Jason Van Dyke, the Chicago police officer accused of the 2014 murder of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, was convicted of second-degree murder the afternoon of Oct. 5.
City officials were preparing for a widespread reaction to the verdict, according to reports.
The episode, caught on police video surveillance footage, shed further light on what were already highly strained relations between CPD and members of Chicago’s African-American community, especially when the footage became available in late 2015. Police superintendent Garry McCarthy—now running for mayor—was fired, and controversial Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez was voted out of office shortly thereafter.
Many LGBT persons of color were energized by the McDonald case, further calling attention in the years since to a number of related issues disproportionately affecting their community, among them aggressive overpolicing, violence against transgender persons of color and mass incarceration.