Written by Dan Whitcomb

(Reuters] – The federal prosecutors stated Monday that they won’t bring criminal charges against Laquan Mcdonald, a Chicago ex-police officer convicted by the state of murdering Black teenager Laquan McDonald. This was a footagetaped incident which sparked protests throughout the city.

U.S. attorney John Lausch stated that the decision to withdraw from a federal case against Jason Van Dyke was taken in consultation with McDonald’s family. He said it had been weighed against the possibility of securing another conviction.

“The federal law presents a very high bar – more stringent than the state charges on which Mr. Van Dyke was convicted,”

Lausch stated this in writing.

Van Dyke’s criminal defense lawyer, Daniel Herbert couldn’t be reached for comment Monday by Reuters.

This was the first conviction of an officer of Chicago Police for killing a Black man.

Van Dyke was sentenced at the state prison to seven years but was freed earlier in this year.

McDonalds’ was confronted by police shortly before 10 pm on October 20, 2014. They were responding to reports that McDonalds had a knife in her hand and attempted to break into vehicles.

McDonald’s refused to give up the knife, and was running away from police officers when Van Dyke shot 16 times at McDonald’s. Cameras on the police patrol cars and a camera at a nearby Burger King captured the incident.

McDonald’s was killed, prompting protests by activists in Chicago and other cities. They saw this as the latest instance of police violence towards young Black men.

Chicago made a settlement of $5 million to McDonald’s in the next year.