Protests organized as Laquan McDonald’s killer set to be released from prison early

"They should be ashamed that they have allowed this to happen," U.S. Congressional candidate Kina Collins told theGrio.

Hundreds of demonstrators are expected to gather in downtown Chicago early Thursday evening to protest the planned early prison release of Jason Van Dyke, the ex-city police officer who fatally shot Laquan McDonald in 2014.

Van Dyke is scheduled to be released from state custody on Thursday. He has served just over half of the six-year and nine-month prison sentence he received in 2019 for killing 17-year-old McDonald.

Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke Sentenced In Shooting Death Laquan McDonald
Former Chicago police 0fficer Jason Van Dyke enters the courtroom for his sentencing hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building Jan. 18, 2019 in Chicago. (Photo by Antonio Perez-Pool/Getty Images)

The Black teenager was armed with a knife, but was standing several feet away from Van Dyke and other officers when Van Dyke shot him 16 times on Oct. 20, 2014.

State officials approved Van Dyke’s early release in Sept. 2021. His second-degree murder conviction made him eligible to have half his prison sentence removed while receiving credit for time served and good behavior, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

U.S. Congressional candidate Kina Collins, a Democrat, is one of the people participating in the “Day of Outrage and Direct Action” over Van Dyke’s prison release.

She told theGrio that the former officer’s early release is yet another “miscarriage of justice.”

“They should be ashamed that they have allowed this to happen,” Collins said of state officials who decided last year to let Van Dyke out of prison early.

“This was a child that was left to die on the ground and had 16 bullets pumped into his body. That is not just excessive use of policing. That is not just a murder. That is a modern day lynching that occurred.”

Former community activist Kina Collins participates in a Black Lives Matter protest following the 2014 Chicago police fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald. (Credit: Courtesy of Kina Collins for Congress)

Black Lives Matter Chicago, Rev. Jesse Jackson‘s Rainbow PUSH Coalition and BYP 100 are just three of the activist groups whose members are expected to join in the 3:30 p.m. Thursday protest at Federal Plaza on Dearborn Street in downtown Chicago.

“We have called on peaceful non-violent civil disobedience to occur,” Collins said.

The goal of the demonstration is to push the U.S. Justice Department to file federal civil rights charges against Van Dyke.

“A broad swath of my district is the city of Chicago, West Side and South Side,” said Collins, who is campaigning to unseat incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Danny Davis.

“This is an issue that is important to many constituents,” Collins added. “It’s not just Laquan McDonald. It’s Rekia Boyd. It’s Adam Toledo who was murdered last year.”

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