The US Department of Justice said on Monday it will investigate Chicago’s police department following protests over police shooting death of a teenager last year, on the same day prosecutors said they would not seek charges in a similar case.
US authorities would look at the department’s use of force, including deadly force, among other issues, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch told a news briefing.
“Our goal in this investigation ... is not to focus on individuals, but to improve systems,” Lynch said.
The top US law enforcement official said federal officials would be investigating “constitutional violations” in one of the nation’s largest police departments.
Lynch’s announcement came after almost two weeks of protests in Chicago following the release of a police squad car dashboard video from last year showing police officer Jason Van Dyke shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times. Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder late last month.
Two hours after Lynch’s briefing, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez gave a detailed presentation to reporters explaining why she would not seek charges in another police shooting death last year.
Michael Oppenheimer, an attorney for Johnson’s family, called Alvarez’ explanation a “joke,” and protesters took to the streets on Monday evening.
Alvarez, who has been under fire for her handling of the McDonald case, said Ronald Johnson III, 25, was holding a gun and fleeing arrest when he was shot by Officer George Hernandez on Oct. 12, last year.
Prosecutors showed police car dashboard video to reporters on Monday and played audiotapes of police radio communications and emergency calls.
The grainy video, which has no audio, showed Hernandez firing at Johnson as he ran into a park.
Alvarez said Johnson had been asked repeatedly by multiple officers to drop his weapon, and that a 9mm semiautomatic pistol was found with Johnson after he was shot.
Prosecutors also showed reporters an image with a red circle around Johnson’s hand, saying that forensic experts clarified images of a weapon.
Oppenheimer said Johnson did not have a gun and mocked Alvarez for relying on an Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) investigation of the case.
Demonstrators gathered on Monday in the neighborhood where Johnson was killed and called for Alvarez to step down.
Johnson’s mother, Dorothy Holmes, told the crowd the decision not to charge Officer Hernandez was “bogus.”
“I ain’t giving up,” she said, holding a photograph of Johnson inscribed with the words “beloved son.”
“I’m going to keep going until she [Alvarez] get out of there... My son’s life mattered to a lot of us, because if it didn’t, we wouldn’t be out here,” Holmes said.
Alvarez said that officers were at the scene due to an earlier shooting.
Another officer had tried to arrest Johnson, but he had pulled away, knocking the officer over, before running off, Alvarez added.
“The prosecution could not establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the actions of Officer Hernandez were not reasonable and permissible,” Alvarez told reporters.
Responding to questions about why Johnson was shot in the back, Alvarez said Johnson could have turned and fired at Hernandez or other officers, and that his gun was linked to a 2013 shooting.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said on Monday that the Johnson shooting was a “tragedy.”
Emanuel, who initially disagreed with calls for a federal civil rights investigation and is under pressure from critics over the McDonald case, said Lynch would have the city’s “complete cooperation.”
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