UPDATE: The U.S. Attorney’s office for the Northern District of Illinois has released the name of the suspect. Jabari R. Dean is 21 years old and was arrested Monday morning “without incident.” Dean has been charged with “transmitting a threat in interstate commerce,” which carries a maximum 5-year sentence if he is convicted.
The criminal complaint in the case states that when the FBI confronted Dean, he admitted to having made the threat using a cell phone. He said he removed it himself shortly thereafter, but by that point a screenshot had already been relayed to the FBI.
The University of Chicago announced Monday afternoon that classes will resume Tuesday. “We are deeply grateful to the University of Chicago Police Department, the FBI, the Chicago Police Department, and other law enforcement offices for their timely, professional, and effective response to this security concern,” University President Robert Zimmer wrote.
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A University of Illinois at Chicago student has been arrested and will face charges for an online threat to kill at least 16 “white devils” in revenge for the death of Laquan McDonald who was shot 16 times by police.
“This is my only warning. At 10AM Monday morning, I’m going to the campus quad of the University of Chicago. I will be armed with an M-4 carbine and two desert eagles, all fully loaded. I will execute approximately 16 white male students and or staff, which is the same number of time McDonald was killed,” the Chicago Tribune reports. The message continued, “I will then die killing any number of white policeman in the process. This is not a joke. I am to do my part and rid the world of white devils. I expect you do the same.”
The threat was left on a website called worldstarhiphop.com over the weekend. A reader alerted the FBI to the threat on Sunday morning. After day long discussions between the FBI and local authorities, University President Robert Zimmer decided to cancel classes Monday.
“Based on the FBI’s assessment of this threat and recent tragic events at other campuses across the country, we have decided in consultation with federal and local law enforcement officials, to exercise caution by canceling all classes and activities on the Hyde Park campus through midnight on Monday,” Zimmer wrote.
Seventeen year-old Laquan McDonald was shot and killed by police in October 2014. Video of the shooting was released last week. The police officer who shot McDonald has been charged with first degree murder.
The identity of the student who made the threat has not been released but the student is reportedly in federal custody awaiting charges.
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