The police did not do a good job in responding to the 2022 Uvalde school shooting, according to the Department of Justice.
On Thursday, a report was finally released. It said that the police did not understand the situation well when 19 students and two teachers died.
Many police officers went to Robb Elementary school, but it took them more than one hour to find and stop the person with the gun.
The Justice Department made a report that is over 400 pages long. It lists mistakes that the police made.
People in Uvalde, a small town in Texas with about 15,000 people, have been waiting for the Justice Department’s report since it was announced a few days after the shooting on May 24, which was one of the worst in US history.
On Wednesday, Attorney General Merrick Garland visited families in Uvalde and saw the paintings of victims on the walls around town. Officials from the Justice Department met privately with the families of victims and gave them information before the report was made public.
Berlinda Arreola, whose granddaughter was killed in the shooting, told the Associated Press after the meeting: “I have a lot of feelings right now. I don’t have much to say.
Oscar Orona, whose 10-year-old son was shot in a classroom, told the Washington Post: “I think the report will prove what we already knew, that it was a terrible failure. ”
“But now everyone will know too. ”
Former Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin asked for a review because state officials gave different stories about what happened before police stopped an 18-year-old gunman from shooting a rifle inside two fourth-grade classrooms.
Almost 400 police were at Robb Elementary School, but victims and their families think the police took too long to help.
In July 2022, Texas lawmakers released a harsh report blaming the police for making very bad decisions that led to a terrible event.
The shooter shot about 142 bullets in the building before he was stopped, according to the report.
Videos from police cameras showed officers standing in the hallways outside classrooms where the shooter was shooting.
Families who have lost loved ones called the police cowards and said they should quit their jobs.
The Texas officials’ report said that the police didn’t focus on saving innocent lives before their own safety.
At least five cops got fired, including Pete Arredondo, the old chief of police for Uvalde schools who got fired in August 2022.
Many people in the community have taken legal action against the city police and local government officials. The cases are still waiting to be resolved.
Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell said in December that she is still investigating the police response. She expects to finish the investigation in 2024 and then present her findings to a grand jury. This information comes from CBS News, the BBC’s media partner.
Tag: US Justice Department
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Uvalde report to be released by US Justice Department
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US request to extradite suspected Russian spy rejected by Brazil
Brazil’s government has turned down a US request to extradite a suspected Russian spy, arguing that Russia would eventually receive him instead.
Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov is accused of entering the country using a false name in order to spy on Americans.
According to a statement released by Brazil’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security on Thursday, Cherkasov’s extradition request to Russia, where he is accused of “drug trafficking,” was authorised on March 17 by Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court.
The Brazilian statement emphasised that the request from Russia came before the one from the US for extradition.
The US Justice Department claims that Cherkasov entered the country in 2018 under the pretence of enrolling in graduate school in Washington, DC.
The case is being handled by US authorities, who claim that after creating the false identity in Brazil, he began using the alias Victor Muller Ferreira. In 2022, when he returned to Brazil, officials there detained him on charges of fraud and identity theft.
Cherkasov’s extradition to Russia has been accepted, but he cannot be sent there until his Brazilian prison sentence for forgery has been served.
According to TASS, Cherkasov was given a 15-year prison term for the fraud by a Brazilian court in July 2022, although this was later reduced to five years and two months after an appeal.
According to three sources familiar with the situation, CNN previously reported in May that the Biden administration has been looking for high-value Russian nationals that could persuade Moscow to free two Americans, Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, who the White House believes are being held unlawfully.
Cherkasov was charged by the DOJ with working for the military intelligence service of Russia. He might be a good candidate for a prisoner swap with Russia if kept in US custody, it’s possible.