Identity Of Black Man In Racist CPD Photo Confirmed

By Rachel Cromidas in News on Jun 22, 2015 10:00PM

After the photo of a young black man forced to wear antlers and pose with two disgraced Chicago police officers was publicized last month, the police department insisted the details of the man's arrest were nowhere to be found.

But less than month later, reporters from the Sun-Times have found the arrest report, which identifies the man as a West Side teenager who was arrested in 2002 at the age of 18. The report describes the 2002 arrests of Michael Spann, a young man who was later killed in a 2007 drive-by shooting, who was photographed for his mugshot wearing the same sweater as the man in the objectifying photo. Spann's family told reporters they believed he was the man in the photo after it was first published by the Sun-Times in late May.

Authorities now acknowledge that Spann is likely the man in the photo. A statement to reporters stated:

“Prior to the family of Michael Spann coming forward with this information, we did not even know what year the picture was taken. Once this information came to light, IAD started a new internal investigation, which is still ongoing. “The Chicago Police Department has been doing everything possible to hold anyone and everyone who has any responsibility for this unacceptable incident accountable.”

The police officers posing in the photo with rifles are Timothy McDermott, who was disciplined and fired over the photo in 2013, and Jerome Finnigan, who was fired in 2006 over an unrelated corruption case and is now serving a 12-year federal prison sentence. McDermott told investigators he was sorry about the photo, but he could not remember the name of the arrestee he and Finnigan had pose on the ground wearing antlers and sticking his tongue out as though he were an animal being hunted.

McDermott appealed to get his position in the force back, but a Cook County judge decided to uphold his firing earlier this month.

According to the arrest report, Spann and his uncle, Robert Smith, then 37, were arrested after officers heard Spann shout "weed" while walking on the street and saw him drop a plastic bag with 10 smaller bags of marijuana. But Smith says the report is false; rather, the officers raided his home without a warrant.

As more details surrounding the photo come to light, it could help investigators determine who took the photo, and whether multiple other officers were involved in the despicable, dehumanizing behavior.

Spann's father Michael Smith told the Sun-Times he has hope other officers will be identified as involved with the photograph and be held accountable by the department.

"The police who were involved know who they are,” he said.