A 21-year-old man was arrested Monday, accused of
threatening to kill students and staff at the University of Chicago in an
apparent attempt to avenge the death of Laquan McDonald, authorities said.
Jabari Dean, 21 was arrested without incident. He
is expected to appear in court later in the day.
According to a criminal complaint, Dean posted a
threat on social media over the Thanksgiving weekend.
"This is my only warning. At 10 a.m. on
Monday mourning (sic) I am going to the campus quad of the University of
Chicago. I will be armed with a M-4 Carbine and 2 Desert Eagles all fully
loaded. I will execute aproximately (sic) 16 white male students and or staff,
which is the same number of time (sic) Mcdonald (sic) was killed.
"I then will die killing any number of white
policemen that I can in the process. This is not a joke. I am to do my part to
rid the world of the white devils. I expect you to do the same," the post
read.
"Mcdonald" appears to refer to Laquan
McDonald, 17, who was shot 16 times and killed last year by Officer Jason Van
Dyke, who faces first-degree murder charges. Dashcam video of the shooting was
recently released.
Earlier Monday, the University of Illinois at
Chicago had said that one of its students had been arrested. The threat led to
the closure of the University of Chicago campus.
"We are monitoring this situation closely and
are concerned about the impact this has had on our campus and the University of
Chicago," Michael Amiridis, chancellor of the University of Illinois at
Chicago, said in a statement.
The University of Chicago said Sunday that FBI
counterterrorism officials had informed the school of a threat, specifically of
a shooting on "the campus quad" at 10 a.m. 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," the school said in a statement.
The school asked students and nonessential staff
to stay away from campus. Students in college housing were asked to stay
inside.
The decision was met with some criticism online.
"Talk about complete panic. .. right now any
one of us could shut down anyplace we want with a simple phone call!!"
Facebook user Charles Friscia posted to the University of Chicago's Facebook
article announcing the closing.
But others praised the school's decision to put
safety first.
"I am extremely disappointed in the criticism
of this decision without any more information than has been provided,"
Facebook user Elizabeth Harding wrote. "We have absolutely no idea what
type of threat or the degree of danger involved. This must have been a credible
threat to have involved the FBI and their ensuing recommendation."
Last week, Western Washington University
canceled classes at its main campus after social media posts suggesting
the lynching of a black student government leader as well as other offensive
posts.
School President Bruce Shepard didn't detail the
threats and said there was "no threat to general campus safety," but
said a criminal investigation was underway.
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