WGEM.com: Quincy News, Weather, Sports, and RadioJackson to call on feds in Rockford shooting
Associated Press - December 26, 2009 4:14 AM ET
CHICAGO (AP) - The Rev. Jesse Jackson has criticized a grand jury for deciding two Rockford police officers were justified in fatally shooting an unarmed man inside a church-run day care earlier this year.
Jackson calls the Winnebago County grand jury's decision this week a "miscarriage of justice."
The civil rights leader is expected to call for a federal probe at a news conference on Saturday.
The Aug. 24 killing of 23-year-old Mark Anthony Barmore at the church-run facility in Rockford heightened racial tensions in the community. The two officers are white and Barmore was black.
Thousands attended rallies protesting the shooting and U.S. Department of Justice mediators were sent to quell racial unrest.
Witnesses say Barmore surrendered. But police have said Barmore tried to attack the officers.
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