Officer Marco Proano (courtesy youtube.com)

In the dashcam video below, Chicago police officer Marco Proano holds his gun gangsta style before firing 16 rounds into a stolen car, wounding two of the four teens inside the vehicle. The incident went down in December of 2013. In August of this year, a jury of Officer Proano’s peers found him guilty of two felony counts of using excessive force in violating the victims’ civil rights. His lawyer’s defense [via chicagotribune.com] beggars belief . . .

Proano did not testify in his own defense. [Proano’s attorney Daniel Herbert] argued that the officer did exactly as he was trained to stop the threat and also protect the life of one of the teens, whom he said was hanging from a passenger window as the car reversed.

He had to shoot the teen to protect him. Got it.

Herbert also argued that the federal prosecutor was making his client  into “somewhat of a scapegoat” for the anti-cop fervor that followed the 2014 death of Laquan McDonald. Speaking of prior history that the jury wasn’t allowed to consider . . .

Records show the 2013 incident was Proano’s third on-duty shooting in three years. In 2010, he was one of five officers who opened fire on a car after a chase and crash in the 700 block of West 91st Street. The driver — 32-year-old Garfield King, a convicted felon — was killed, according to a database of police-involved shootings compiled by the Chicago Tribune. Proano, meanwhile, fired five rounds into the vehicle, wounding a 19-year old woman riding in the passenger seat of King’s car.

Chicago officer Marco Proano (courtesy chicagotribune.com)

Less than a year later, in July 2011, Proano fatally shot 19-year-old Niko Husband at close range during a struggle as police tried to break up an unruly dance party on the South Side. Proano said Husband had tried to pull a gun.

Proano was cleared in both shootings by the now-defunct Independent Police Review Authority, records show. He was also given a superintendent’s award of valor for Husband’s shooting, which Herbert said in his filing is granted for acts of “outstanding bravery or heroism.”

A Cook County jury later ruled the shooting of Husband was unjustified and awarded his mother $3.5 million in damages. But the judge overseeing the case set aside the jury’s verdict, a ruling that’s being appealed.

Officer Proano’s sentencing is due today. He faces up to eight years in jail (down from a potential 16). No matter what the sentence, the Chicago police department will finally be able to terminate his employment, if not his pension and benefits.

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73 COMMENTS

  1. Sounds like this guy would make a good character in a video game franchise. Something like Chitown Cop Car Capping.

    • The Chicago PD is the most corrupt and out of control in North America. Cops in Mexico roll their eyes at their mention.

    • Most (all?) large police departments are like that. In the last sentence, RF alludes to the root problem: unions.

      • Labor Unions: The Folks Who Brought You The Weekend!

        Unions rock of course, without them predatory employers would still be laying folks off and slashing wages at every economic downturn, wed still have outrageously unhealthy and unsafe workplaces, no minimum wage or minimum hours etc

        Anyone stupidly demonizing unions should go do some migrant farm work, thatll give you an idea of how employers behave when completely unregulated ie no ready access to bathrooms or bathroom breaks or breaks of any kind, no ready access to water, get paid by how much you pick so youre totally exhausted after long day working constantly in top gear, free to retire at any time and starve to death, forever absorbing carcinogenic pesticides through your skin, liable to be fired if for fear of sun stroke you take a little rest, subject to abuse verbal and physical, zero benefits, hovels provided resemble the 3rd world etc

        Unions like any organizations have problems, but we cant take for granted the enormous contributions they made to making work and the workplace less inhumane : D

        • Most of what we take for granted, as far as employee “benefits” are concerned have been mandated into labor law. Unions have not added real value since the 1970s.
          Here is my take and personal experiences with “unions” . . .
          I was hired by a large company to perform maintenance and repair on highly sophisticated electrical and electronic systems. Within six months, my company was able to eliminate the use of “outside contractors” to maintain this equipment. My employer recognized my value to the company and decided to give me a substantial “raise”. All went well until my “union” (which I was FORCED to belong to in pre-right-to-work days) found out about it. The “union’s” position on my raise was that “if he gets a raise, everyone else in the “bargaining unit” must get a raise”. My raise was rescinded. Efforts by my company to establish another “job classification” within the “bargaining unit” were rebuffed by union leaders.
          Here I was, FORCED to belong to a union that was denying me the ability to get paid commensurately for my skills and effort.
          It took TWO YEARS and considerable effort to establish another job classification for me to get my raise.
          Unions promote mediocrity and stifle incentive. Having been on “both sides of the fence”,I have seen it all…
          I can stand on my own two feet without having a “union” represent me.

