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ByAlanScherZagier The Associated Press ST. LOUIS Attorney Gen- eral Eric Holder sought Wednesday to reassure the people of Ferguson about the investigation into Mi- chael Brown's death and said he understands why many black Americans do not trust police, recall- ing how he was repeatedly stopped by officers who seemed to target him be- cause of his race. Holder made the re- marks during a visit to the St. Louis suburb that has endured more than a week of unrest fueled by the fa- tal shooting of the black 18-year-old by a white of- ficer. The Obama admin- istration intended the trip to underscore its commit- ment to civil rights in gen- eral and the Ferguson case in particular. The attorney general de- scribed how he was stopped twice on the New Jersey Turnpike and accused of speeding. Police searched his car, going through the trunk and looking under the seats. "I remember how humili- ating that was and how an- gry I was and the impact it had on me," Holder said dur- ing a meeting with about 50 community leaders at the Florissant campus of St. Louis Community College. Holder also met with federal officials investigat- ing Michael Brown's Aug. 9 death and with Brown's parents. While living in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, Holder was once running to catch a movie with his cousin when a squad car rolled up and flashed its lights at the pair. The officer yelled, "Where are you going? Hold it!" Holder recalled. His cousin "started mouthing off," and Holder urged him to be quiet. "We negotiate the whole thing, and we walk to our movie. At the time that he stopped me, I was a federal prosecutor. I wasn't a kid," he said. Holder also met briefly with Missouri State High- way Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson, who has been in charge of security in the community for nearly a week. The National Guard has also been called in to help keep the peace. Asked whether he had confidence in the local investigation of the police officer, Johnson said Holder's presence "is a guarantee on that." In nearby Clayton, a grand jury began hear- ing evidence to determine whether the officer, Darren Wilson, should be charged in Brown's death. A spokes- man for St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch said there was no timeline for the process, but it could take weeks. At the college, Holder told his audience that the most experienced agents and prosecutors would be assigned to the Ferguson investigation. Outside the St. Louis County Justice Center in Clayton, where the grand jury convened, two dozen protesters gathered in a circle for a prayer, chanted and held signs urging Mc- Culloch to step aside. McCulloch's deep family connections to police have been cited by some black leaders who question his ability to be impartial in the case. McCulloch's fa- ther, mother, brother, un- cle and cousin all worked for the St. Louis Police De- partment, and his father was killed while respond- ing to a call involving a black suspect. The prosecutor, who is white, has insisted his background will have no bearing on the handling of the Brown case, which has touched off days of night- time protests during which authorities used tear gas and rubber bullets to clear the streets. The protests were more subdued Tuesday night, with smaller crowds, fewer confrontations and no tear gas. Police said they still made 47 arrests, mainly of people who defied or- ders to disperse. Tensions rose briefly when some- one hurled a bottle at offi- cers, but there were no re- ports of gunfire or the type of clashes that had marked previous nights. On Wednesday, police said an officer had been suspended for pointing a semi-automatic assault ri- fle at demonstrators, then cursing and threatening to kill one of them. A pro- tester captured the ex- change on video Tuesday and posted it to YouTube and other websites. In a letter published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Holder promised a thor- ough investigation while calling for an end to the vi- olence in Ferguson. He said the bond of trust between law enforcement and the public is "all-important" but also "fragile." POLICE SHOOTING Holder says he understands mistrust of police by many PABLOMARTINEZMONSIVAIS‑THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Attorney General Eric Holder talks with Capt. Ron Johnson of the Missouri State Highway Patrol at Drake's Place Restaurant, Wednesday in Florrissant, Mo. By Lara Jakes The Associated Press WASHINGTON The United States stood firm Wednes- day in its fight with Islamic State militants who be- headed a U.S. journalist in Iraq, pledging to continue attacking the group despite its threats to kill another American hostage. The U.S. military continued its airstrikes against the group as President Barack Obama denounced the group as a "cancer" threatening the entire region. "We will be vigilant and we will be relentless," Obama said. Calling for a global re- sponse to the group that now controls territory in both Iraq and Syria, Obama condemned the group's ex- ecution of journalist James Foley, whose death he said had left the nation heart- broken. In forceful remarks, Obama accused the Islamic State of torturing, raping and murdering thousands of people in "cowardly acts of violence." "ISIL speaks for no reli- gion," Obama said, using an alternative name for the Is- lamic State. "Their victims are overwhelmingly Mus- lim, and no faith teaches people to massacre inno- cents. No just god would stand for what they did yes- terday and what they do ev- ery single day." Obama's remarks af- firmed that the U.S. would not change its military pos- ture in Iraq in response to Foley's killing. Since the video was released Tuesday, the U.S. military has pressed ahead by conducting nearly a dozen airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq. Obama said he'd told Fol- ey's family in a phone call Wednesday that the United States joins them in honor- ing all that Foley did, prais- ing