Should People Who Spread Shooting Falsehoods Be Prosecuted?

Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens for Legitimate Government

19 Dec 2012

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After Sandy Hook: Seeking the Definitive Cause and Solution for Rage Massacres by Michael Rectenwald 18 Dec 2012 Our political leaders regularly tell us that violence never solves anything. Yet, we live under a government that, in service to the ruling elite, resorts to violence to pursue its imperialist agenda, on a daily basis.

Should people who spread falsehoods about Newtown shooting be prosecuted? 17 Dec 2012 At a news conference Sunday, Connecticut State Police warned about misinformation [?!] about the school shooting in Newtown being spread over social media and said those spreading falsehoods could be prosecuted under the law. "One thing that is becoming somewhat of a concern is misinformation that is being posted on social media sites," said Lt. Paul Vance at a news conference. In the hours after news of the Newtown shooting broke, many details of the crime, its alleged perpetrator and its victims were spread around social media and have since been proven wrong.

The overfunded US police state kicks into high gear: 2 western Pa. districts arming police at schools 17 Dec 2012 A western Pennsylvania school district whose board voted to eventually arm its school police instead got a court order over the weekend so officers in each of its schools could carry guns Monday in the wake of last week's school shooting in Connecticut. Butler County President Judge Thomas Doerr's Sunday court order affecting the Butler Area School District and another for police in the South Butler County School District, both about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh, were first reported by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Butler Area Superintendent Michael Strutt told The Associated Press that his 7,500-student district had an armed officer in each of its 11 elementary and three secondary schools on Monday, and likely will going forward.

Orange County Commissioners Approve Paying for Armed Deputies at Elementary Schools --The estimated cost of the move is *2 million-*3 million for the rest of the school year 18 Dec 2012 Orange County commissioners in Florida have approved paying for armed deputies to be at elementary schools following last week's mass shooting at a Connecticut school. Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to pay for the deputies to be at the 60 elementary schools in unincorporated Orange County. The county is home to Orlando. Orange County middle and high schools already have school resource officers on campus.

Tulsa police officers instructed to park outside schools anytime they have downtime --Newtown massacre sparks school security alerts nationwide 17 Dec 2012 Schools around the nation are heightening security and reviewing safety protocols following Friday's shooting massacre in which 20 children and six adults were gunned down inside a Connecticut elementary school. Grim echoes of the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy in Newtown, Conn., reverberated Monday through jittery school districts from Green Bay, Wis., to Huntsville, Ala., where frayed nerves and anxious hand-wringing were more the norm than an exception. In Tulsa, Okla., police officers were instructed to park outside schools anytime they have downtime in their vehicles, according to NewsOn6.com.

LAPD Chief Wants to Start Program Where Officers Visit Schools at Least Once Per Day --Chief also hopes to extend program to private schools 17 Dec 2012 Speaking at a graduating class of nearly 500 police cadets, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck reflected on the shooting massacre in Connecticut. He told CBS2 and KCAL9 that he wanted to implement a new program where officers would check in to elementary and junior high schools at least once a day. The announcement of the program was unexpected. Beck told Finnstrom he was hoping to implement the program by the time students returned from Winter break.

Police find no evidence Connecticut gunman was on medication 18 Dec 2012 Authorities said they found no evidence the [alleged] gunman who killed 26 people in Newtown, Connecticut, was being medicated for mental illness. Investigators searching the Connecticut home gunman Adam Lanza shared with his mother, Nancy Lanza, seized cell phones, computers and computer games, but found nothing at the residence to indicate he was taking medication, Hearst Connecticut Newspapers reported. Authorities armed with search warrants are still working to obtain the 20-year-old man's medical records, according to the report. Lanza's parents told friends and divorce mediators that their son had Asperger's syndrome, but it was unclear if he had ever been formally diagnosed.

ATF Says Conn. Gunman Not at Ranges Recently - AP 17 Dec 2012 Federal agents say the gunman in the Connecticut school shooting fired guns at shooting ranges over the past several years, but there's no evidence he did so recently as practice for the rampage. Debora Seifert, a spokeswoman for Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, says Adam Lanza and his mother each fired at shooting ranges. They also visited ranges together. But Seifert tells the AP that ATF investigators have no indication now "that the shooter engaged in shooting activities in the past six months."