        • You’re shitting me. Right. Just what I want another bureaucracy squatting on my shoulders. Say that shit again and I will curb stomp your ass.

      • Loteck and Anarchyst and the rest of scabs should go do some migrant farm labor as I already suggested, then youll appreciate what the unions have accomplished for us and you wont run your ignorant mouths further embarrassing yourselves

        • Fine, Jimmy Hoffa. UNIONS R BEST!!1!11!! ELEVENTY! ESPECIALLY TEACHERS UNIONS WHO PROMOTE COMMUNISM AND COP UNIONS WHO PROTECT THUGS!
          Happier?

  4. Only 16 rounds?? Must have run out of bullets. Not folks to shoot at. 16 rounds does seem a bit excessive for a car stop. Since He got away with other shootings. He must have thought wtf lets empty the gun this time.
    I feel a bit under armed with 9 rounds. I have to get me a hi cap police type gun now.

  5. 8 years is a *long* time to go without a shower, copper.

    You’re gonna be *real* popular with the homies in prison…

    • He won’t serve time in a state prison. He will be transferred to the federal system under an assumed name…the “thin blue line” protects its own…

      • “He won’t serve time in a state prison. He will be transferred to the federal system under an assumed name…”

        That won’t save him unless he goes into solitary. He’s gotten away with killing a few of the brothers, his pic is out there, *someone* is gonna wanna make a name for themselves and collect a nice payout for their family on the outside.

        We can dream, can’t we? After all, Charlie is now roasting…

      • lol that is not a thing, stop watching movies

        that said, he’ll be in protective custody all the time. That’s true for non-cops too, though- assuming everyone else inside wants to kill them.

  6. I’m not justifying the officer shooting into the car, BUUUUUUT Police in the ghetto are often targets for violence from urban blacks Look at the police Assassinated in Texas, new york, and Shitcago. A constant chain of catch an release and physical, verbal, and mental abuse, being called racist and internal police policy/ pressure to ignore criminal behavior to make the crime look like its being reduced while the oposite(sic) is true.

    • Anything after “but” is bullshit. Everything after “BUUUUUUT” is coyote shit (which makes cat shit smell fruity fresh in comparison).

        • Whether it’s true is irrelevant. What matters in this case are this officer’s actions in this case, not his feelings about some other unrelated case that he wasn’t involved with. If his psychology cannot provide him with sufficient distance from other case, then perhaps he should have chosen a different career.

    • Im not saying your post is racist apologetics, BUUUUUUT it is comprised of racial stereotyping of urban black folks as criminals who attack police, and a ludicrous portrayal of police who in many ways are the most powerful and privileged group in America as beleaguered victims endlessly ill-treated.

      You made a point of talking about those stereotypically criminal black folks assassinating police in Chicago, but this never happened, YOU SIMPLY MADE IT UP to smear black folks who in this article are the victims of unwarranted police violence. The article is about police victimizing unarmed black teens by shooting at them, and naturally the am radio/Faux News-style racist responds by ignoring that reality and inventing a racist fantasy of black folks assassinating police.

      In line with this story of CPD violating their civil rights a non-racist might have posted about the recent DOJ report documenting that CPD in fact routinely violate peoples civil rights. You see not only did this actually happen, it provides crucial context.

      You also make a point of citing aberrant events outside of Chicago in Dallas and New Orleans where unusually black folks killed police, but in the context of your racist apologetics this is presented as typical behavior by stereotypical black criminals.

      At the same time you are conspicuously silent about the usual direction violence flows between police and black folks, the quotidian violence police inflict on black folks, the documented reality of police disproportionately shooting unarmed black folks.
      http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0141854
      http://psych.colorado.edu/~jclab/FPST.html

      My last paragraph is no doubt in your “mind” just another example of police frivolously “being called racist”… in your delusion racism of course is not a documented reality, it only exists in the minds of folks broaching the topic…

      Lastly I note that non-racist posters might even think it salient to mention CPD high-profile shooting in the back and killing unarmed Paul O’Neal, and mentally ill LaQuan McDonald’s body riddled with over a dozen bullets as he was lying on the ground

      • Hey fake professor. Stats show whites are shot at higher rates than black by the popo. CPD is jacked up, no argument there. Blacks are more often the targets of “police violence” (doing their job when people become violent with them) because they are more often committing crimes, which is sad but also statistically true. While your example of McDonald is of course a case of criminal violence by police, it is also an aberration and not the norm just the same as the Dallas and Baton Rouge attacks on police are aberrations outside the norm

        • You already posted these racist lies and I immediately gave you documented corrections but you failed to acknowledge them and thank me! In fact in the above post the documentation refuting this bit of your foolishness is repeated :

          “Stats show whites are shot at higher rates than black by the popo.”

