CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago police union says it has hired as a janitor the officer charged with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of a black teenager.
Dean Angelo, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Chicago, says the union hired Jason Van Dyke about three weeks ago.
Van Dyke is accused of shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times in 2014. The shooting was captured on squad-car video and has prompted investigations, including a federal civil rights probe of the Chicago PoliceDepartment.
Angelo says Van Dyke, who has been suspended from the department, is in a “very difficult situation, financially.” Angelo says the union would do the same for any Chicago officer.
The union says Van Dyke has lost other jobs due to publicity and that threats closed his wife’s business.
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