Justice Dept. Arrests 1,500 in Roundup of Violent Suspects
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department announced arrests Wednesday of about 1,500 people in cities nationwide the agency described as some of the most violent fugitives, sex offenders and gang members.
A primary motivation behind the month-long Operation North Star was to halt gun violence that has risen to a national concern this year.
The operation was centered mostly in Baltimore, Chicago, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Memphis, New Orleans, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
“The Justice Department is committed to doing everything we can to protect our communities from violent crime and end the plague of gun violence,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement.
Garland made the statement two days after a gunman in Highland Park, Ill., killed seven people and injured 30 and one day after police in Richmond, Va., said they thwarted another mass murder.
A tipster notified police that two suspects planned to randomly shoot persons attending a fireworks display at an amphitheater in Richmond. Police recovered two assault rifles, a handgun and 223 rounds of ammunition from the men’s home.
The U.S. Marshals Service focused its Operation North Star on cities with the highest rates of homicides and gun violence. Among the persons arrested, 230 are being charged with homicide offenses and 131 with sexual assault crimes.
The persons arrested included:
- Rashaan Vereen, 34, on charges of attempted homicide, aggravated assault and firearms violations. Vereen was a suspect in a June 4 mass shooting in Philadelphia in which three people were killed and 11 injured.
- Dionte Mitchell, 22, on two counts of homicide and possession of a weapon during a violent crime after he allegedly shot and killed two women at a party in Seabrook, New Jersey.
- Jaden Baskerville, 21, on an attempted homicide charge after a drive-by shooting in New York that injured a 7-year-old girl.
- Robert Bakersville, 28, on a homicide charge after a shooting at a home in Washington, D.C. Police say they found ammunition and “ghost gun” components in his residence.
The Justice Department assurances that they were trying to get gun violence under control were undercut by a June 23 Supreme Court ruling that loosened restrictions on carrying concealed guns outside the owners’ homes.
The Supreme Court said legal gun owners do not need to demonstrate a special need, such as self-defense, to carry a concealed weapon.
Accused Highland Park shooter Robert E. Crimo, 21, passed government background checks before legally purchasing five guns, including an assault rifle used to kill victims at the Independence Day parade. He is charged with seven counts of first-degree murder.
Tom can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @tramstack.
