This Chicago Election Hinges on a "Black Lives" Case—and It’s Not The Only One
Mother Jones
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Could a bungled police shooting case be the undoing of Chicago’s top prosecutor? Her former subordinate is betting on it.
Wikipedia
Black Votes Matter: Five places where police shooting scandals have altered the political landscape.
Kim Foxx, who once worked as an assistant state’s attorney under Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, has emerged as her ex-boss’ top Democratic challenger in the March 15 primary. If Foxx prevails, it would be the first time since the Black Lives Matter movement began that voters rejected a prosecutor under fire for her handling of a case against the police—although the outcry over officer-involved shootings has changed the political landscape in a number of US communities. (See box at right.)
Alvarez, who is seeking her third term as chief prosecutor, waited more than 400 days to file charges in the 2014 shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald by a Chicago police officer. The incident—which the New York Times editorial board, among others, deemed an execution—only made national news this past November, when the city released video footage of Officer Jason Van Dyke shooting McDonald from behind, and then unloading his service weapon into the prostrate youngster. Alvarez’s office reportedly had footage in hand within weeks of the shooting, but held off charging Van Dyke, her critics point out, until after Mayor Rahm Emanuel was safely reelected. Alvarez has responded by saying she was waiting for the Department of Justice to conclude its own investigation of the shooting—and that she “won’t apologize” for conducting a thorough investigation.
As Alvarez struggles to get past the scandal, Foxx has been racking up key support. The Cook County Democratic Party endorsed her last month, after reconsidering its decision to stay neutral in the race. Several dozen county officials, city aldermen, and state and US representatives have publicly backed her as well—so, incidentally, has Alvarez’s former campaign co-chair.
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This Chicago Election Hinges on a "Black Lives" Case—and It’s Not The Only One
