A black student from the University of Illinois at Chicago was arrested on Monday–after threatening to murder 16 white students and faculty members at the nearby University of Chicago.
The student has not yet been identified, and few details are being released about what exactly happened, but it appears to be in response to the 2014 killing of Laquan McDonald, a 17-year-old black teen in Chicago.
McDonald, who was armed with a 3-inch knife, was shot by a police officer sixteen times. His case shot to notoriety after a dashboard camera video was released in October 2015 to the public. A Chicago police officer was arrested hours later, and charged with first-degree murder.
It’s believed that the incriminating threat against University of Chicago was made in a comment left on a video on a website called World Star Hip_hop, which features music videos and fight clips.
The comment read:
“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 [sic] McDonald was killed.”
The commenter added, even more chillingly:
“i will then die killing any number of white policeman [sic] in the process. This is not a joke. I am to do my part and rid the world of white devils. I expect you to do the same.”
The threats were taken seriously enough that the University of Chicago cancelled all classes on Monday, to make sure no students or faculty were in harm’s way–but it’s not clear if the threats legally qualify as credible.
It’s unclear what charges the suspect faces, if any.
