Justice for Dexter Reed and All Those Murdered by Police! Fire & Charge the Officers Involved! Demand an End to CPD Death Squads!
A statement from the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression
On Tuesday, April 9th video footage was released of the brutal execution-style murder of 26-year-old Dexter Reed. Dexter Reed was a beloved member of his community who was murdered by five Chicago Police officers in the Garfield Park neighborhood on March 21st during a traffic stop. CPD claims they stopped him for not having a seatbelt on, but COPA said police did not have visibility due to Reed’s tinted car windows. These five officers, though they wore police vests, did not identify themselves as officers. They proceeded to surround his vehicle, demanding he open his window and attempting to open the door to his car. When he refused, they proceeded to fire over 96 shots into Dexter Reed’s vehicle.
The video released by COPA does not show clear indication of shots being fired from Dexter’s vehicle. What it does show is that after Dexter Reed exited the vehicle unarmed with his hands in the air, the five officers continued to shoot him, even when he lay on the ground. They proceeded to handcuff Dexter Reed after he was dead. This is a clear cut case of brutal murder, an execution carried out by a death squad. Like many police departments around the country, CPD has long employed these death squads, which they refer to as TACT teams, and their use has resulted in countless losses for the community. Similar tactics have also been the cause of police murders in cities around the country, as in the case of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tennessee.
This murder is also a part of a broader pattern within the 11th police district, where Reginald Clay, Jr. was murdered last year on April 15th. It is the same district where Pierre Loury was murdered eight years ago on April 11th. This same district sees the highest number of pretextual traffic stops in the city. This same pattern exists throughout the city.
We in the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression unite with the family of Dexter Reed in their demand for justice.
We demand immediate action on the following demands:
All officers involved must be immediately fired and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for this brutal murder.
End the “TACT teams” which operate like death squads within the Chicago Police Department.
End pretextual traffic stops immediately
Fire Superintendent Larry Snelling immediately
We must unite as a movement and as a city immediately to demand action in this case. The murder of Dexter Reed is akin to the murder of Laquan McDonald in its brutality and severity, and we will not rest until his family sees the justice they deserve!