NAACP pushes Garland to pursue federal charges in killing of Laquan McDonald by Chicago ex-officer
CNN
The NAACP released a letter Tuesday calling on Attorney General Merrick Garland to move forward with federal charges against Jason Van Dyke and to provide an update on any federal investigation, days before the former Chicago police officer is set to be released from a state prison.
Van Dyke was convicted in October 2018 of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm for the shooting and killing of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. He was sentenced to over six years in prison but is scheduled to be released Thursday, a little more than three years after being sentenced.
"The lack of resolution in the nearly six-year-old Federal Grand Jury investigation, convened in response to the shooting death of young Black minor, Laquan McDonald, coupled with the scheduled prison release of his shooter, disgraced former Chicago Police Officer and convicted Illinois state felon, Jason Van Dyke, are clearly alarming," the letter from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People stated.