Page 34 - Florida Sentinel 11-27-15 Edition

Breaking News
U. S. Issues Alert Because Of Terrorist Threats
Police Officer
Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Sends In Backlog
Of Rape Kits For Testing
Americans should be alert to the possible travel risks, espe- cially during the holidays, fol- lowing increased terrorist threats around the world, the State Department warned on Monday.
A travel alert, which is to be in effect until Feb. 24, said cur- rent information suggests that militants with the Islamic State, al-Qaida, Boko Haram and other terrorist groups continue to plan attacks in multiple re- gions. U. S. authorities said the likelihood of terror attacks will continue as members of IS re- turn from Syria and Iraq, and other individuals not affiliated with terror groups engage in vi- olence on their own.
Extremists have targeted sporting events, theaters, open
markets and aviation targets. In the past year, there have been multiple attacks in France, Nigeria, Denmark, Lebanon, Turkey and Mali. IS has claimed responsibility for the Oct. 31 bombing of a Russian airliner in Egypt, killing 224 people.
“U. S. citizens should exer- cise vigilance when in public places or using transportation,” the alert said. “Be aware of im- mediate surroundings and avoid large crowds or crowded places. Exercise particular cau- tion during the holiday season and at holiday festivals or events.”
The State Department said the U. S. is exchanging informa- tion with allies about threats of international terrorism.
Be Charged
Miami Teen Murdered While Walking Home From School
In Chicago To
With Murder
It has been reported that there is a huge backlog of rape kits in Hillsborough County that have not been processed.
According to a published re- port, in Hillsborough County, 482 rape kits have been col- lecting dust, and the state lab is now trying to deal with al- most 11,000 evidence kits col- lected from rape victims that have sat unexamined for years.
Officials said the kits have not been processed due to slashed budgets and an over- worked crime lab.
Law enforcement agencies began sending the kits to crime labs this year for testing and the process is expected to take years and cost millions of dol- lars to complete.
Hillsborough County Sher- iff’s Office spokesperson, Cristal Bermudez Nunez said, “Several agencies weren’t submitting their kits for test-
ing, and the reasons range from it being an old case, vic- tims being uncooperative, or the victim choosing not to tes- tify.
“There’s also an enormous cost factor that must be con- sidered. It cost $1,500-per-kit for testing, and when victims change their stories, that’s money we can’t get back. There are also cases where we iden- tify the suspect and we don’t run the kit.”
Nunez said they’ve submit- ted all of their rape kits, and it will depend on the backlog cur- rently in the state lab before they get any information.
“The testing is usually done on a case-by-case basis. We’ve changed our policy, and we submit all of our rape kits.
“Sometimes, you submit he kit, and if there’s no DNA match in the system at the time, nothing happens.”
A white Chicago police offi- cer will be charged with mur- der in the shooting death of a Black teenager last year, local media reported late Monday.
The Illinois State's Attorney Anita Alvarez announced charges were filed against po- lice officer Jason Van Dyke Tuesday, the day before video of the shooting is was to be re- leased.
Investigators say Van Dyke shot 17-year-old Laquan Mc- Donald 16 times on Oct. 20, 2014. Several people who have seen the video told the Associ- ated Press it shows McDonald armed with a small knife and walking away from several offi- cers. They say Van Dyke opened fire from about 15 feet and kept shooting after the teen fell to the ground. An autopsy report says he was shot at least twice in his back.
It is reported that some in- vestigators were brought to the point of tears after seeing the video, which was described as "graphic and disturbing."
"This officer didn't uphold the law, he took the law into his own hands," Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said. "[He] didn't build the trust that we would want to see, and wasn't about providing safety and secu- rity, so at every point he violated what we entrusted him” Emanuel said, adding that he had not seen the video.
Ministers, community lead- ers and others worry the images could lead to the kind of unrest seen in Baltimore and Ferguson, Missouri, after police-involved deaths. Emanuel called together a number of community leaders Monday to appeal for help in keeping the city calm.
But some said after the meet- ing that city officials waited too long to get them involved -- more than a year after McDon- ald was shot.
