Page 14 - Florida Sentinel 4-5-19

News From Around The Nation
Rev. Al Sharpton Presents Receipts And Blasts Chicago’s Mayor Rahm Emanuel On Laquan McDonald Shooting
Forget Prom, This 16-Year-Old Is Headed To Law School
Most 16-year-olds spend the summer break working, going to camp, or hanging out with their friends. Not so for Haley Taylor Schlitz, who’s on track to graduate with both an associate’s and bachelor’s de- gree in May. She’ll spend the upcoming summer preparing to start law school and attend- ing a six-day program with the American Civil Liberties Union in Washington for incoming law students.
Schlitz was accepted to all five law schools she applied to and has decided to attend Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law. (The other law schools were at Howard University, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Southern University and Texas Southern University.)
SMU could not say whether she’s the youngest ever to en- roll at the Dallas campus, though admissions officials said she’s the youngest they know of. We caught up with
Haley Taylor Schlitz was ac- cepted at five law schools but opted to enroll at Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, in part so she can still live at home with her parents.
Schlitz this week to discuss her law school plans, what in- spired her to seek a J.D., and what she thinks her new class- mates will make of a University student. “Nobody knows I am so young. When I go to tour SMU or other schools, nobody ever looks at me like that. And I always expect people to say,
“Wait a second, how old are you?” And no one ever asks that.
How do you think your pro- fessors and classmates at SMU will react when you show up next fall? “I recently went to a few law school events. When people found out I was 16 they were really surprised, obvi- ously. Then they asked me how I got here. Every single time someone figures out my age, it changes the dynamic a bit. It’s not bad, but it’s new attention. But I like the attention. Every- body is always surprised at my age and they ask me a few questions. Then it’s over. They’re my friends and we work together. But it’s not like I get treated differently, in a negative way, like, “Oh, you’re a kid. I’m not listening to you.”
What are you most looking forward to about law school? “Probably the classes. I love learning and I’m really excited to learn more about the law and our society.”
The Rev. Al Sharpton tore into Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel on Saturday and criticized him for taking Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx to task over allegedly dropping Jussie Smollett’s criminal case. Sharpton pointed to the notion that Emanuel didn’t have the same energy when it came to expressing outrage over the po- lice murder of Laquan Mc- Donald.
Sharpton told The Chicago Tribune that Emanuel’s rhet- oric is “Hypocrisy 101” after the mayor spoke out furiously against Foxx for allowing Smollett to “walk away” from the 16-count felony indictment for the alleged staged homo- phobic and racist attack, calling it a “whitewash of justice.”
Emanuel is continuing to hold Smollett accountable and has sent a demand letter to his attorneys asking for more than $130,000 in payment to the city of Chicago for the work that investigators did looking into the case.
Sharpton sharply criticized the Chicago mayor indicating that Emanuel was all but silent on the murder of 17-year old McDonald at the hands of police.
“The reason this is of na- tional significance to me, there is a marked difference between how they reacted to this and how they reacted to the Laquan McDonald case. They were not outraged when the video was withheld until after the mayor’s election,” Sharpton said of Emanuel, police Superintendent Eddie Johnson and other top police officials, according to The Chicago Tribune.
“There was a fox in the hen- house then, but the fox wasn’t Kim then. The name of that fox was whoever was in the mayor’s race.”
Sharpton was giving the keynote speech Saturday at the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Rain- bow/PUSH Coalition.
Sharpton was on hand in support of the contenders for the mayor’s seat, former fed- eral prosecutor Lori Light- foot and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, both Black women, and one
Rev. Al Sharpton has words for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel for criticiz- ing Cook County State’s At- torney Kim Foxx’s handling of the Jussie Smollett case.
will no doubt make history when elected Chicago’s first African-American female mayor on Tuesday after a run- off.
Sharpton threw his full support behind Foxx and told a rousing crowd of Emanuel’s “hypocrisy” in regards to the two cases.
“I found it strange that the mayor who didn’t hold a na- tional press conference when the Laquan McDonald’s tape wasn’t released, I find it strange that the police chief that didn’t say a word, when they let an election go by and couldn’t find the tape, but all of the sudden, you have selective outrage and you start attacking Ms. Foxx,” Sharpton said to a roar of cheers.
Even more, the Chicago Po- lice Department along with the Chicago mayor has launched their own campaign and have planned a protest to denounce Smollett.
The Advocate, reports that what began online will now be taken to the streets. The police union representing the Chicago Police Department has an- nounced a protest on Monday at the Cook County prosecu- tor’s office as pleas for a federal interjection into the case con- tinues to intensify.
As for Smollett’s guilt or in- nocence, or whether Smollett should have been required to apologize, Sharpton re- mained neutral on the matter.
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