          Did you not see the links to both real-world and lab studies documenting that police of course disproportionately shoot unarmed black folks? You doing an am radio/Faux News inspired magic trick of conjuring something into reality by repetition!?

          Thanks though for acknowledging that your fellow racist poster fabricated the story about black folks assassinating CPD, and that the entirety of his post is racist apologetics inverting the relationship between the powerful police victimizing marginalized black folks.

          So do you want me to correct your bullsheet one last time for you, or add you to the list of ignore-and-repeat irredeemably deplorables?

          PS Oh and again, great job moderator, you continue to baselessly remove my brilliant documented posts and allow demonstrably false racist claims to stand unedited… my friend Professor Manque bless his heart has had to undergo counselling not so much due to all the racist harassment he faced here, but the fact that none of the other posters nor even the mods spoke up in his defense when he was demeaned as a “monkey” and “macaque” and told he speaks “ebonics”

  7. Major shakeup in the supremely corrupt Chiraq po-leece. They set free 15convicted felons last week who were “maybe” cooreced into confessions. My favorite video was johhny law shooting down a crowded residential street at a speeding car. Of course he didn’t hit anything…😜😆😋

    • “[Proano’s attorney Daniel Herbert] argued that the officer did exactly as he was trained ”

      So he was trained to shoot like that?

      INTERESTING.

    • I’ll apologize for this in advance, I can’t help myself…
      Was his holding of his gun that way a form of “race appropriation” and is that another punishable offence?
      🤠

        • You racist dunskies should try to think about why you think that is funny. Youre so far removed from documented reality regarding race and racism that Im not even sure, thought my guess is that you think when folks cite racist instances of cultural appropriation that that racism only exists in their minds and/or that cultural appropriation is actually paying homage to the marginalized races culture…

          Either way you two remain unfunny dingdongs and your parents the worst of America

          PS Three cheers for Black Lives Matters awesome work against racism in policing, they deserve that Sydney Peace Prize

    • “Am I the only one who noticed that officer’s horrible gangsta-style grip?”

      He initially held it ‘gangsta’, but when it came time to launch lead, he straightened that shit up…

  9. “Chicago Cop Marco Proano Faces 8 Years In Jail for Shooting 16 Rounds”

    That’s only six months per round, which is still half the going rate. On Black Friday he might have scored a better ammo deal.

  11. All of this is such garbage.

    Best law change would be,

    “Anyone in the processes of committing a felony is not protected any any laws, Civil or Criminal.”

    • Careful…
      In several jurisdictions merely owning, possessing or peacefully bearing a firearm is also a felony, let’s not forget that.

    • Pass that law and the Chicago PD would disappear overnight as completely as the Army of Carthage…

    • Generally speaking, our system of jurisprudence leaves it to a jury to determine if you were committing a felony. Not the cop on the scene. There’s a reason for that.

  12. “Chicago Cop Marco Proano Faces 8 Years In Jail for Shooting 16 Rounds Into Stolen Car”

    Should be, at a minimum, 1yr per round…

  13. “Proano did not testify in his own defense. [Proano’s attorney Daniel Herbert] argued that the officer did exactly as he was trained to stop the threat and also protect the life of one of the teens, whom he said was hanging from a passenger window as the car reversed.”

    Wait a sec. The Chicago PD trains their officers to hold their weapons sideways?

    Really?

    And to shoot at people to “protect life?”

    If the CPD doesn’t protest this testimony in court, then I think it’s time to simply shut them down, on grounds of epic incompetence.

    • Anytime we broach the important work of Black Lives Matter addressing the issue of the police disproportionately shooting unarmed black folks, the issue of the police behaving as if black lives dont matter, yall reflexively retort “nuh-uh White/Blue Lives do : p”. Its as if all you can hear is a BLM caveman slighting you by grunting “black good”, so you growl back “white/blue good”.

