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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2014
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Jury finds officers' actions justified in Ohio shooting
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CINCINNATI — An Ohio grand jury found officers' actions were justified in last month's fatal shooting of a man holding an air rifle at a Wal-Mart store, a special prosecutor said Wednesday, a decision the man's family said left them "disgusted."
About 100 people rally on Monday in support of John Crawford Jr. and his family in their pursuit for answers into the Aug. 5 shooting of John Crawford III, in Beavercreek,, Ohio. The rally coincides with the selection of the special grand jury that will consider evidence and decide whether any criminal charges should be filed in the fatal police officer-involved shooting.
The Greene County grand jury in Xenia opted not to issue any indictments in the Aug. 5 death of 22-year-old John Crawford III in Beavercreek, Special Prosecutor Mark Piepmeier said.
A 911 caller reported Crawford was waving what appeared to be a rifle in the store. Police he didn't obey commands to put down what turned out to be an air rifle taken from a shelf.
Crawford's family, which has called for a federal investigation, said it was "incomprehensible" that police were not indicted.
"The Crawford family is extremely disappointed, disgusted and confused," the statement said. "They are heartbroken that justice was not done in the tragic death of their only son."
The U.S. Department of Justice said federal authorities will review the facts and circumstances surrounding the shooting. Crawford's family has repeatedly asked for a federal investigation to see if race was a factor. Crawford was black and the officers are white.
Store surveillance video shown during the announcement shows Crawford walking in the aisles while apparently talking on a cellphone. Crawford picks up the air rifle
which Piepmeier said had apparently been taken out of a box and on a shelf — and
continues walking through the store. A short time later, police arrive and Crawford is shot twice while still holding the air rifle.
The Crawford family accused Piepmeier and Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine of not attempting to get an indictment. They also said the store surveillance tape proves that Crawford's death was not justified.
"The tragedy is that once again, our criminal justice system has failed our community."
LORI COLEMAN
Leader of Dayton NAACP
criminal justice committee
Prosecutor Stacey De-Graffenreid, who assisted Piepmeier, said Crawford was shot twice by one officer, once in the elbow and one in the side under the rib area slightly from the front to the back. De-Graffenreid says no other shots were fired after Crawford went down, dropping the rifle.
"This was a real tragedy," DeGraffenreid said in a telephone interview. But she said that based on what information the officers had when they entered the Wal-Mart, they were doing what they were trained to do.
U. S. Attorney Carter Stewart in Columbus released a statement saying the department's Civil Rights Division, the FBI, and his office will conduct an independent review of the case.
The city of Beavercreek had said a statement that was asking the FBI to conduct a review to determine if there were any civil rights violations. DeW-
ine said after the decision was announced that he thought it is an appropriate time for the Justice Department to look into whether any federal laws were violated.
DeWine said state authorities have been in frequent contact with federal officials and will turn over requested investigative files to them.
Crawford's family also had repeatedly asked state investigators to release the surveillance video publicly, and Facebook groups and online
petitions pushed for the release. The Ohio attorney general's office says the video was released publicly with the end of the grand jury proceeding
Representatives of the Dayton NAACP said the video clips presented by the prosecutor don't show imminent danger that would justify Crawford's fatal shooting.
"The tragedy is that once again, our criminal justice system has failed our community," said Lori Coleman, who leads the Dayton NAACP's
criminal justice committee
Dayton NAACP President Derrick Foward called the grand jury's decision "unbelievable."
But Lori Shaw, a University of Dayton law professor who has been following the case, said she was not surprised with the grand jury's decision.
gammy, it was a particular instance, because the police had reason to believe that a weapon was involved, it made it much less likely that there would be a charge," Shaw said.
She said because mass shootings have taken place in a variety of public places, police can be under added pressure in such cases.
"We're in 2014 ... I think the public is a lot more on edge, and I'm sure that police are more on edge."
