Shooting of Rekia Boyd
Date | March 21, 2012 |
---|---|
Location | Chicago, Illinois, US |
Participants | Dante Servin (Chicago Police Department (CPD) detective) |
Outcome | No indictment of Servin[1] |
Deaths | 1 |
Charges | Involuntary manslaughter |
Convictions | Not guilty |
Rekia Boyd, a 22-year-old woman, was fatally shot on March 21, 2012 in Chicago, Illinois by Dante Servin, an off-duty Chicago police detective.[1]
Contents
Shooting
While off-duty, detective Servin called 911 at 11:49 pm to report a loud party in Douglas Park. Later, he approached a group of four people who were walking down an alley and remonstrated with them for talking too loudly. At no point did he identify himself as a police officer. The group turned to leave and Servin fired multiple shots from a 9mm semiautomatic firearm from his car, over his shoulder, into them. One bullet hit Boyd's friend, Antonio Cross, in the hand; another hit Boyd in the back of the head and killed her.[2] Servin claimed that he mistook someone holding a cell phone to be armed with a handgun and fired.
Aftermath
In November 2013, Servin was charged with involuntary manslaughter,[3] but was cleared of all charges on April 20, 2015, by Judge Dennis J. Porter in a rare directed verdict.[4]
Porter's reasoning was that since the shooting was intentional, Servin could not be charged with recklessness. "It is intentional and the crime, if any there be, is first-degree murder," said Porter in his ruling.[5] Attorney Sam Adam, Jr., accused state prosecutor Anita Alvarez with deliberately undercharging Servin knowing that the charges would be dropped, in order to curry favor with the police department.[6]
Servin claimed he fired because someone in the group was holding a gun, but it was actually only a cellphone.[7] Witnesses said that Servin appeared drunk at the time of the incident.[8]
In November 2015, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and police superintendent Garry McCarthy both suggested that Dante Servin should be fired by the Chicago Police Board.[9] The city paid $4.5 million to Boyd's family.
Servin resigned on Tuesday 17 May 2016, two days before the departmental hearing which was to decide whether he should be fired.[10] [11]
Protests
While there was some public protest of the ruling,[5] the community response was overall more muted compared to protests against the acquittals of other police officers involved in the deaths of African Americans, such as those who killed Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Freddie Gray. Some commentators[according to whom?] pointed to "the sexism of those ostensibly committed to black liberation" that "can leave us blind to the taste of brutality that black women are getting from the police."[12][13]
The Black Lives Matter movement has protested the deaths of black girls and women at the hands of police, including Boyd's.[14]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Pathieu, Diane; Gallardo, Michelle (April 21, 2015). "Judge finds Chicago cop Dante Servin not guilty; courtroom explodes". ABC 7 Chicago. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Hernandez, Jade (November 24, 2015). "Emanuel: Officer who fatally shot Rekia Boyd 'does not deserve to wear police star'". ABC 7 Chicago.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[unreliable source?]
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- Articles lacking reliable references from January 2016
- All articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases
- Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from January 2016
- 2012 deaths
- 2012 in Illinois
- 21st century in Chicago, Illinois
- Deaths by firearm in Illinois
- History of Chicago, Illinois
- People shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States
- Protests in the United States
- Black Lives Matter