      But you see the police naturally are not disproportionately shooting unarmed white folks…

      So White Lives Matter is nonsensical(or put another way WLM emerged completely victorious before you even formed the organization : D )

      Likewise the police are of course not disproportionately shooting themselves…

      So Blue Lives Matter is simply absurd

      And there is no equivalence between “blue” which is a job that the police chose knowing that job involves potentially being shot at, and Black which is a race not a choice, no black folks interviewed for a job involving being disproportionately shot while unarmed. So if “blue lives” are concerned about being shot they are free to work a job that doesnt involve being shot at, whereas black folks are forced to live and die in a world where they are endangered and being victimized by the police merely because they are black

      Now I know that if you wanted to yall could recognize how silly youre behaving, but what you want to do is silence any discussion of racism in policing, and really you want to muzzle discussion of racism generally, so yall ignore the substantive concerns of BLM namely the police disproportionately shooting unarmed black folks, and immediately change the subject (as you do with Kaepernick, ignore and lie about what the protest is about)

      Now if everytime you raised the issue of protecting the 2A, we simply ignored your concerns and shouted back that we are protecting some other amendment, you would of course immediately identify that as childish nonsense

      In the end yall dont show any ability to think in any meaningful sense or any evidence that you have much of anything in your heads, and youre mostly parroting what you get from pet racist media, which is partly why even after I explain things to you you respond with non sequiturs showing no evidence that you can understand even the simplest idea… you never hear Blue/White or All Lives Matter debunked in your pet racist media so you simply have idea how to respond to my post…

      Thats your punishment by the way, to continue living in your head being just that blighted and clueless…

  16. Fat, stupid and holding your pistol like a wannabe gangbanger is no way to go through your career, son.

      • I’ll cut him some slack when he loses 60 or so pounds. Homeslice is, medically speaking, “morbidly obese”, probably can’t catch a cold and certainly will miss lunch if a sandwich baggie puts up a fight.

        Sorry, I know I harp on this topic a lot but that level of physical fatness is 1) disgusting, 2) unhealthy as hell and 3) going to massively increase the person’s healthcare costs as they age and….I’m gonna pay for a portion of that bill.

        Look, generally people can do what they want IMHO, but don’t ask me to pay for the triple bypass they need because they couldn’t put down the McD’s and find a few hours a week to hit the gym. Cops and their retirement are paid for with public money. Police Departments need a PFT system that has significant punishments for failure to meet standards. I’m sick of seeing cops that are fat as fuck.

        • Ours had one, but the fatties claimed injuries while they were “working out.” We have more accountability on questionable injuries, but our PT program is still strictly voluntary.

          I’d like to change that also, but it’s government, and positive change is hard to come by. If I promote I’ll pitch an updated PT program to the department.

