Another Outrage in Chicago:
Spectator Charged With Contempt of Court for Snapping His Fingers
May 27, 2017 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
Bail was set at $40,000 for a man charged with contempt of court after he snapped his fingers in support of a Chicago judge’s decision not to drop the charge of first-degree murder on the pig who murdered Laquan McDonald.
For readers not familiar with this case: in October 2014, 17-year-old Laquan McDonald was shot 16 times by Chicago pig Jason Van Dyke, seconds after Van Dyke arrived on the scene. Other pigs then confiscated a video from a business at the scene that showed what had really happened, beginning a year long coverup. This case was made famous by Vic Mensa’s song “16 Shots” and by an outpouring of several months of protests in Chicago starting in November of 2015 when the video, which went viral, of the murder was finally released 13 months after the murder occurred.
This is the first time in 35 years that an on-duty pig in Chicago has been charged with murder. On May 25, spectators packed the courtroom for a hearing in this case. No forms of protest were allowed in court. After being searched and walked through metal detectors to enter the courthouse, people had to do this again to enter the courtroom. Revolution Club members even had to cover their BA SPEAKS—REVOLUTION, NOTHING LESS! T-shirts to enter.
At the hearing, Van Dyke’s attorney filed a motion to get the first-degree murder charge dropped, arguing, “On October 20, 2014 when this shooting took place, this was business as usual.” The attorney went on to say that Laquan McDonald was walking away from the police holding a knife, and that “The legislators who created this law told police officers, in this situation you can shoot ‘em. Not only can you shoot ’em, it’s your duty to shoot ’em. You have to prevent the escape of this dangerous armed individual.”
The judge has been running this courtroom with an iron fist, and that fist came down hard on a school teacher who snapped his fingers when the judge ruled against Van Dyke’s attorney’s motion to drop the murder charges. The judge called the teacher up to the bench to explain his actions. When the teacher turned toward pig Van Dyke and answered, “To see a racist murderer on trial, a racist killer,” he was immediately jailed, and bail was set at $40,000.
The defiant outpourings of protest after the release of the video of the murder of Laquan McDonald shook the city. Further protests followed, including several nights last summer where youths took to the streets in South Shore after the police murder of 18-year-old Paul O’Neal. Protests in response to the murder of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, involved mass arrests, and at least one person still faces multiple felony charges. Two people, including a member of the Revolution Club, are still facing felony charges from arrests around Mike Brown’s murder in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014. The release of the Justice Department’s scathing report on the Chicago Police Department, in January of this year, stung those in power. They are cracking down and fighting to keep struggle contained. The judge’s outrageous ruling against the teacher is part of this assault and must be opposed.
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