the journalist for his work telling the story of the crisis in Syria, where Foley was captured in 2012. "Jim Foley's life stands in stark contrast to his kill- ers," Obama said. He spoke from Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, where he is on vacation. Foley, 40, from Roches- ter, New Hampshire, went missing in northern Syria in November 2012 while freelancing for Agence France-Presse and the Bos- ton-based media company GlobalPost. The car he was riding in was stopped by four militants in a con- tested battle zone that both Sunni rebel fighters and government forces were try- ing to control. He had not been heard from since. The beheading marks the first time the Islamic State has killed an Ameri- can citizen since the Syrian conflict broke out in March 2011, upping the stakes in an increasingly chaotic war. The killing is likely to com- plicate U.S. involvement in Iraq and the Obama admin- istration's efforts to contain the group as it expands in both Iraq and Syria. The group is the heir apparent of the militancy known as al-Qaida in Iraq, which beheaded many of its victims, including Ameri- can businessman Nicholas Berg in 2004. The video released on websites Tuesday appears to show the increasing so- phistication of the Islamic State group's media unit and begins with scenes of Obama explaining his deci- sion to order airstrikes. It then cuts to Foley, kneeling in the desert, next to a black-clad militant with a knife to his throat. After the captive speaks, the militant is shown ap- parently beginning to cut at his neck; the video fades to black before the behead- ing is completed. The next shot shows the captive ly- ing dead. SLAIN JOURNALIST Obama: US won't stop confronting Islamic State By Julie Pace The Associated Press WASHINGTON President Barack Obama sent special operations troops to Syria this summer on a secret mission to rescue American hostages, including journal- ist James Foley, held by Is- lamic State extremists, but they did not find them, the administration disclosed Wednesday. Officials said the rescue mission was authorized af- ter intelligence agencies be- lieved they had identified the location inside Syria where the hostages were being held. But the several dozen special operations forces dropped by aircraft into Syria did not find them at that location and engaged in a firefight with Islamic State militants before departing, killing several militants. No Americans died but one sus- tained a minor injury when an aircraft was hit. "The U.S. government had what we believed was sufficient intelligence, and when the opportunity pre- sented itself, the president authorized the Department of Defense to move aggres- sively to recover our citi- zens," said Lisa Monaco, Obama's top counterter- rorism adviser, in a state- ment. "Unfortunately, that mission was ultimately not successful because the hos- tages were not present." The administration re- vealed the rescue opera- tion a day after the mili- tants released a video show- ing the beheading of Foley and threatened to kill a sec- ond hostage, Steven Sotloff, if U.S. airstrikes against the militants in Iraq continued. Despite the militants' threats, the U.S. launched a new barrage of airstrikes against Islamic State tar- gets in Syria Wednesday. The Obama administration did not rule out the pros- pect of a military operation in Syria to bring those re- sponsible for Foley's death to justice. The disclosure of the rescue mission marks the first time the U.S. has re- vealed that American mili- tary personnel have been on the ground in Syria since a bloody civil war there broke out more than three years ago. Obama has resisted calls to insert the U.S. mili- tary in the middle of Syria's war, a cautious approach his critics say has allowed the Islamic State to strengthen there and make gains across the border in Iraq. "As we have said repeat- edly, the United States gov- ernment is committed to the safety and well-being of its citizens, particularly those suffering in captiv- ity. In this case, we put the best of the United States military in harms' way to try and bring our citizens home," Pentagon spokes- man Rear Adm. John Kirby said in a statement Wednes- day night. SPECIAL OPERATION Hostage rescue mission failed The Associated Press SEATTLE A Hanford Nu- clear Reservation contrac- tor has been ordered to re- instate a worker who the U.S. Department of Labor says was fired for voicing concerns about nuclear and environmental safety, offi- cials said Wednesday. Richland-based Wash- ington River Protection So- lutions, a subsidiary of URS Corporation and Energy So- lutions, was also ordered to pay $220,000 in back wages and other expenses. The labor department said the contractor violated federal whistleblower provi- sions. The worker first blew the whistle on nuclear and environmental safety and permit and record-keep- ing violations in 2009, ac- cording to the labor depart- ment. The worker was fired two years later and re-ap- plied for the job in 2012. The reason for the initial firing was "poor perfor- mance." "The people most able to identify hazards are of- ten the workers who are threatened by them," Ga- len Lemke, the labor de- partment's Occupational Safety and Health Admin- istration acting regional administrator, said in a statement. "Employees must never be punished for sounding an alarm when they see a problem that could injure, sicken or kill someone, or harm the en- vironment." Washington River Pro- tection Solutions said Wednesday that the em- ployee was not fired for voicing safety concerns, but as part of 200 layoffs undertaken to "align em- ployment levels with proj- ect work scope and federal funding. The company is review- ing the labor department's order and has not decided whether it will appeal be- fore an administrative law judge. "Each (Washington River Protection Solutions) em- ployee is empowered and encouraged to raise safety or other workplace con- cerns," the company stated. 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