People upset over Chicago police verdicts encouraged to vote

CHICAGO — Activists and others who were disappointed by the outcome of two historic cases involving the killing of black teenager Laquan McDonald by a white Chicago police officer see a way forward — by turning tragedy into political power.

A judge on Friday sentenced former Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke to less than seven years in prison for McDonald’s 2014 death.

Video of Van Dyke firing 16 shots at McDonald as he walked away from the officer prompted protests, a U.S. Justice Department investigation of the Chicago Police Department and the firing of the police superintendent, among other changes. It also was a key piece of evidence in Van Dyke’s trial, when a jury last year found him guilty of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery.

The judge’s sentence of six years and nine months — less than half of the penalty sought by prosecutors — means the 40-year-old could be released in just over three years. It came a day after a different judge acquitted three other Chicago police officers accused of lying about the shooting to protect Van Dyke.

Activist William Calloway, who helped force Mayor Rahm Emanuel to release police video of the shooting, said he and other community members were “heartbroken” by the judges’ decisions, but won’t give up seeking changes.

“If you’re a black Chicagoan, don’t protest. Don’t take to the streets,” he said. “It’s time we take to the polls.”

Calloway is trying to defeat a fiveterm alderman in local elections next month to win a seat on the Chicago City Council. He has criticized the incumbent and other black aldermen for not doing enough to change the culture of a police force that has long had a reputation of racial bias and condoning police brutality.

The McDonald shooting already has been a major factor in Chicago politics.

The charges against Van Dyke were announced in 2015, the same day City Hall — under a judge’s order — released the video.

The case was widely seen as the reason the county’s top prosecutor, Anita Alvarez, was voted out of office a few months later, and it’s thought to be a factor in Emanuel’s decision not to seek a third term next month.