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A s the murder trial for Jason Van Dyke for killing 17-year-old Laquan McDonald gets underway in Chicago, prosecutors and defense lawyers are arguing over jury selection. Specifically, prosecutors have reportedly claimed that African Americans are being excluded from the jury. RELATED: Chicago Cop Who Killed Laquan McDonald Finally Faces Justice So far, the trial has only one African-American juror, who was chosen Wednesday (Sept. 12). The juror is a Black woman who appears to be in her 50s and works at Fed-Ex, according to the Chicago Tribune . However, half of the jury is white, while three are Latino, one Black and one person of Asian descent. In a case that has produced national unrest and dialogues over police brutality being motivated by racial bias, communities of color are watching this trial. Racial tensions surfaced during jury selection in the murder trial of Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke Wednesday as prosecutors accused the defense of systematically removing black people — and the defense accused prosecutors of booting whites. https://t.co/tSYGZ6k31g pic.twitter.com/RNVNbEnvRv — Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) September 13, 2018 A conviction rests on a jury or judge in the case, with the defenses also able to choose a bench trial before the swearing-in of a 12th juror. As of now, prosecutors have focused on jury selection, saying that African Americans are being systemically kept away from the case. Defense lawyers struck Black jurors from the case during two trial days, the Tribune reported. Defense lawyers have disputed the prosecutors’ argument, creating a counter-narrative that white men have been booted from the jury. Activists and communities of color have protested for justice for McDonald, pushing for a trial which could lead to a first-degree murder conviction for Van Dyke. The former Chicago Police Department officer fatally shot McDonald 16 times in 2014, and cops released the shooting video in 2015 after a court order. The CPD faced allegations of covering up the shooting, with their account contradicting what dashboard camera video showed was McDonald trying to walk away from Van Dyke. The former officer is on trial for six counts of first-degree murder, 16 counts of aggravated battery and one count of official misconduct in McDonald’s death. SEE ALSO: Amber Guyger Is Blaming Botham Jean For Getting Shot And Killed In His Own Home Omarosa Goes Ballistic On XM Radio Show, Calls Host A ‘B***h’ [ione_media_gallery src=”https://newsone.com” id=”3404967″ overlay=”true”]
Trial For Cop Who Killed Laquan McDonald Has Jury Largely Made Up Of Whites
