In brief: FBI completes Ferguson probe
WASHINGTON – The FBI has completed its investigation into the police shooting of an unarmed, black 18-year-old in Ferguson, Missouri, a U.S. official said Wednesday.
The Justice Department has not yet announced whether it will file a federal civil rights charge against former Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. But officials and experts have said such a prosecution would be highly unlikely, in part because of the extraordinarily high legal standard federal prosecutors would need to meet.
The official was not authorized to discuss the case by name and spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Wilson, who is white, was cleared in November by a state grand jury in the Aug. 9 death of Michael Brown, a shooting that touched off protests in the streets and became part of a national conversation about race relations and police departments that patrol minority neighborhoods. Attorney General Eric Holder visited Ferguson in the days after the shooting to try to calm tensions and to meet with Brown’s relatives and federal law enforcement.
The New York Times reported Wednesday that Justice Department lawyers were preparing a memo recommending against prosecuting Wilson, and that Holder – who is expected to leave his position within weeks – had not yet made a decision.
Sandy Hook killer’s home to be razed
NEWTOWN, Conn. – Officials in Newtown voted Wednesday night to tear down the home where Adam Lanza lived before he carried out the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
The vote by the Newtown Legislative Council approved a proposal by the board of selectmen to raze the 3,100-square-foot home and keep the land as open space.
First Selectwoman Pat Llodra said she expects the Lanza house will be razed once winter is over. The 2-acre property was given to the town in December by a bank that acquired it from the Lanza family.
Neighbors had been pleading with town officials to tear down the house of the mass murderer, with one resident saying it’s “a constant reminder of the evil that resided there.”
Lanza shot his mother to death in the house Dec. 14, 2012, before killing 20 first-graders and six educators at nearby Sandy Hook Elementary School. He then committed suicide.
Navy officer fired, under investigation
WASHINGTON – The Navy captain in charge of the naval station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has been fired and is being investigated in connection with an alleged affair with a woman on the base and the recent death of her husband, U.S. officials said Wednesday.
Capt. John R. Nettleton was relieved of duty Wednesday due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command, the Navy said in a news release.
The Navy would not comment on the details of the investigation. But U.S. officials said Nettleton is under investigation in connection with the death of Christopher Tur, who was found dead Jan. 11. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity.