The verdict was a rare example 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 authority, not convict them. The system tried to protect Van Dyke, and it failed.
Despite the fact that the shooting happened in 2014, it did not rocket into national consciousness until 13 months later, when video finally emerged after a prolonged public-records battle. The footage showed Van Dyke firing his weapon into McDonald as he lay motionless on the ground. The system tried to prevent that: Rahm Emanuel, the city’s Democratic mayor and former chief of staff to President Barack Obama, attempted to suppress the video, and was successful in doing so, at least until after his reelection campaign, when a court forced its release. [...]
The evidence against Van Dyke was overwhelming, but that was no reason to assume that he would be convicted. According to the Chicago Tribune, a Chicago police officer hasn’t been convicted of murder in “half a century.” The New York police officer Daniel Pantaleo was never charged in the death of Eric Garner, despite video of him choking Garner to death. The Cleveland police officer Timothy Loehmann was never charged for killing 12-year-old Tamir Rice, despite the video showing him firing only moments after pulling up to the scene. The Minnesota police officer Jeronimo Yanez was acquitted in the shooting of Philando Castile as he reached for his identification, despite video showing the aftermath of the confrontation. These are all examples of the system working, because this is what the system is actually designed to do: provide impunity to police, no matter what harm the police causes.
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