Chicago will have a special grand jury to investigate the Laquan McDonald shooting

LeRoy K. Martin, Jr.

Monday’s news that there would be a special grand jury convened to investigate a possible coverup by Chicago police in the shooting death of Laquan McDonald, was met with a volley of responses,  most of them positive; coming at a time when the tension between the police, and residents, not to mention City Hall, is at an all time low.

“Patricia Brown Holmes, the special prosecutor said Monday that she has enough evidence to present to a grand jury as she made her request that one be convened,” reported the Chicago Tribune.

The special grand jury is expected to be convened, by LeRoy K. Martin, Jr presiding judge of Cook County’s criminal division, in the next two weeks, to hear evidence, as it begins its task evaluating the accusations of a coverup. If there is probable cause, then indictment and prosecution will follow.

“The special grand jury — typically made up of 16 people — would be drawn from the pool of people regularly called to jury duty at the county's main criminal courthouse at 26th Street and California Avenue. By law, it must meet at least once a month, but its deliberations would be secret.” said the paper. And, it can take up to six months.

As part of their work, they have the right to request documents and interview witnesses, and, most importantly, be able to compel jurors to share any knowledge of criminal behavior that they might have.

Declaring that the public deserves oversight, especially considering the magnitude of the case, Holmes said, notably, “It’s fair and it’s impartial and it lends credibility to the process.”

It also might begin to offer a sense of closure and healing to a divided city, where black neighborhoods, and their residents, are treated differently by police. The Chicago case, as well as those in Baltimore and Philadelphia, has sparked a national conversation, on policing and racial bias, especially when it leads to death.

Past grand juries, for some, may evoke memories of the Watergate scandal, but the central concern now, among local activists, and concerned residents, is for lawful and effective policing to become the norm, and not the exception.

Some others want not only a determination of guilt, or innocence, but to also answer the age old question: “What did they know, and when did they know it.”

In addition, many faith leaders want, much like in post apartheid South Africa, an opportunity for truth and reconciliation, for a city whose legacy of racism looms large.

The case, and the pending special grand jury, undoubtedly will sharpen the moves of the “Black Lives Matter” movement, plus the counter movement of “White Lives Matter”, not to mention the assertions of racism in the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, now brought to the surface by the recent remarks of  Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, who last week bemoaned the “deplorables” among Trump supporters.

With Chicago also mired in debt over pension obligations, and issuing reams of regressive taxes, it seems as if they are battling on all fronts. But, the violence has also opened social and economic fissures, increasing regressive taxes, for garbage, and now, a new tax on water and sewer fees, passed in a lopsided vote by the City Council, on Wednesday. There are also concerns that this tax that might disproportionately affect many black residents, who disproportionately depend on coin operated laundries.

The police also have to deal with the burgeoning violence,especially, although not restricted to poor black neighborhoods on the city’s South and West sides where they have the ironic role of being both protector, and defendant.

To date, the number of shootings has exceeded 3,000. And, “with the weekend toll of eight killed and 35 wounded, Chicago surpassed another dreaded milestone in a year that has seen the worst violence in two decades. As of early Monday, at least 3,028 people had been shot, more than the 2,980 for all of 2015,” according to data collected by the Tribune.

Running parallel, to all of this, is the ongoing issue of black on black crime, which for some politicians, and community leaders, is the proverbial elephant in the room. Yet, as one clergy member told me, “It won’t be easy, but let’s start now,” to tackle the widespread violence that has pockmarked the nation’s third largest city.