Following Verdict, Rev. Marvin Hunter Calls for Change, Healing


The family of black teenager Laquan McDonald avoided reporters at the courthouse Friday after the guilty verdict in the Jason Van Dyke trial was announced.

Family members instead made their way to Grace Memorial Baptist Church on the city’s West Side, where the slain teenager’s great-uncle, the Rev. Marvin Hunter, preaches.

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“What I would like to see is systemic change in the law, which we call a contract actually, the [Fraternal Order of Police] contract,” Hunter said in an interview with Chicago Tonight.

Hunter said the contract prohibits the Chicago Police Department from firing officers.

“Not all police officers are bad. We have some wonderful men and women that are part of the Chicago police,” he said. “However, some of those apples are so bad that they make the whole department look bad.”

Hunter said he’s trying to pass legislation that would better examine that contract, which he says violates the 14th Amendment guaranteeing all citizens equal protection of the laws.

“I believe that the death of Laquan McDonald and us working with legislators in Springfield to put forth a bill to change that FOP contract, so that Chicago would not be held hostage to Jim Crow laws hidden in that bill – violating the 14th Amendment rights of the people, of the citizens of Chicago – would be a great change for us,” he said.

Follow Paris Schutz on Twitter: @paschutz


Related stories:

Jason Van Dyke Found Guilty of Second-Degree Murder

‘I Feel That We Gave a Good Verdict’: Van Dyke Jurors Speak Out After Trial

Activists Respond to Van Dyke Verdict: ‘We Got Closer to Justice’


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