Van Dyke is now suspended from the police department.
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The head of the FOP, Dean Angelo, confirmed to the Chicago Sun-Times that Van Dyke was working a $12-an-hour job with the union because he couldn’t find work.
Jason Van Dyke is awaiting trial, after he shot McDonald 16 times in 2014. The video’s release prompted protests across the city, a U.S. Department of Justice investigation of the Chicago Police Department, calls for the resignation of former CPD Superintendent Garry McCarthy, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez and Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
Angelo says Van Dyke, who has been suspended from the department, is in a “very hard situation, financially”.
“I’m not apologizing for it, we do what we’re supposed to do for our sisters and our brothers in law enforcement and that’s my job”, said FOP President Dean Angelo Sr.
Activists in Chicago are furious after the police union there said it gave a job to the officer who shot 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.
Van Dyke has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and is free on bail. But to employ Van Dyke as a janitor at FOP headquarters goes well beyond the union’s responsibilities to him.
‘It’s a slap in the face to Chicago residents, ‘ said activist Ja’Mal Green.
A current and retired police officer both told Fox32 that the hiring sends the wrong message to the public about the severity of police shootings and the credibility of the FOP.
CBS Chicago reports that community leaders are already outraged at the reported hiring of Van Dyke. Van Dyke was stripped of his police powers and is on unpaid status. The union says he is unemployable after losing another part-time job due to publicity and threats shut down his wife’s business. “It is an insult to him and his family, and it is an insult, I think, to police officers”, he added.
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Just last week, his legal team requested that he not be required to attend any future court hearings due to the numerous death threats he has received; in addition to requesting a change of venue back in January.
