Anita Alvarez was the strong favorite to secure a third term as Cook County state’s attorney until the controversy over the police killing of Laquan McDonaldAs presidential campaigns descend on Illinois for Tuesday’s primary,a closely watched local race could yield the first electoral impact of the Black Lives Matter movement and the nationwide conversation on police killings.
Incumbent Anita Alvarez is vying for her third term as Cook County’s top prosecutor, but is facing meaningful opposition in the wake of the fatal police shooting of Laquan McDonald. Alvarez has been excoriated over her office’s handling of the 2014 case. She charged Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke with murder less than a day before graphic video footage of the shooting was to be made public, or 400 days after the black teenager was shot 16 times. Police accountability has emerged as the defining issue in the race for the Chicago area’s top prosecutor.
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Source: theguardian.com