  17. I have posted this on other sites…apologies to those who have previously seen my screed…here goes:
    If anything, police should be held to a higher standard than that of the public…As it stands now, police can commit crimes with impunity because, in most situations, they investigate themselves…Behavior that would get an ordinary citizen charged, convicted and incarcerated is routinely ignored by “the powers that be” because police are considered to be “above the law” as the “law” is whatever they say it is, the Constitution be damned…
    Police officers are the only group that can murder someone by falsely claiming that “they feared for their lives”, have 48 to 72 hours to “get their stories straight”, and have a union lawyer and compliant prosecutor-steered “grand jury” absolve them of responsibility.
    Police often demand immediate compliance (Israeli-style)–with two or three cops issuing and yelling out conflicting commands, it is easy to see how a person under police control could lose his life for merely attempting to follow conflicting directions.
    Ever notice that police unions are “fraternal”? This should tell you something. The “thin-blue-line” is a gang, little different than street gangs–at least when it comes to “covering-up” their questionable and quite often, illegal and criminal behavior.
    In today’s day and age, “officer safety” trumps de-escalation of force. This, in part, is due to the militarization of the police along with training in Israeli police tactics. This becomes a problem, with the “us vs. them” attitude that is fosters, along with the fact that Israel is a very different place, being on a constant “war footing”, its police tactics are very different.
    There are too many instances of police being “given a pass”, even when incontrovertible video and audio evidence is presented. Grand juries, guided by police-friendly prosecutors, quite often refuse to charge those police officers who abuse their authority.
    Police officers, who want to do the right thing, are quite often marginalized and put into harms way, by their own brethren…When a police officer is beating on someone that is already restrained while yelling, “stop resisting” THAT is but one reason police have a “bad name” in many instances…this makes the “good cops” who are standing around, witnessing their “brethren in blue” beating on a restrained suspect, culpable as well…
    Here are changes that can help reduce police-induced violence:
    1. Get rid of police unions. Police unions (fraternities) protect the guilty, and are responsible for the massive whitewashing of questionable police behavior that is presently being committed.
    2. Eliminate both “absolute” and “qualified” immunity for all public officials. This includes, prosecutors and judges, police and firefighters, code enforcement and child protective services officials, and others who deal with the citizenry. The threat of being sued personally would encourage them to behave themselves. Require police officers to be “bonded” by an insurance company, with their own funds. No bond= no job.
    3. Any public funds disbursed to citizens as a result of police misconduct should come out of police pension funds–NOT from the taxpayers.
    4. Regular drug-testing of police officers as well as incident-based drug testing should take place whenever an officer is involved in a violent situation with a citizen–no exceptions.
    5. Testing for steroid use should be a part of the drug testing program. You know damn well, many police officers “bulk up” with the “help” of steroids. Steroids also affect users mentally as well, making them more aggressive. The potential for abuse of citizens increases greatly with steroid use.
    6. Internal affairs should only be used for disagreements between individual officers–NOT for investigations involving citizen abuse. State-level investigations should be mandatory for all suspected abuses involving citizens.
    7. Prosecutors should be charged with malfeasance IF any evidence implicating police officer misconduct is not presented to the grand jury.
    8. A national or state-by-state database of abusive individuals who should NEVER be allowed to perform police work should be established–a “blacklist” of abusive (former) police officers.
    9. Most people are unaware that police have special “rules” that prohibit them from being questioned from 48 to 72 hours. This allows them to “get their stories straight” and makes it easier to “cover up” bad police behavior. Police must be subject to the same laws as civilians.
    10. All police should be required to wear bodycams and utilize dashcams that cannot be turned off. Any police officers who causes a dash or body cam to be turned off should be summarily fired–no excuses. Today’s body and dash cams are reliable enough to withstand harsh treatment. Body and dashcam footage should be uploaded to a public channel “on the cloud” for public perusal.
    11. All interrogations must be video and audio recorded. Police should be prohibited from lying or fabricating stories in order to get suspects to confess. False confessions ARE a problem in many departments. Unknown to most people, police can lie with impunity while civilians can be charged with lying to police…fair? I think not…
    12. Any legislation passed that restricts the rights of ordinary citizens, such as firearms magazine capacity limits, types of weapons allowed, or restrictive concealed-carry laws should apply equally to police. No special exemptions to be given to police. Laws must be equally applied.
    13 “Asset forfeiture” is a form of “legalized robbery under color of law” and must be abolished. We must return to Constitutional principles when it comes to “crimefighting”. The so-called “war on drugs” is actually a “war on the citizenry” and has had an extremely corrosive effect on the Constitutional principles that our country is (supposed to be) founded on.
    14. “No-knock” raids must be abolished as they put both police and (especially citizens) in harms way. Even the Nazis “knocked on the door” before gaining entry.
    15. SWAT teams must be reigned in on their “dynamic entry techniques”. Smashing everything in sight “just because they can”, blaming it on an “adrenaline rush” must end. There is NEVER a reason for destroying property.
    Police work is not inherently dangerous…there are many other professions that are much more dangerous.
    A little “Andy Taylor” could go a long way in allaying fears that citizens have of police.
    That being said, I have no problem with police officers who do their job in a fair, conscientious manner…however, it is time to call to task those police officers who only “protect and serve” themselves.

    • I agree with 99% of what you posted ! Needs even stronger wording toward the out of control Law Enforcement community. It’s to militarized, and obviously I believe theres a nefarious reason behind it….

    • TLDR. But I agree as far as I read: police should be held to HIGHER standards than ordinary citizens, because they are invested with higher levels of power and authority.

  18. The story said 4 people were in the car. I counted *6* people being handcuffed/detained. What, did they pick up a couple of bystanders for good measure…?

    • Only two bystanders had video cameras.

      Just kidding, but all good jokes have an element of truth to them…

  19. This is what happens in a “Disarmed population”. Trigger-happy paramilitarizied police! Something that is incompatible with our US Constitutional-Bill of Rights ,(especially the 2nd amendment. Should this clown be enforcing some anti 2nd amendment directives.), and that of the public safety…(Lots of errant shots in a thickly settled neighborhood.)

  20. Maybe if fatboy Proano knew how to shoot a handgun like a man instead of a ghetto rat, he would have eliminated the witnesses. Not that I’m advocated that.

  21. Easy fix:
    1. Arm all law-abiding citizens.
    2. Disarm all cops.
    3. Put a 30 ft. high wall around Chicago.
    4. Go away, and come back in a couple of months.

    Well, everybody always wants an easy answer……….

    snark ,,,,,, snark …….

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