The Atlantic

Something Went Wrong in Chicago

A white policeman was convicted of murder in the killing of a black teen—an outcome that goes against the many forces aligned to prevent the officer from facing consequences.
Source: Scott Olson / Getty

On Friday afternoon, the Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke was convicted of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated assault—one for each bullet he fired into 17-year old Laquan McDonald’s body in 2014.

The verdict was a of a white police officer being convicted of murder for killing a black person. This outcome might tempt some to say that the system finally worked. But really the opposite is true. The system is designed to exonerate police who abuse their

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