4 jurors picked so far in first day of jury selection at Jason Van Dyke's murder trial
CHICAGO - Four people were chosen Monday on the first day of jury selection in the trial of Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke, who faces first-degree murder charges in the 2014 shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald - a killing that roiled the city for months.
The four jurors include a stay-at-home mother, a financial analyst, a records keeper and an older man whose church has encouraged its members to speak with black people about their experiences with racial injustice. All acknowledged knowing something about the case, but all promised they could give the embattled officer a fair trial for shooting McDonald based solely on the evidence heard in court.
One selected juror, a white man who appears to be in his 60s and told the judge he was gay, said that he read newspaper accounts of the shooting but that he had never seen the video of Van Dyke, who is white, shooting McDonald multiple times. Though he heeded his church's call to speak with black people about the prejudice they have faced, the man said he would not hold those stories against Van Dyke.
"This case is this
