Today, prosecutors in Chicago will not file criminal charges against George Hernandez, a Chicago police officer who shot and killed 25 year old Ronald Johnson III in October of 2014. This incident happened a week before the tragic murder of Laquan McDonald which has led to major scrutiny of the Chicago police department.
The decision was announced by Anita Alvarez, the state’s attorney for Cook County, Illinois. The decision came at the same time as the Justice Department’s announcement to plan for a civil rights investigation on the Chicago Police Department. There was press conference held this morning to go into detail of the investigation, the police and witness testimonies, and the dash board camera used at the scene of the incident. In her 75 minute news conference, Alvarez explained through the use of 911 recordings, video clips, and police radio recordings that Johnson was armed with a gun at the time of his murder. Alvarez went on to say that Hernandez’s use of deadly force was “reasonable and permissible”, with her reason being the report that Johnson was running toward a police vehicle and attempting to evade law enforcement by heading toward a public park east of King Drive and 53rd St on the South Side. She accused Johnson of posing an immediate threat to the officers involved in the shooting and the area around him.
The video footage of the shooting was sent to the FBI laboratory to try to establish its authenticity and whether or not Johnson did in fact have a gun. The video was acknowledged as “grainy, dark, [and] blurry”, but when Johnson fell to the ground, the video is said to show that a weapon was in Johnson’s possession.
The draths of Ronald Johnson III and Laquan McDonald weren’t only frighteningly close together but also have similarities in the details surrounding them. This raises the question of whether the real threat in the streets of Chicago is the citizens of the police department itself.
