The Release
By Noelle Dodge | October 12, 2026 | A World of Wonder Press
Part 3 recap – Jason Van Dyke didn’t serve his sentence in Illinois. He was moved to a federal prison hundreds of miles away. The system didn’t just lock him up. It locked up the entire family. Nobody counted the cost of the people who weren’t sentenced.
The release
Thursday February 3, 2022 at 12:15 am, Jason Van Dyke walked out of prison from Taylorville Correctional Center near Springfield IL. He was flown back to Illinois the Friday before from an out-of-state facility. He had served 3.5 years of his six year sentence on standard good behavior rules.
Freedom Isn’t Free
Van Dyke was sentenced to three years of supervised release, with his travel restricted to the state of Illinois.
The Van Dyke family were about to get their husband and father back but they were about to relive the pre-sentencing nightmare all over again.
The ruling generated significant public backlash, including a protest at the Federal Plaza the day of his release. Community leaders and organizations including Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rainbow PUSH, Father Pfleger, BLM Chicago, and William Calloway—attempted to hand-deliver a letter to U.S. Attorney John Lausch requesting federal civil rights charges.
Money Cant Buy Your Son’s Life Back
Tina being awarded $5 million dollars, didn’t mean she didn’t want justice. And the $5 million was never hers: it went to Laquan’s estate. Her share was 45%, paid at $2,821 a month after $900,000 was paid out in legal fees. The rest went to Laquan’s sister and to the lawyers $1.8 million in all. She has lived a decade under a headline number she never held.
Tracy Hunter, the grandmother of the La Quan McDonald, disputed the U.S. Attorney’s narrative, that the family agreed with dropping the case. Claiming “We Never Said Jason Van Dyke Shouldn’t Face Federal Charges” They clarified that federal prosecutors never contacted Tina (mother) or Tracy (grandmother) to gauge their wishes before closing the investigation. When Van Dyke was scheduled for release after serving less than half his term, Tina Hunter and her mother, Tracy Hunter, publicly blasted the decision and the politicians who lied about the case and their political promises to the city and state. Her focus was less on Van Dyke and more on the interference of the politicians.
https://youtu.be/rd8Cnu8iBdA?is=ZgKT7wz6G5dWxA2I
A Family Divided
Federal prosecutors announced that separate civil rights charges would not be filed against Van Dyke, citing that a representative of the McDonald family agreed with that decision. In response to this news, Tracy Hunter recounted that Tina Hunter expressed deep shock when she was informed.
The lack of federal intervention and the sentencing being cut short exposed a divide between the immediate maternal family and Laquan’s great-uncle, the Rev. Marvin Hunter.
Reflective of Dr. King’s civil rights movement, Marvin Hunter publicly advised against pursuing federal charges stated that the original 2018 conviction was a historic win.
Tina and Tracy Hunter formally stripped him of his status as the family spokesperson. They aligned themselves instead with community activists to independently demand a federal trial
The demand that never died
On January 24, 2022 Laquan’s grandmother Tracy, held a press conference at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition headquarters organized alongside Rev. Jesse Jackson and a coalition of Black civil rights leaders and activists. Tracy, alongside her other daughter Tanisha Hunter and Rev. Jesse Jackson, publicly decried the time served was as a “slap on the wrist.” The cornerstone of the conference was a public demand directed at U.S. Attorney John Lausch and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to immediately file federal civil rights charges against. Van Dyke. Unlike Rev. Martin Luther King who used peaceful protest and The 6 Steps of Nonviolent Conflict Resolution that he spoke on as the foundation of the civil rights movement, Rev Jesse Jackson called for the opposite. He called for a “Day of Outrage” with no Bible in sight. Rev. Jesse Jackson and the coalition utilized the platform to announce a massive “Day of Outrage” demonstration. The exact type of protest the CIA and FBI feared in the mid 1960’s.
On February 3, 2022 They mobilized hundreds of citizens and social justice advocates to converge on Federal Plaza in downtown Chicago the exact day of Van Dyke’s scheduled release. This strategy was to pressure federal prosecutors publicly. Which resulted in 9 arrests and they were only able to meet with an aide.