A judge last week ordered the Police Department to release the squad car dashcam footage by Wednesday after the city re- fused to do so for several months, saying the investiga- tions into the shooting weren't complete. The FBI and the Cook County State's Attorney's Office are investigating.
Ira Acree, who described the meeting with Emanuel as "very tense, very contentious," said the mayor expressed con- cerns about the prospect of any demonstrations getting out of control.
Laquan Mc- Donald, 17, was shot 16 times by police officer Jason Van Dyke.
MIAMI, FL --- A Miami mother is looking for answers, and Miami-Dade police are looking for suspects, in the shooting death of a Miami teenager walking home from school, CBS Miami reports.
Johnny Lubin Jr., a 15- year-old freshman at Miami Northwestern Senior High, was walking home when he was shot twice around 4 p.m. last Wednesday.
“Words can’t even describe this feeling right now,” Johnny’s mother, Julie Exa- mar, said. Examar was at work when she got the call that her son had been shot, and she immediately rushed to be with him at the hospital, where he underwent surgery. Unfortu- nately, doctors could not save the teen.
Examar told the news sta- tion that she is unsure as to who
would want to hurt her son. “He was a very out- going kid. He loved to play foot- ball. Every- body loved him,” she said of her eldest child.
‘Clock Kid’s’ Family Suing
Louisiana Mom Kills Her Son After Leaving Birthday Party
“I want to
say, the person who did this, they need to come forward,” the grieving mom added. “They need to stop all this foolishness, killing innocent teenagers for no reason. I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know what happened, but it didn’t need to happen this way.”
According to CBS Miami, Johnny is the third Northwest- ern student to be shot and killed since September.
AHMED MOHAMED dent, Mohamed’s attorneys
assert, the teenager’s name and likeness will be “forever associated with arguably the most contentious and divisive socio-political issue of our time.
A day after Mohamed met President Obama at an Oc- tober event at the White House, Mohamed’s family announced it was leaving the U. S. for Qatar.
Demand letters issued by Mohamed’s attorneys on Monday sought $5 million from the Irving Independent School District and $10 mil- lion from the City of Irving in addition to written apologies from the Irving ISD and the city’s mayor and police chief.
JOHNNY LUBIN, JR.
IRVING, TX --- Ahmed Mohamed is looking to strike it rich before the clock strikes midnight on the “clock kid” story.
Attorneys for Mohamed, 14, and his family want $15 million in damages and apolo- gies from several officials stemming from Mohamed’s September 14 arrest, when he brought to school a home- made clock that a teacher flagged as a possible bomb.
“As American citizens, all of us -- even the ones with ‘Mus- lim-sounding’ names like Ahmed Mohamed -- are en- titled to have public officials with whom we come in contact to respect our rights,” a letter addressed to Mohamed’s former school district states.
The so-called “clock kid” in- cident prompted outrage from some who claimed Mo- hamed was profiled for being a Muslim and wrongfully ar- rested by police and sus- pended by MacArthur High School for a simple misunder- standing. The media circus that quickly enveloped the Texas high school freshman eventually even reached the White House.
In the aftermath of the inci-
Texas City And School
System For $15 Million
MINDEN, LA -- A mother shot her own son dead as he drove her from a casino, where they had been celebrating her birthday, according to author- ities and reports.
Dora Blake, 47, from Min- den, Louisiana, was arrested on a murder charge early on Sunday for killing 22-year-old Patrick Hollingsworth, ac- cording to the Bossier Sheriff's Office. She was also charged with attempted murder for in- juring another woman sitting in the front of the car.
Authorities say the three were driving on I-20 on Satur- day night after visiting a nearby casino while out cele- brating Blake's birthday, which was on Sunday.
Police say Blake was drunk, took out her gun and shot the other two from the back seat of the car for un-
Dora Blake was arrested for killing her son.
known reasons, according to the report.
The car was found crashed into trees around 10.20 p.m. on Saturday. Hollingsworth was found dead in the driver's seat with a gunshot wound to his head.
Blake told witnesses that she had been kidnapped and had shot the two other people in the car.
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