Jason Van Dyke, the white Chicago police officer who shot and killed Black teen Laquan McDonald, will be released from prison on Feb. 3 after serving less than half of his 81-month sentence. About a dozen community members protested at a train station on Chicago’s South Side after hearing about the court's decision to release Van Dyke, who served 39 months, NBC News reports.
“If Jason Van Dyke is released, it will set us back years, upon years, upon years of all the work that we have done,” activist William Calloway said, according to CBS Chicago.
The case gained nationwide attention in 2014 when the public saw the graphic video of Van Dyke shooting 17-year-old McDonald 16 times, and 15 of those shots occurred while the Black teen was already on the ground. Following the incident, the police superintendent was fired after the incident and the county’s top prosecutor was voted out of office. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel decided not to run for reelection at the time while facing criticism for his handling of the case.
Van Dyke, who was convicted in 2018, resigned from the force while he was in prison. The former officer was convicted of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery, one for each bullet he fired. In Jan. 2019, he was sentenced to 81 months in prison.
The 43-year-old was eligible to have his sentence cut in half with good behavior. According to the federal Bureau of Prisons records, Van Dyke was transferred out of the federal prison system in late 2019. Lindsey Hess, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Corrections, said the former policeman remains under the jurisdiction of the department. Officials, however, didn't disclose his location, citing safety concerns.
Grace Memorial Baptist Church Pastor Rev. Marvin Hunter, McDonald's uncle, hopes that Van Dyke has learned a lesson.
"It's a shame that Jason Van Dyke has a date that he can be paroled and free from his past to a certain degree and Laquan McDonald can never have another birthday," Hunter said, according to ABC 7 Chicago. "My prayer is that Mr. Van Dyke comes out a different man than when he went in."
