Senator Mark Kirk weighed in on the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald on Sunday, telling NBC 5 that he believes trust in law enforcement must be restored.
"As far as I’m concerned, every single police officer who witnessed this shooting and failed to arrest officer Jason Van Dyke or who falsified reports to mislead investigators should be off the streets," said Sen. Kirk in a statement.
"And every person who made an effort to hide the murder of Lacquan McDonald should be held accountable by either the Department of Justice investigation, the federal grand jury investigation or the upcoming trial," Kirk added.
U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch is currently reviewing requests for a probe in the practices of the Chicago Police Department, and is expected to announce the pending investigation this week, according to law enforcement officials.
The review is expected to be a wide-ranging examination of the police department as a whole, spurred by the events surrounding the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald but not limited to that event alone. The investigation will examine whether Chicago police have engaged in a pattern or practice of violating the civil rights of residents, officials say.
The Justice Department is investigating the McDonald shooting, but a probe by the department’s civil rights division would be more broadly focused. Similar reviews were previously performed in Ferguson, Mo., and Baltimore.
Last week, in a letter to Lynch, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan asked the Department of Justice for an investigation into the practices of the department.
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Madigan said an investigation by the U.S. DOJ Civil Rights Division “is necessary and appropriate, given its experience investigating the practices of police departments across the country and based on its experience prosecuting former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge.”
Later in the week, Mayor Rahm Emanuel flip-flopped on his stance on the potential probe, issuing a statement on Thursday that he is now in support of such an investigation.
"Many things must happen to restore trust in the Chicago Police Department and I welcome efforts and ideas that can help us achieve that important goal," Mayor Emanuel said in the release. "I want to clarify my comments from yesterday and I want to be clear that the City welcomes engagement by the Department of Justice when it comes to looking at the systemic issues embedded in CPD."
