Spectator is found in contempt of court after snapping fingers at officer's murder hearing
A courtroom spectator was found in contempt of court Thursday after snapping his fingers to indicate approval of a Chicago judge’s refusal to dismiss murder charges against a police officer.
The incident occurred after Cook County judge, Vincent Gaughan, refused to dismiss first-degree murder charges against Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke for the October 2014 shooting death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, report the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times and DNA Info.
Van Dyke’s lawyer, Daniel Herbert, had argued his client was acting according to law and department policy when he shot McDonald 16 times, and the shooting was “business as usual.” Herbert said McDonald was armed with a knife, had committed a felony, and was fleeing arrest when shot.
The Chicago Tribune indicates that the spectator, Moises Bernal, snapped his fingers multiple times after Gaughan ruled against the officer, while DNA Info says he snapped his fingers “loudly.”
The judge ordered Bernal to “get up here, sir,” and asked why he was at the hearing.
“To see a racist murderer on trial,” Bernal replied.
Gaughan said Bernal had made a “clicking sound that disrupted this court completely” and disrupted the administration of justice. He found Bernal in direct contempt of court and set bail at $40,000. Bernal, who DNA Info says is a teacher at the Instituto del Progreso Latino, will have to appear in court for a presentence hearing June 21.
Gaughan had warned in April that protesters would be held in contempt if they harassed Van Dyke, and that included anyone who brings a sign to the courthouse “and starts waving it around.”
