014.
The board voted unanimously to fire Officers Ricardo Viramontes and Janet Mondragon as well as Sgt. Stephen Franko for several rules violations, most importantly making false statements. All but one board member voted to fire Officer Daphne Sebastian as well for bringing discredit to the department and preventing the department from achieving its goals, though the board held that she did not make a false statement.
The decision likely marks the final punishment to be meted out following two historic criminal trials that saw Van Dyke become the first Chicago police officer in half a century to be convicted of an on-duty murder and a judge clear three other officers — including Van Dyke’s partner — of criminal conspiracy charges in a controversial ruling in January. The officers can challenge their dismissals by filing lawsuits in Cook County Circuit Court.
Patrick Murray, first vice president of the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police, slammed the board’s decision, saying the officers did nothing wrong.
“It is obvious that this Police Board has outserved its usefulness,” he said.
The video of McDonald’s shooting roiled the city after a Daley Center judge ordered its release in November 2015, more than a year after the teen’s death. The U.S. Department of Justice later issued a scathing report about Police Department inadequacies, paving the way for a federal consent decree mandating a series of reforms that will be overseen by a federal judge.
Largely on the strength of the video, Van Dyke was criminally charged with McDonald’s killing, while a separate special prosecutor indicted Van Dyke’s partner, Joseph Walsh; lead detective David March; and Officer Thomas Gaffney on charges they conspired to cover up for Van Dyke.
Meanwhile, a disciplinary investigation by city Inspector General Joseph Ferguson’s office recommended that 11 officers in all — including Van Dyke, now serving a 6 }-year sentence in federal prison — be fired. But six of them — including the two highestranking, Deputy Chief David McNaughton and Chief of Detectives Eugene Roy — left the department before Superintendent Eddie Johnson could move to discipline them.
In 2016, Johnson sought to fire Franko, Mondragon, Sebastian and Viramontes but opted not to bring department charges against the 11th officer.
The board’s 55-page decision Thursday night comes three months after Franko and the three officers fought the disciplinary charges at a three-day hearing in which testimony and evidence were presented.
Unlike the more stringent reasonable doubt standard to prove guilt in a criminal trial, the Police Board found the officers violated department rules based on a preponderance of evidence, meaning it was more likely than not.