It happens every day: A homeless man confronts a pedestrian on a city street. Only this time, the pedestrian was an off-duty police officer and the confrontation led to a death and an angry aftermath.
Gregory Becker was initially charged with murder in the July 30 shooting of Joseph Gould, a homeless man who walked the streets north of downtown Chicago.The Cook County state's attorney withdrew the murder charge against Becker on Wednesday, and a judge dismissed an involuntary manslaughter charge, citing conflicting witness accounts.
That leaves two counts of official misconduct, alleging Becker failed to report to his supervisor that he had fired his gun and failed to report a shooting. Homeless advocates and others say that is not enough.
"The judge's decision was a resounding victory for the deranged racist rogue cops who are of the Mark Fuhrman mentality," Rep. Bobby Rush, an Illinois Democrat, declared Thursday. Becker is white; Gould was black.
Defense lawyer Pat O'Brien said Becker is not a racist. He said Becker's girlfriend, Joey Preston, who was with him the night of the shooting, is black.
Becker and Preston had just left a tavern when Gould confronted them. Gould, 36, was known to make money by washing windows and selling the homeless newspaper Streetwise.
There are conflicting accounts of what happened next.
Witnesses say Gould called Preston an obscene name, prompting Becker to remove his gun from his car's trunk. Gould approached from behind and grabbed for the gun, leading to a struggle, according to testimony at a Wednesday hearing.
Preston testified both men's hands were on the gun when it fired. She said neither she nor Becker knew Gould had been shot.
But passer-by Nick Schaffer testified that when Gould came to the rear of the car, Becker grabbed him by the neck while Gould did nothing. Schaffer said Becker swung at Gould's head with what appeared to be a black object in his hand, and a gunshot followed.
Becker did not testify and has refused to discuss the shooting with police.
Becker, 34, faces a prison term of two to five years if convicted on the misconduct charges. The police department suspended him without pay and has started proceedings to fire him.
Rush has sent a letter to Attorney General Janet Reno and to the Justice Department's Office of Civil Rights asking that a federal grand jury review the case.
John Donahue, executive director of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, said the case has left homeless people outraged.
A friend of Gould's, Robert Ragland, said the homeless man was not violent or even aggressive.
"He would give you the shirt off of his back, if you asked him for it," Ragland said.