Former Chicago Cop Jason Van Dyke Released From Prison

CHICAGO — Former Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke has been released from prison after serving just more than three years for the 2014 killing of Laquan McDonald.

Van Dyke's release comes after he was sentenced in January 2019 to 81 months in prison after he became the first Chicago police officer in 50 years to be convicted of murder in connection with an on-duty incident.

A Department of Corrections spokeswoman told Patch that Van Dyke was release from the state prison in Taylorville at 12:15 a.m. on Thursday.

ABC 7 reported on Thursday that Van Dyke was flown into Illinois last Friday from a facility not under state control, possibly from another state or a federal lockup. Last September he was in the Taylorville Correctional Center near Springfield, where he had been held last fall according to paperwork filed in conjunction with his release.

Van Dyke must now serve three years of supervised release, which is the state's form of parole. Earlier this week, the NAACP petitioned the Justice Department to file federal civil rights charges against Van Dyke, who was convicted of killing the 17-year-old Chicago teen.

On Tuesday night, angry residents and activists showed up at a Joliet City Council meeting to demand that U.S. Attorney John Lausch, a Joliet native, bring federal charges against Van Dyke before he was released from prison.

Should Joliet Help Keep Jason Van Dyke Incarcerated?

In a statement, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she understands the anger some feel about Van Dyke’s release.

“I know some Chicagoans remain disheartened and angry about Jason Van Dyke’s sentence for the murder of Laquan McDonald. As I said at the time, while the jury reached the correct guilty verdict, the judge’s decision to sentence Van Dyke to only 81 months was and remains a supreme disappointment,” the mayor’s statement read.

“I understand why this continues to feel like a miscarriage of justice, especially when many Black and brown men get sentenced to so much more prison time for having committed far lesser crimes. It’s these distortions in the criminal justice system, historically, that have made it so hard to build trust.”

ABC 7 reported Thursday that protests are expected to take place on Thursday and that those opposing the release plan to deliver a letter to Lausch's office demanding federal charges against Van Dyke be filed.

McDonald's family members said earlier this week that they support the filing of charges and insist that Van Dyke did not serve enough time in prison.