AG HOLDER'S REMARKS AT ST. LOUIS FBI FIELD OFFICE

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Attorney General Eric Holder Delivers Remarks at the St. Louis FBI Field Office

~ Wednesday, August 20, 2014

We have brought to this area very experienced prosecutors, we have very experienced agents who are handling this matter, and doing so, I think, in a fine way.

I'm going to get briefed on more of the details about the investigation.  I've been kept up to date, but there's nothing that can replace actually coming to the office that's handling the matter, and being able to look in the face the people who are, I think at this point, very ably handling this investigation.

Now, our investigation is different from that which the state is doing.  We are looking for violations of federal, criminal civil rights statutes, which is different from what the local investigation is.

We have brought a substantial number of people here, of agents here, who have done a great job in the canvassing that they did over the past weekend, and continue to follow leads so that we can do a thorough and a fair job of making a determination about what happened on August the ninth.  And I'm confident that through the ability of these people, we will be able to make a determination about whether or not any federal statutes have in fact been violated.

My hope also is that through the trip that I'm making out here today and by expressing the importance of the way in which this investigation is going, that hopefully will have a calming influence on the area, if people know that a federal, thorough investigation is being done--is being manned by these very capable people.  My hope is that that will have—give people some degree of confidence that the appropriate things are being done by their federal government.

Again, we are doing something different, okay, than that which the state is doing--than what the county prosecutors are doing.  But nevertheless, I think that what we are doing, hopefully, will have a positive impact.

Thank you.

PAIR ARRESTED FOR ROLES IN MURDER PLOT

FROM:  U.S. MARSHALS SERVICE 
Marshals Task Force Arrests Pair Wanted For Ordering Murder

Columbus, OH – U.S. Marshal Patrick Sedoti of the Southern District of Ohio announces the arrest of Clarissa Clark, 19, and Summer Kerley, 29, both of Pittsburgh. The pair was arrested early Thursday evening by the Southern Ohio Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team (SOFAST) on warrants issued by authorities in Pittsburgh. The two women face charges of criminal solicitation of homicide, conspiracy to commit homicide and terroristic threats all stemming from a March 2013 shooting in the Sheraden neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Kerley is also charged with aggravated assault.

In late March, Clark and Kerley were passengers on a ‘party bus’ in Southern Pittsburgh and became engaged in a verbal altercation with other passengers. It is alleged that Clark made several phone calls to arrange for two men, James Lawrence, 21 and Michael Lyons, 22, to assault the others involved in the fight. Eventually, Clark ordered the bus to pull over and Lawrence and Lyons emerged from a car with guns and began firing at the victim. Steven Lee, 21, of McKees Rocks, Pa. was killed.

After receiving a tip from the U.S. Marshals office in Pittsburgh, Columbus based Marshals and Task Force officers from SOFAST located both Clark and Kerley in a residence on Columbus’ east-side. The women were arrested without incident and are currently the Franklin County Corrections Center awaiting extradition to Pennsylvania for trial.

Columbus SOFAST is a fugitive focused, U.S. Marshals Service led task force consisting of local, state, and federal authorities including the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, Delaware County Sheriff’s Office, Ohio Adult Parole Authority, Columbus Police Department, Ohio State Highway Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, United States Secret Service, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.