People in Chicago were right to continue the protest during Black Friday over the killing of LaQuan McDonald by Chicago police. And it’s not much of an exaggeration to call it what it looks like: an execution, one that was covered up by the system.
I read where someone being interviewed asked, “Why are these people protesting? They already charged the cop.” What that person doesn’t understand is that there has been a crime committed by the Chicago power structure. They assisted in the cover up of a murder. They conspired to keep what they knew from the public, and it’s likely they altered the tapes from the Burger King that recorded the murder.
They continued to pay this cop knowing he had committed murder. That’s right, they had seen the tapes, but they refused to prosecute until they knew the public would know what they knew.
Without question this was a cover up and conspiracy to cover up murder. They also sought to obstruct justice, these are crimes. The entire Chicago power structure took part in it, including the Chamber of Commerce, Mayor Rahm Emmanuel, the city council and the police structure. They all should be charged.
The Chicago press was complicit in the cover up for printing the lies of the cover-up artists without asking the tough questions or digging for the real truth. The initial story told by the cops was quite elaborate; they had supposedly boxed McDonald in and he refused to put the knife down and actually charged the cops. There was no truth in it at all.
Moreover, the power structure always lies about these killings. This dispels the good cop narrative, because lots of so-called good cops participate in these cover ups. In fact, some of the good cops help construct the resulting lie when police kill citizens, especially Black poor ones.
However, this was no accident; this was not bad judgment. This is the function of the system of policing. Chicago just got caught.
As difficult as it is to face, the average, everyday person — the average working person — has to face facts and admit that though we have been hoodwinked and tricked into believing that this system — and particularly the police system — has our best interest at heart, it just isn’t true. It is absolutely imperative for our survival that we understand that this is the way this system really works.
Someone may call the police killings an aberration. But are they? The evidence says differently. Accidents and coincidences only take place sometimes. Practically every day a Black person is killed by police. And lots of young White people are killed, especially those that are experiencing some kind of break with reality.
Police are seldom reprimanded or even charged for mistreating citizens. Research practically any department, especially big city police departments, and you will find that complaints by citizens go unanswered and very little discipline, if any, is meted out to brutal cops.
Chicago cop Jerome Finnigan was so corrupt that the system was forced to bring him down. Check out what he had to say in an article in the Atlantic Magazine:
“In 18 years with the Chicago Police Department, the nation’s second-largest, Jerome Finnigan had never been disciplined — although 68 citizen complaints had been lodged against him, including accusations that he used excessive force and regularly conducted illegal searches.”
Then, in 2011, he admitted to robbing criminal suspects while serving in an elite police unit and ordering a hit on a fellow police officer he thought intended to turn him in. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
“My bosses knew what I was doing out there, and it went on and on,” he said in court when he pleaded guilty. “And this wasn’t the exception to the rule. This was the rule.”
These killings and the overall rudeness and disrespect most citizen’s experience when dealing with the police should give every well-meaning person pause. They should pause and try to know the truth of the system of policing in this country.
In Minneapolis, it was a bit heartbreaking to watch young people engaging in conversation with the officer-friendly types, the ones who can hold their disdain for the common folks in check and to some extent are the true believers. These people can’t give you satisfaction; only their bosses in City Hall, the State House, or the White House can give relief from this oppression.
The “real” good cops quit! It’s a waste of time arguing and talking to the domestic foot soldiers of U.S. capitalism, and that’s who they really are. The whole system is guilty as hell! The whole Chicago power structure should go to jail!
Mel Reeves welcomes reader response to mellaneous19@yahoo.com.
Mel Reeves was the community editor at the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder until he passed away on January 6, 2022. He had a long and storied history working at the MSR.
Find more about Reeve’s life and legacy here: spokesman-recorder.com/category/remembering-mel-reeves.