Rally for Dexter Reed, Chicago man shot to death by police
CHICAGO (CBS) — The family and friends of Dexter Reed, along with a host of community groups, are gathering in about an hour outside Chicago Police Department headquarters.
Reed was the man gunned down by police last March during a west side traffic stop after police say Reed fired at officers first. Suzanne Le Mignot joins us from CPD headquarters after speaking exclusively to Reed's sister before Thursday night's event.
Porcha Banks said the reason for the gathering is to call for an end to tactical teams making traffic stops and for the officers involved in her brother's death to be held accountable.
"Heartbreaking. It hurt my soul."
Porscha Banks remembers March 21, 2024, the day she learned her brother, Dexter Reed, was killed during what Chicago Police said was a traffic stop for a seat belt violation in Humboldt Park, captured on police body camera.
Banks questions how tactical officers could have seen if her brother was wearing a seat belt through his tinted windows…something the Civilian Office of Police Accountability also questioned.
"Dexter shouldn't have even been stopped at all," Banks said.
She added that she wants to see an end to traffic stops being made by tactical officers wearing plain clothes.
"First of all, they're riding around without no uniform, and they have on hoodies. No police should have on hoodies. That could happen to anyone," Banks said.
Andrew M. Stroth is the attorney for the Reed family.
"He was pulled over because he was driving while black on the west side of Chicago. And then what resulted was he didn't know he could be getting carjacked. There was no identification that they were police," Stroth said.
COPA said the same five tactical officers involved in the Reed shooting had been the subject of a civilian complaint three and a half weeks before Reed's incident.
The reason for the complaint? A traffic stop is also based on a seat belt violation.
"I believe that these officers should not be on the street. There's no way and they have so many different complaints on them," Banks said.
COPA and Chicago Police both said Reed fired first, wounding an officer. Officers fired 96 times at the 26-year-old.
"If the officer was shot by Dexter, why don't we have that ballistic information," Banks said.
Banks said she and her family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Chicago and the five officers involved in the shooting.
"Not only for justice for ourselves but just for other families that this has happened to, so it will never happen again," Banks said.
Chicago police said the officers involved are all active department members and are on administrative duties. The incident is still an open investigation with COPA.