Ear Hustle

Supporters Of CPD Police Shooting Victim Rekia Boyd Shut Down Police Board Meeting Calling For Detective Dante Servin’s Termination

Rekia Boyd who was fatally killed by Chicago Police Detective Dante Servin in 2012 still has not has any justice for her murder.  Friends and family of Ms. Boyd packed out a CPD Board meeting and with their presence and demands calling for the firing of Det. Servin, shut the meeting down.  As Boyd’s brother and many of those who are tired of being sick and tired of the police “legally” getting away with murder on technicalities showed their support but also angrily made demands.

Det. Dante Servin was acquitted of Involuntary Manslaughter for the 2012 shooting and has not been released back to street duty.  How much more does the community have to take before their cries of justice are heard? How many more lost lives will the community have to mourn before the powers that be at Chicago Police Headquarters get it through their thick heads that the people they are supposed to be protecting and serving are losing their lives because of the sheer stupidity and blatant disregard for upholding the integrity of the badge they hold so near and dear.

The time has been passed for law enforcement to take accountability for their actions whether on the clock or off!!

Read more as reported by the Chicago Tribune:

Community activists and demonstrators shut down a Chicago Police Board meeting Thursday night as they angrily demanded the firing of Detective Dante Servin, an officer acquitted in the fatal shooting of Rekia Boyd in 2012.

About 200 people packed the meeting at Chicago Police headquarters in the Bronzeville neighborhood, many wearing yellow shirts with black print reading: “Fire Police Officer Dante Servin.” The group comprised demonstrators from the Black Lives Matter, Black Youth Project 100 and We Charge Genocide groups.

Boyd’s brother, Martinez Sutton, yelled at the board in tears as he pleaded for Servin to be terminated.

rekia boyd

“For three years, my family has been disrespected,” Sutton said. “All I’m asking is that this officer be fired. Is that so hard?”

As the head of the board tried to cut off Sutton because of time constraints, the crowd rallied behind him, standing on chairs and chanting loudly, stopping the meeting for several minutes.

The board quietly voted to adjourn the meeting. Police officials, including Superintendent Garry McCarthy, walked out without comment, while uniformed officers ushered the group outside.

Aislinn Sol, a protester with Black Lives Matter and Black Youth Project, noted that this is the fourth time demonstrators have appeared before the board demanding that Servin be fired.

“What he did was unjustified and it was murder,” Sol, 36, of the Rogers Park neighborhood, told the board. “You are supposed to be the system of accountability for police officers in Chicago.”

Scott Ando, chief administrator of the Independent Police Review Authority, said his team was trying to complete the investigation of Servin’s actions by the board’s next meeting in September.

“I and my staff will be working diligently to bring this investigation to a conclusion,” Ando said.

Early in the morning of March 21, 2012, authorities say Servin, who was off-duty, exchanged words with a group of people in an alley in the Douglas Park neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side.

Servin contended that one of the men in the group pulled a gun and advanced at his car, and Servin responded by firing several shots over his left shoulder in the group’s direction. Boyd was struck in the back of the head and died the next day.

City attorneys later said that the man Servin alleged had pulled a weapon was unarmed and only had a cellphone in his possession. That man was hit in the hand by one of Servin’s shots, and misdemeanor assault charges against him were dropped shortly after the city settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Boyd’s family.

Almost two years passed before Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez decided to charge Servin with involuntary manslaughter, making him the first officer in more than 15 years to face criminal charges in a fatal, off-duty shooting. More than another year passed before Servin went to trial in April.

But in a stunning move, Judge Dennis Porter acquitted Servin of involuntary manslaughter, saying Servin’s actions were intentional and suggesting that the state’s attorney’s office instead should have charged Servin with murder.

Porter’s decision to acquit meant that double jeopardy attached. And because Porter issued his ruling in a directed verdict, his decision cannot be appealed. So Servin went free and will face no further criminal charges for Boyd’s killing.

Alvarez defended her office’s move to charge Servin with manslaughter, saying she believed the 17-year veteran acted recklessly but didn’t intend to kill anyone — a key distinction between manslaughter and murder.

Nevertheless, Servin’s acquittal deepened animosity toward and mistrust against police, particularly as cases of black people being killed by police or dying in police custody have generated nationwide controversy and spurred passionate demonstrations.

Servin has been on desk duty since the shooting, and what action authorities intend to take with his employment remains unclear. The Independent Police Review Authority is investigating the shooting and will recommend whatever sanctions, if any, should be taken against Servin. McCarthy then has 90 days to review those findings and send his recommendation to the Chicago Police Board.

Should the Chicago Police Board vote to fire Servin, he could appeal his termination through an administrative review in Cook County Circuit Court.

As the group continued to demonstrate outside police headquarters, Sutton stood quietly to the side for a few moments to collect himself. In his hand he clutched a plastic baggie with a clump of his sister’s hair, which he said doctors cut off during surgery.

Gesturing to the passionate crowd, he said he was grateful for the support that people have shown his family.

“This is what gives me strength to keep going,” Martinez said.

Source: Chicago Tribune

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