CHICAGO (AP) \u2014 Federal authorities said an online threat that led the University of Chicago to cancel classes Monday targeted whites and was motivated by the police shooting of a black teenager, video of which was released last week and led to protests.<\/p>\n
Jabari R. Dean, 21, of Chicago, threatened to kill 16 white male students or staff at the school on Chicago\u2019s South Side, according to the criminal complaint.<\/p>\n
Dean, who is black, was arrested Monday morning. He did not enter a plea later in the day on a charge of transmitting a threat in interstate commerce in court.<\/p>\n
The threat was posted Saturday, just days after the city released a video of Officer Jason Van Dyke, who is white, shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, who was black, 16 times. Van Dyke is charged with first-degree murder. His bond was set for $1.5 million earlier Monday, and hours later, he paid the $150,000 needed and was released.<\/p>\n
Authorities said Dean posted online from a phone that he would \u201cexecute approximately … 16 white male students and or staff, which is the same number of time (sic) McDonald was killed\u201d and \u201cwill die killing any number of white policemen that I can in the process.\u201d<\/p>\n
The criminal complaint said someone tipped the FBI Sunday to a threat that was posted on a social media website. The FBI was unable to find the threat online, and was provided a screenshot by the person who reported the threat.<\/p>\n
That led them to Dean, who admitted to FBI agents that he posted the threat and took it down shortly after posting it, the complaint said. Despite the threat mentioning three guns, a prosecutor told Monday\u2019s hearing that Dean did not appear to pose a threat. The complaint did not say whether Dean possessed any weapons.<\/p>\n
Dean is a first-year undergraduate student in electrical engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago, UIC spokeswoman Sherri McGinnis Gonzalez. He wore a red sweat shirt emblazoned with the name of that school in court.<\/p>\n
Phillip Rutherford, who later identified himself as Jabari\u2019s uncle, said loudly in the courtroom as the hearing adjourned, \u201cHey Jabari. … Just be cool, OK?\u201d Rutherford later told reporters that Jabari was never serious about an attack and had done something \u201csilly\u201d and \u201cstupid\u201d because he\u2019d had too much time on his hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s run out of things to do,\u201d Rutherford said.<\/p>\n
Jabari\u2019s lawyer declined comment Monday. A judge ordered Dean be held until Tuesday\u2019s bond hearing, when prosecutors will likely agree to let him be released to his mother.<\/p>\n
The University of Chicago, where President Barack Obama taught law, first alerted students and staff Sunday night about a threat that mentioned the quad, a popular gathering place, and 10 a.m. Monday. The school urged faculty, students and non-essential staff to stay away from the Hyde Park campus through midnight Monday and told students in college housing to stay indoors.<\/p>\n
The cancellations of classes and activities affected more than 30,000 people, though the University of Chicago Medical Center was open to patients.<\/p>\n
The normally bustling campus was almost desolate Monday morning as Chicago Police Department and campus security vehicles patrolled streets. Security staff guarded campus walkways, including the quad mentioned in the threat. The time mentioned in the threat came and went without incident.<\/p>\n
The university had said the decision to close was taken following \u201crecent tragic events\u201d at other campuses nationwide. On Oct. 1 at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, a gunman opened fire and killed nine people. Other shootings have happened in Arizona and Tennessee.<\/p>\n
Classes will resume Tuesday after what university President Robert Zimmer said was a \u201cchallenging day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Students closed their books, shut down their laptops and hurried home Sunday when the school first alerted people to the threat, according to student body president Tyler Kissinger. \u201cI work in the campus coffee shop and when people got the notice (announcements and online) they really cleared out of here immediately,\u201d the 21-year-old senior said.<\/p>\n
Junchen Feng, who\u2019s pursuing a doctorate, said the threat raised his awareness about gun violence in Chicago and beyond.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the first time I was thinking about people who live in Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan … where they live under constant threats of death and violence,\u201d the student from China said. \u201cIt\u2019s a mindset that we just don\u2019t have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Police have said that McDonald was carrying a knife and an autopsy revealed that he had PCP, a hallucinogenic drug, in his system. Cook County State\u2019s Attorney Anita Alvarez said last week in announcing the first-degree murder charge against Van Dyke that the 3-inch blade recovered from the scene had been folded into the handle.<\/p>\n
In the audio-free video, McDonald can be seen walking down the middle of a four-lane street. He appears to veer away from two officers as they emerge from a vehicle, drawing their guns. One of the officers, Van Dyke, opens fire from close range. McDonald spins around and crumples to the ground. The officer continues to fire.<\/p>\n
Van Dyke\u2019s attorney, Dan Herbert, maintains that Van Dyke feared for his life, acted lawfully and that the video does not tell the whole story. He told reporters Monday that Van Dyke \u201cabsolutely\u201d can defend his actions in court and that the officer is \u201cvery scared about the consequences he is facing.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Associated Press writer Greg McCune contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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