On Dec. 22, 2013 a group of Black teens in a stolen vehicle turned into a deadly encounter with Chicago police. Over the past three years since that encounter city officials have made legal moves to stop the release of dashcam video footage that shows Chicago officer Marco Proano’s, 41, actions that night.
After the vehicle is stopped Proano is shown approaching the car with his gun held sideways like a movie gangster. The car then goes into reverse and Proano is seen firing into the car causing the vehicle to crash. Three teens were hit by bullets from Proano’s gun and taken into the custody. The families of two of the teens claimed that cops took the teens from a hospital and questioned them, denying them medical treatment. During the interrogation one of teens was bleeding so badly police took him back to the hospital. The family later sued the city and won a $360,000 civil suit, but Proano’s actions that night led to a chain of events that could land him in jail over federal civil rights violations.
Last week, Proano was indicted on two counts of deprivation of rights after he allegedly used unreasonable force. Each count of the indictment is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. According to legal sources, this was the first time in decades that a Chicago police officer has been indicted on federal civil rights charges of shooting a suspect. U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon said in a written statement: “When a police officer uses unreasonable force, it has a harmful effect on not only the victims, but also the public, who lose faith and confidence in law enforcement. Our office will continue to independently and vigorously pursue civil rights prosecutions to hold officers accountable and strengthen trust in the police.”
It was through the actions of retired Cook County Judge Andrew Berman that the video was able to be released to the public. Berman was presiding over a criminal trial for one of the teens in another case. Because the dashcam footage was not allowed to be used in the civil case against the city, Berman allowed the video to be submitted as evidence in the criminal trial.
Proano is now on modified desk duty as the judicial process moves forward in his case.