Nothing accomplished but publicity for civil rights groups that were not carting on the legacy left on a Memphis balcony.
These women were angry, and it was understandable. But the true civil rights movement and the support that these women needed was to be reminded of the core principles that Dr. Martin Luther King spoke of in the mid 1960s. They needed healing not ranting. They need care not provoking more rage. It sounds like Reverend Martin Hunter understood that and was attempting that and it cost him his family. It cost those women closure.
Nowhere to Heal
If they had a place to go for respite and rehabilitation such as a resort with trauma informed care to allow them to process in an environment that removes them from the hostility that was feeding the flames and the environment where the pain is a constant reminder, perhaps they could have come to a place of forgiveness, unity and healing.
Tina’s son and Tracy’s grandson was never going to be alive again. No money can heal that pain. That came at a cost nobody counted. Certainly not politicians or civil rights activists.
Tiffanys husband was coming home. His daughter’s were getting their dad back. But there sentence wasn’t coming to an end. The price to pay wasn’t over for anyone in that family either. The family went off the social grid. Jason’s brother-in-law started calling him Jay, but the debt still wasn’t paid. The public was out for blood. Also, nowhere to go. Nowhere to heal away from the constant reminder. The Van Dyke’s can’t leave Illinois. Tiffany and her daughters were still going to pay a price. A cost nobody counted. MLK’s civil rights movement was an attempt in developing “beloved communities”, rooted in his philosophy that was grounded in agape love towards nonviolent conflict resolution, with a win/win approach. No one, not even the citizens of Chicago or Illinois won. A price we all paid and nobody counted.
Part 5 – Where would these two families go & how would they heal? How could they possibly heal?
Citations
1. ABC7 Chicago — Van Dyke released Feb 3, 2022 from Taylorville; protests: https://abc7chicago.com/post/jason-van-dyke-release-date-laquan-mcdonald-released-chicago-protest/11534762/
2. NPR, Jan 14, 2022 — “a little more than 39 months of an 81-month sentence,” good-behavior credit: https://www.nprillinois.org/2022-01-14/ex-chicago-cop-who-killed-laquan-mcdonald-will-be-released-from-prison-early
3. NPR, Feb 3, 2022 — released from state custody that morning; Jackson and activists delivering letter to the U.S. Attorney: https://www.wkyufm.org/2022-02-03/ex-cop-jason-van-dyke-who-killed-laquan-mcdonald-is-released-from-prison-early
The demand that never died
4. AP, Feb 4, 2022 — the “Laquan Nine”: nine arrested at the Dirksen Federal Building, Feb 4 press conference: https://nnpa.org/chicago-activists-want-federal-charges-for-officer-convicted-of-killing-black-teen/
5. Medill/Northwestern — Day of Outrage rally; marshals detained demonstrators inside the federal building, including McDonald’s grandmother and aunt: https://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/video-jason-van-dykes-release-prompts-protests-arrests-activist-unity/
The family dispute (“we never said”)
6. Revolt, Apr 20, 2022 — family’s denial of the “in agreement” claim: https://www.revolt.tv/article/2022-04-20/164090/ex-chicago-cop-will-not-face-federal-charges-in-laquan-mcdonald-death
7. NPR, Apr 19, 2022 — the family split: great-uncle Rev. Marvin Hunter opposed a federal trial, called the conviction the victory: https://www.nprillinois.org/2022-04-19/ex-chicago-police-officer-avoids-federal-charges-in-laquan-mcdonalds-death
The DOJ decision
8. Chicago Tribune, Apr 18, 2022 — Lausch declines federal charges; the “willful deprivation” bar: https://www.police1.com/officer-shootings/articles/former-chicago-cop-wont-face-federal-charges-in-laquan-mcdonald-killing-yxJu0pY8oY0BBwpS/
.
Thank you for stopping by. We hope you enjoyed the content. Feel free to share what brought you here and how we can support you. (Rude comments will be removed).
You must be logged in to post a comment.