justin herdman

A report from The New York Times says the U.S. Justice Department has effectively shut down the investigation into the death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was killed by Cleveland police near the Cuddell Recreation Center in 2014. The Times further reports the department has not officially closed the case, adding further confusion. New York Times reporter Katie Benner helped break the story and she joined host Glenn Forbes on All Things Considered Friday.

City officials have approval from the Cleveland City Council Safety Committee to apply for a U.S. Department of Justice grant that would provide funding for Operation Legend, formerly known as Operation Relentless Pursuit. The nearly $8 million grant would reimburse the city for the salaries and benefits of 30 Cleveland police officers, to be hired as part of task forces meant to break up large-scale crime in the city. The first wave of officers have already been selected, said Justin Herdman, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.

City of Cleveland officials sought on Friday to refute concerns that the federal government is sending federal agents to Cleveland to replicate the scenes in Portland, Ore., where agents from the Department of Homeland Security detained protestors using unmarked vans. Officials called the conference to address news of Cleveland’s inclusion in Operation Legend, a federal law enforcement operation that sends agents from several federal agencies to cities to combat crime.

President Donald Trump has nominated the U.S. attorney in Cleveland, Justin Herdman, to the same position in Washington, D.C. If confirmed by the Senate as U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Herdman would oversee cases referred by Robert Mueller’s investigation of foreign interference in the 2016 presidential election. The office has also been at the center of the recent decisions to lessen presidential ally Roger Stone’s prison sentence and drop charges against Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn.

Elizabeth Lecron of Toledo, Ohio, was arrested on Monday after a months-long investigation by the Northwest Ohio Terrorism Joint Task Force as she allegedly planned pipe bomb attacks against multiple targets in the Toledo area and elsewhere. An unidentified member of the public tipped off law enforcement of Lecron's plans, and authorities tracked her activity over several months, according to FBI Special Agent in Charge Jeff Fortunato.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced Friday the creation of a new task force in Cleveland aimed at taking down drug trafficking and violent…