Page 33 - MIN JUS 8 DEC 2015
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U.S. NEWS A3
                                                                                                                                         Tuesday 8 December 2015

US Justice Department to Investigate Chicago Police 

Continued from Front page        eral reforms, including ap-   Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez speaks at a news conference, Monday, Dec. 7, 2015,
                                 pointing a new leader for     in Chicago where she announced that Chicago police Officer George Hernandez will not be
“And when suspicion and          the Independent Police        charged in the shooting death of 25-year-old Ronald Johnson, whom authorities say pointed a
hostility is allowed to fester,  Review Authority, which       gun at police before he was killed on Oct. 12, 2014. The announcement comes the same day the
it can erupt into unrest.”       investigates shootings by     U.S. Justice Department opened an investigation into patterns of racial disparity in the use of force
The civil rights probe fol-      police.                       by Chicago police.
lows recent ones in Balti-       The authority’s new chief,
more and Ferguson, Mis-          Sharon Fairley, appeared                                                                                                          (AP Photo/Teresa Crawford)
souri, and comes as the          with Emanuel at a Monday
police department and            news conference at City       he was struck by two bul-          he was killed. She also said    The attorney for the John-
Mayor Rahm Emanuel are           Hall. The previous head re-   lets. The video was also           Johnson ignored officers’       son family, Michael Op-
under intense scrutiny over      signed Sunday.                slowed down to show what           commands to stop and            penheimer, said the pros-
their handling of the Oc-        Also Monday, Cook Coun-       McCarthy said was a gun in         drop his weapon and had         ecutors’ investigation was
tober 2014 death of Mc-          ty State’s Attorney Anita     Johnson’s hand. Prosecu-           been in a physical alterca-     a “joke” and an affront to
Donald. Officer Jason Van        Alvarez said there would      tors say a loaded weapon           tion with at least one other    Johnson’s family and Cook
Dyke was charged with            be no charges against Of-     was found in his hand after        officer before he was shot.     County citizens.q
first-degree murder Nov.         ficer George Hernandez
24, more than a year after       in the shooting of 25-year-
the killing and just hours be-   old Ronald Johnson, whom
fore the release of police       authorities say pointed a
dashboard camera foot-           gun at police before he
age showing the officer          was killed on Oct. 12, 2014.
shooting the teenager.           Alvarez and Assistant
Emanuel, who initially said      State’s Attorney Lynn Mc-
a federal civil rights inves-    Carthy spent more than 30
tigation would be “mis-          minutes detailing evidence
guided” but later reversed       before showing the dash-
course, said the city needs      cam video, which similarly
comprehensive solutions          to the McDonald case has
in the wake of the vid-          no audio. The state’s attor-
eo showing McDonald’s            ney’s office overlaid police
death.                           radio communications.
Speaking at a news con-          The video shows Johnson
ference, Emanuel said the        running from police across
police department’s chal-        a street with several of-
lenges go beyond one             ficers in pursuit, and then
case and he’s making sev-        one officer shooting. John-
                                 son is not on screen when

Homeland secretary: US to roll out new terror alert system 

Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson speaks at a Defense One “leadership briefing” in       United States, but he did       is investigating the possibil-
                                                                                                  not provide specific details.   ity that shooting suspects
Washington, Monday, Dec. 7, 2015, on the agency’s efforts to tackle growing terrorism threats in  This will be the third terror   Syed Farook and Tashfeen
                                                                                                  alert system put in place by    Malik were inspired by the
the U.S. and abroad. 						                                    (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)           the Homeland Security De-       Islamic State group to carry
                                                                                                  partment since the Sept. 11,    out the attacks that killed
ALICIA A. CALDWELL               announce a new terror         Monday.                            2001 terrorist attacks. The     14 people attending a holi-
Associated Press                 alert system “in the coming   Johnson said the new alert         much maligned color-cod-        day luncheon at a social
WASHINGTON (AP) — The            days,” Homeland Security      system will better inform the      ed system was replaced in       services facility.
Obama administration will        Secretary Jeh Johnson said    public about threats to the        2011 by the National Threat     Johnson said while a spe-
                                                                                                  Advisory System, which has      cific motive has not been
                                                                                                  never been used.                determined in the Califor-
                                                                                                  Johnson announced the           nia case the threat from
                                                                                                  new alert system during a       home-grown radicals or
                                                                                                  forum with Defense One          those inspired by foreign
                                                                                                  magazine. He said the Na-       groups is a growing con-
                                                                                                  tional Threat Advisory Sys-     cern in part because such
                                                                                                  tem hasn’t been used be-        attacks may not be discov-
                                                                                                  cause it requires a “specific,  ered in advance. The new
                                                                                                  credible threat” to the U.S.    terror alert system, he said,
                                                                                                  in order to be activated.       better “reflects the current
                                                                                                  The new effort will include     environment and current
                                                                                                  an “intermediate” step, he      realities.”
                                                                                                  said. The plan to change        “We need a system that
                                                                                                  the alert system was an-        adequately informs the
                                                                                                  nounced in the wake of the      public at large ... about
                                                                                                  mass shooting in San Ber-       what we are seeing, what
                                                                                                  nardino, California, which      we are doing and what we
                                                                                                  the FBI has declared a ter-     are asking the public to do
                                                                                                  rorism investigation. The FBI   about it,” Johnson said.q
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