Van Dyke was the so-called “paper car.” The report carries his name, but he never questioned anyone involved about what happened. In a deposition, Van Dyke is asked why and responds, “No. No. It’s out of my pay grade. I don’t question other officers.”
“The conspiracy to cover this up began with Jason Van Dyke,” Ekl said.
“It’s hard for me to understand why this was not investigated,” Cardenas said. He called the case “pretty clear and damning.”
A lawsuit filed by the Lopez family is set for trial in February. The city said Officer Van Dyke’s role in the Lopez investigation has been vastly overstated and that police acted appropriately because Lopez tried to use his car as a weapon to escape. The State’s Attorney’s Office declined afterward to press charges against the officers and the city said it intends to defend them in the civil suit because “We believe the evidence refutes the plaintiff’s claims.”
While the Latino Caucus is not calling for the Lopez case to be reopened, they said they want the US Department Of Justice probe to look at use of police force in all cases.
“We need some answers on that,” Cardenas said. On Tuesday, they said they were focusing on Chicago police reform.
“Our point is this has to be color blind when it comes to justice. Whether it’s black, Hispanic, Chinese, Muslim, and so on. This city cannot move forward unless we move forward together,” Cardenas said.
Article Appeared @http://abc7chicago.com/news/latino-caucus-questions-2005-police-shooting/1123321/