The Crime Report (https://thecrimereport.org/author/stephenh/)
Even if right-wing protesters pull back from the threat of violence in coming days, the threat from Trump-inspired extremism likely will grow. “It has begun to shift from ‘We are going to win this’ to ‘This fight is going to be a long one,’ said one analyst. Meanwhile FBI Director Christopher Wray cited “an extensive amount of concerning online chatter” about events surrounding the inauguration.
“It’s serious,” said Michael Lappe of the Policemen’s Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago, which oversees police pensions. “A lot of these people aren’t retiring. They’re quitting.” A police union officer says critics “have given control to the criminals.”
Corey Johnson was put to death for a killing spree in a drug racket. The Justice Department has asked the Supreme Court to allow another execution on Friday.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James sued the New York Police Department, charging widespread abuses in how officers handled protests that erupted last summer after the killing of George Floyd. James seeks a court-appointed monitor to oversee police tactics at future protests.
There were 157 murders last year, up from 99 in 2019 and the most in more than two decades. “It’s ridiculous that now, even during this pandemic, we got more gun violence going on than ever before,” said one activist.
Michigan prosecutors said it’s not too late to pursue those responsible for one of the worst human-made environmental disasters in U.S. history.
Some 14 alleged leaders of the transnational gang were charged in what was described as the Justice Department’s most sweeping effort yet to crush MS-13, which was established in the 1980s in southern California by Central American immigrants.
Mexican authorities will bring no charges against a former top military official who was arrested in the U.S. last year on drug-trafficking and corruption charges, only to be sent home at the request of the outraged Mexican government.
Trump administration officials “significantly underestimated [the zero tolerance policy’s] complexities and demonstrated a deficient understanding of the legal requirements related to the care and custody of separated children,” the IG report said.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals plans to review the high-profile murder conviction of former police officer Roy Oliver, who fatally shot an unarmed Black teenager.