Justice, Politics

Cheering Police Accountability Can Put You In Contempt Of Court

Lawyer calls killing black teens 'business as usual' for Chicago police

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Laquan McDonald was 17 when he was shot 16 times.

Laquan McDonald was 17 when he was shot 16 times.

The trial for Jason Van Dyke is coming. Van Dyke is the Chicago police officer accused of shooting then 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times.

The headline news from a motion to dismiss the charges against Van Dyke was his lawyer’s statement that the shooting of McDonald was just “business as usual.”

Then he analogized taking the life of a young black man to a firefighter cutting open the roof on a burning house. I’m not making that up, I don’t think I have the creative capacity to make that up:

“If a firefighter arrives on the scene of a fire and climbs up on the roof and takes the ax out and cuts the roof open to ventilate the roof … are we going to charge that firefighter with criminal damage to property? Of course not. It’s preposterous,” he said. “You cannot be charged criminally for duties you are required by law to do.”

I mean, he’s not wrong. It is in fact the usual course of business for American police to shoot black youths to death, while treating them no better than malfunctioning property. That’s the business they’re in.

The motion to dismiss was denied.

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But lest black people get too “uppity” by this procedural victory, Cook County Judge Vincent Gaughan had something else for that ass.

As Gaughan announced in the packed courtroom that both motions had been denied, one man apparently snapped his fingers multiple times in approval.

“Get up here, sir,” Gaughan ordered.

The man, identified as Moises Bernal, stepped up to the bench, and Gaughan asked him why he came to the hearing.

Bernal paused and looked at the defense table.

“To see a racist murderer on trial,” he said to gasps from the courtroom gallery.

Gaughan found Bernal in contempt of court and ordered him jailed on $40,000 bail.

“This is not going to be some type of nonjudicial type thing where people are screaming,” the judge said. “For the rest of you who’ve been acting like ladies and gentlemen, God love you, and I hope you come back.”

I understand Judge Gaughan’s point, I really do. It’s fun, cute even, for us blacks to run around here pretending like we live in a free society. But sometimes we need to be put back in our place. Who snaps, who cheers, who expects to see a cop actually held accountable for his actions? Everybody just needs to sit down and shut up and solemnly observe murderous racists escape justice.

I look forward to writing the Van Dyke acquittal post. This is America, goddamnit.

Chicago cop’s lawyer calls Laquan McDonald’s killing ‘business as usual’ [Chicago Tribune]

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Elie Mystal is an editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.

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