A Closer Look at Push to Fire Officers in Laquan McDonald Shooting


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Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson last week recommended seven officers be fired for allegedly covering up the circumstances of the shooting of Laquan McDonald.

McDonald was shot and killed by a Chicago officer who's been charged with his murder. The move comes on the heels of two police higher-ups tied to the case retiring and after news of a harsh report by the city's inspector general that hasn't been publicly released.

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Craig Futterman, a University of Chicago law professor and founder of the Civil Rights and Police Accountability Project, says the case is "a picture-perfect example of what the code of silence looks like in practice."

"From the very beginning it was a cover-up," he said. "A cover-up that didn’t just start with the line officers, a cover-up that not just the supervisors were complicit in, but a cover-up that wound up being directed by higher-ups."

Futterman believes that for reform to occur within the police department, those higher-ups should be prosecuted as well. 

"Let’s not just blame the rank-and-file officers," he said.  "Let's do something systemically and actually hold accountable some of the leaders who directed the code of silence."  


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