"It's a tragic situation all the way around."
Wal-Mart customer Angela Williams, 37, also died after suffering a medical problem during the store's evacuation
US stocks advance after three days of declines
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks rebounded Wednesday and had their best performance in more than a month, led by gains in health care and consumer staples companies.
Once again, investors were willing to step in to buy any noticeable dip in the market, even as more bad news emerged about Europe's economy and worries over violence in Iraq and Syria continued.
The Dow Jones industrial average advanced 154.19 points, or 0.9 percent, to 17,210.06 its best day since Aug. 18. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 15.53 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,998.30 and the Nasdaq composite rose 46.53 points, or 1 percent, to 4,555.22.
The gains came after three days of losses for the S&P 500 and two straight days of triple-digit losses for the Dow Jones industrial average. With the gains Wednesday, the Dow recovered more than half of what it lost Monday and Tuesday.
The biggest gainer in the S&P 500 was Bed Bath & Beyond, which rose $4.64, or 7.4 percent, to $67.33. The home furnishings company reported a quarterly profit of $1.17 a share, two cents above analysts' expectations. The company also raised its full-year forecast.
Wal-Mart rose $1.48 to $77.08, making it the second-biggest advancer in the Dow. The retail giant took a big step into the financial services sector, announcing a new checking account program for customers in collaboration with Green Dot. The news sent Green Dot shares soaring $4.59, or 24 percent, to $23.41.
Investors also got a positive
report on the U.S. economy. Sales of new homes jumped 18 percent in August, reaching an annual rate of 504,000, according to the Commerce Department, far better than the 430,000 rate economists had expected.
Even with Wednesday's gain.
"It's clear now that the Russian sanctions are causing a slowdown in the European economy, particularly manufacturing."
ANASTASIA AMOROSO Global markets strategist
there's a lot of caution in the market, traders say.
Investors continue to focus on Europe's economic malaise and tensions in the Middle East after the U.S. and several
Arab nations attacked the Islamic State group's headquarters in Syria.
The Ifo business confidence index in Germany, Europe's largest economy, dropped for a fifth month in September. The decline was larger than expected and confirmed that Europe's economy remains weak. The day before, a closely watched business gauge for the region fell to a nine-month low. The eurozone's economy has been flat or barely growing since April, hobbled by the lingering effects of a debt crisis, uncertainty over a conflict in Ukraine and a lack of confidence among consumers, businesses and banks.
"It's clear now that the Russian sanctions are causing a slowdown in the European economy, particularly manufacturing," said Anastasia Amoroso, a global markets strategist at JPMorgan Funds. "But
we see this as a temporary soft patch."
Health care stocks rebounded after taking a beating at the start of the week on news that the U.S. was tightening rules on a tax-saving maneuver called an "inversion." Many of the companies using the tactic, in which a smaller company is acquired overseas so that the U.S. company can move its headquarters there and take advantage of lower tax rates, have been health companies.
AbbVie, which fell nearly 2 percent Tuesday, rose 2.6 percent Wednesday.
Other health care names helping the overall market were the biotechnology stocks such as Biogen, Celgene and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. They all rose 3 percent or more.
U. S. government bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.57 percent from 2.53 percent the day
before.
In other markets, benchmark U.S. crude oil rose $1.24 to $92.80 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil rose after the government reported a larger-than-expected decline in oil stocks. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, rose 10 cents to close at $96.95 on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
The euro slid to $1.28 and the dollar rose to 108.94 Japanese yen. The price of gold fell $2.50 to $1,219.50 an ounce. Silver fell eight cents to $17.70 an ounce and copper rose two cents to $3.05 a pound.
In other energy futures trading on the NYMEX, wholesale gasoline rose 3.5 cents to close at $2.664 a gallon, heating oil rose 0.6 cent to close at $2.689 a gallon and natural gas rose 9.5 cents to close at $3.911 per 1,000 cubic feet
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