CHICAGO – City attorneys have accused the mother of a man killed by a Chicago police officer in October 2014 of threatening harm on the officer and his teenage children at a recent protest of her son’s death.
A police dashboard camera video released earlier this month showed Ronald Johnson III running from police as Officer George Hernandez opened fire, fatally striking Johnson in the back. Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez announced Dec. 7 that her office would not bring charges against Hernandez because the grainy video appeared to support the officer’s claim that Johnson was armed with a handgun.
A day after that decision, Johnson’s mother, Dorothy Holmes, threatened Hernandez and his teenage children at a rally that was covered by several news outlets, according to a recent filing by the city in federal court as part of Holmes’ wrongful death lawsuit.
“You forgot, I love my kid just as well as he loves his 15-year-old and his 17-year-old,” Holmes was quoted in the filing as saying. “What goes around comes around. And he can take it how he wanna take it. If he wanna take it as a threat, it was a threat. And I ain’t backing down.”
Holmes also took a digital photo of Hernandez at his November deposition in the civil case and disseminated it on social media and on posters used at protests, some with the word “Murderer!” and an image of a bloody handprint superimposed over Hernandez’s face, the filing alleged.
In asking U.S. District Judge Edmond Chang to sanction Holmes, the city said her comments in the supercharged atmosphere after the release of another video – showing a police officer shooting Laquan McDonald 16 times – were “akin to yelling fire in a crowded theater.”
“Without intervention, what is to stop her from taking this a step further and posting photographs of (the officer’s) children, home address, or where they go to school?” attorney Steve Borkan wrote.
Chang has ordered Holmes to appear Jan. 6 in court for a hearing, records show.
Her attorney, Michael Oppenheimer, told the Chicago Tribune on Tuesday that Holmes was understandably upset that Alvarez had declined to press charges and “in no way meant” her comments to be a threat.
“She lost a child,” Oppenheimer said. “She’s not going to harm anyone else’s children. She just wants justice for her son.”
The video of Johnson’s killing was released to the public less than two weeks after the disturbing video of McDonald’s fatal shooting was broadcast.
According to prosecutors, Johnson, 25, and three acquaintances had left a party early Oct. 12, 2014, at an apartment when the back window of their Chevrolet was shot out by a gunman.
Officers responding to the call of shots fired chased after Johnson. The dash-cam video showed Hernandez jump out of his unmarked squad car as he arrived at the scene and give chase as Johnson ran toward Washington Park. The officer took four steps, arms extended, and opened fire at Johnson’s back, the muzzle of his gun flashing five times in the dark as Johnson ran out of view of the camera and collapsed.
Johnson was shot in the back of his leg and the back of the shoulder, with the second bullet severing his jugular vein and exiting from his eye socket, autopsy records show.
Police said they found a gun in Johnson’s hand where he fell – a claim Oppenheimer disputes.
In announcing her decision not to charge Hernandez, Alvarez said she had to view what happened that night through the eyes of a “reasonable officer” who was trying to protect himself or others from harm when he opened fire.
Oppenheimer has blasted that analysis, alleging the state’s attorney’s office had failed to interview any of the officers involved in the incident, including Hernandez, relying instead on a flawed investigation by the Independent Police Review Authority.
At a news conference after Alvarez’s decision, Holmes said she would not be surprised if the decision to not charge Hernandez led to violent protests.
“I’m not responsible for nothing that happens in the city of Chicago,” Holmes told reporters.
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