The officer who killed Laquan McDonald is free after three years. Activists are angry

jason van dyke
Former Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke, left, attends his sentencing hearing in 2019. (Antonio Perez/AP)

Antonio Perez / Antonio Perez

Former Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke is a free man. Van Dyke served less than half of his nearly seven-year prison term for the 2014 fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald.

Van Dyke is white. McDonald, 17, was black. It is a case that roiled the city, caused widespread protests and sparked court-mandated police reforms after a blistering report by the U.S. Department of Justice. Among the report’s findings: Chicago Police routinely used excessive force and violated the rights of people of color.

It was Oct. 20, 2014, when a Chicago police responded to reports that a black teenager carrying a knife was breaking into cars. Laquan McDonald had slashed some tires of a truck and was being followed on a southwest side Chicago street by a number of police officers waiting for a unit with a Taser.