Chicago braces for riots after Van Dyke verdict is announced

Blue Lives Matter flag in
Mount Greenwood

Will rioting come to Chicago? And it's not just cops. A firefighter told me two days ago that his days off might be cancelled.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

The Chicago Police Department on Thursday canceled days off and put officers on 12-hour shifts to bolster the force by up to 4,000 officers –– enough to handle any adverse reaction to a verdict in the trial of Jason Van Dyke for the murder of Laquan McDonald.

“Either way it goes, there’s gonna be people unhappy on either side of this,” Police Supt. Eddie Johnson told the Sun-Times as the jury started its deliberations.

What?!? Either way? They won't be rioting in Mount Greenwood, a Southwest Side neighborhood packed with cops and firefighters, and the only Chicago neighborhood carried by Donald Trump tow years ago, if Van Dyke is found guilty of first degree murder.

More from the Sun-Times:

“But this is our city that we call home. And there are ways to voice your concerns in a peaceful manner. And that’s what I expect from the citizens of this city.”

Starting at 7:30 a.m. Thursday and continuing until further notice, police officers normally dispersed between three watches were instead assigned to one of two, 12-hour-tours: 7 a.m.-to-7 p.m. and 7 p.m.-to-7 a.m.