CHICAGO—Jason Van Dyke, the killer cop charged with murdering 17-year-old African Laquan McDonald in October of 2014, was hired three weeks ago by the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) to work as a janitor for the city’s police union while he awaits his May 5, 2016 trial.
Van Dyke was suspended from the Chicago Police Department (CPD) after being charged in December of last year.
According to Dean Angelo, the city’s police union president, the FOP reached a decision to “assist the Van Dyke family” weeks ago. He stated that the “notoriety of the incident” have rendered Van Dyke “completely unemployable.”
The decision to hire this murderous cop, who was recorded on dash-cam video shooting Laquan 16 times as the teen walked away from Van Dyke and his partner, has rightfully sparked outrage in the African community of Chicago.
Chicago activists held demonstrations outside the union’s West Loop headquarters on Thursday March 31, 2016. They called for Angelo to be fired.
Hiring killer cops as they await trial is not at all a new phenomenon. According to Angelo, “the FOP has a very long history of assisting members when they find themselves forced into a no-pay status.”
The union president fails to realize that Van Dyke was not “forced” into a no-pay status as nobody “forced” him to shoot Laquan 16 times. Van Dyke decided on his own to take the innocent life of an African, so whatever financial problems that Van Dyke and his family find themselves in now is as a result of Van Dyke’s decision to murder.
The union has sent a clear message to the African community that they value the well-being of a murderous cop who has ended the life of another African, over Laquan and his family. This, and all other cases where killer cops who murder Africans are offered jobs by the police union, is a slap in the face for the African community.
Even though Van Dyke was indicted on six counts of first-degree murder and one count of official misconduct for fatally shooting Laquan, it is clear that the Chicago Police Department still stands by this murderous pig.
Black Community Control of the Police!
Within the colonial borders of the U.S., Africans are colonial subjects, and all cops are arms of the government put in place to maintain the status quo and protect the interests of the government, at our expense.
Africans are faced with genocide at the hands of the police as we are murdered in cold blood. Most times these killer cops are not charged for their crimes, and when they are charged, they are supported by other cops, police unions and other representatives of the State.
The African working class has no say regarding punishment and other procedures concerning indicted and convicted cops.
The African community of Chicago must make the demand for Black Community Control of the Police.
Black Community Control of the Police is a demand that materializes the call for African self-determination. It calls on Africans to be proactive in the fight against our mass-incarceration, police brutality and police murders. Black Community Control of the Police means that the power to hire, fire, discipline, fund and train police would be in the hands of African people.
Africans in Chicago and everywhere in the country should join the Black is Back Coalition (BIBC) and work in principled unity for Black Power and Black Community Control of the Police.
Black Community Control of the Police!
Black Power Matters!
Uhuru!
