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April 11, 2024By Gina Christian, OSV News
(OSV News) -- A Chicago priest has called for a "thorough, transparent and honest" investigation of a police shooting that left a young Black man dead.
On April 9, Chicago's Civilian Office of Police Accountability released police body cam footage of the March 21 fatal traffic stop of 26-year-old Dexter Reed Jr., a former high school basketball standout and an aspiring broadcaster who enjoyed cooking.
According to the accompanying press release from COPA -- which investigates police-related shootings and police misconduct -- Reed had been flagged by five officers from Chicago Police's tactical unit for allegedly not wearing a seatbelt while driving a car Reed's mother said he had purchased just three days prior.
The COPA release said officers, who had surrounded his vehicle, pointed their firearms at Reed when he "did not comply" with verbal commands.
"Ultimately there was an exchange of gunfire which left Mr. Reed dead and an officer shot in the forearm," said the release, adding that "review of video footage and initial reports appears to confirm that Mr. Reed fired first, striking the officer and four officers returned fire."
COPA said that "available preliminary evidence also confirms that officers returned fire approximately 96 times over a period of 41 seconds, including after Mr. Reed exited his vehicle and fell to the ground.
"Mr. Reed was struck by gunfire multiple times and was transported to the hospital and later pronounced deceased," said COPA. "A gun was recovered on the front passenger seat of Mr. Reed’s vehicle."
Father Michael Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina Catholic Church in Chicago, which is home to a vibrant Black Catholic community, issued a statement April 9 saying that "the video of (the) police shooting of Dexter Reed is horrific to watch and it leaves me with many questions."
Among those questions, said Father Pfleger, was clarification of the exact traffic violation for which Reed was stopped, and why a police tactical unit -- a specialized law enforcement detail -- handled the stop.
"Why was there such an excessive response for a seatbelt stop?" asked Father Pfleger in his statement. "Since when do TAC Officers do traffic stops?"
Father Pfleger said that "5 TAC officers jumping and surrounding a car with guns drawn is excessive.
"I would be scared out of my mind," he wrote, adding, "I thought the 'jump out boys' teams" -- a reference to squads of patrolling plainclothes officers -- "were being abandoned."
Father Pfleger also decried the "seemingly excessive force" used, saying that the "the number of bullets in the car and casings on the ground was way over the top."
Reed "had no weapon in his hand" after exiting the car, said Father Pfleger, and "shots continued to be fired" at Reed as he lay on the ground.
According to CBS-2 TV station in Chicago, COPA chief administrator Andrea Kersten issued a letter to Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling stating that "the available evidence calls into question the veracity" of the police claim Reed was pulled over for a seatbelt violation.
"We will never build trust if officers are not being held accountable," said Father Pfleger. "If laws and procedures were not followed, people must be held responsible. We must all wait for the complete investigation and keep our eye on the process and transparency."