Car backfires; 2 Texas schools put on lockdown 18 Dec 2012 The Birdville Elementary School in Haltom City and nearby Shannon Learning Center were both on lockdown for about an hour Tuesday morning. Police said they initially received a report of a gun or gunfire near the school. A student had allegedly reported seeing a teenager fire a gun in the air. School administrators quickly confirmed that no shots were fired in the school and no one was injured. It was as police continued their investigation, after the lockdown was cancelled, that a parent came forward and told police he may have caused the loud bang that was thought to be gunfire.

Shots fired at San Antonio theater, two wounded 17 Dec 2012 Gunfire broke out at a San Antonio movie theater late Sunday, leaving two people wounded and sending panicked moviegoers rushing for the exits and ducking for cover, according to CBS San Antonio affiliate KENS, which cites police and witnesses. Witnesses tell kens numerous shots were fired inside and outside the Santikos Mayan Palace 14 theater complex around 9:25 p.m., setting off the scramble to safety before police and EMS arrived. The complex was evacuated and sealed off for several hours. Bexar Xounty Sheriff's spokesman Louis Antu says the incident started when the man fired shots inside a nearby restaurant "and carried on into the theater." It's not clear what led to the shooting.

Man Charged With Firing Shots Outside Calif. Mall 19 Dec 2012 A man charged with firing 54 shots outside a Southern California mall has been linked to a similar shooting at the same mall in 2011. Marcos Sarinana Gurrola was charged Tuesday with 54 counts of discharging a gun in public and two counts of assault for injuries suffered by a mother and her 4-year-old daughter who were knocked down as they fled Saturday's gunfire, which hit no one. Prosecutors say police have linked the 42-year-old unemployed security guard to a similar shooting in 2011 at the Fashion Island mall in Newport Beach.

Man Fires Some 50 Shots at Calif. Mall Parking Lot 17 Dec 2012 A man who fired about 50 shots in the parking lot of a crowded Southern California shopping mall, sending shoppers sprinting for safety, was cooperative when officers took him into custody, authorities said Sunday. Witnesses said people ran, screaming and ducking for cover, when 42-year-old Marcos Gurrola fired into the air and onto the ground Saturday afternoon near the Macy's department store at the open-air Fashion Island mall in Newport Beach. He paused to reload several times, police said.

Moscow fires warning shot across bow of US naval-based ABM 17 Dec 2012 A top Russian official says a US missile defense system near Russia's border is strategically destabilizing and may prompt an arms race. Speaking on the threat of mobile, naval-based elements of the US missile defense system "suddenly appearing" on Russia’s coastline, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said such an event would trigger "the harshest reaction from Russia." "We must consider the effective protection of our strategic nuclear forces," Rogozin said in an interview with the magazine Voyenny Parade ('Military Parade').

Last French combat troops leave Afghanistan, official says 15 Dec 2012 France flew its last combat troops out of Afghanistan on Saturday, two years before allied nations in the 100,000-strong NATO mission led by the United States are due to recall their fighting forces. Around 200 soldiers of the 25th Belfort infantry regiment, responsible for overseeing the hastened French exit from the 11-year war, took off around 2:30 p.m. local time (1000 GMT), an airport official told AFP.

Huge explosion hits area near NATO base in Kabul 17 Dec 2012 A large explosion has struck an area near a NATO base in the Afghan capital city of Kabul in the latest attack on foreign forces in the Asian country.

Mine blast kills 10 girls in eastern Afghanistan 17 Dec 2012 At least ten girls have been killed in a landmine explosion as they were collecting firewood in eastern Afghanistan's Nangarhar province. According to Chaparhar district governor Mohammad Sediq Dawlatzai, the blast took place on Monday when one of the girls, all aged between nine and 11, accidentally struck the mine with an axe. "An old mine left over from the time of the jihad (against Soviet troops in the 1980s) exploded, killing 10 girls and wounding two others," he said.

Israeli soldiers assault two Reuters cameramen 13 Dec 2012 Israeli soldiers punched two Reuters cameramen and forced them to strip in the street, before letting off a tear gas canister in front of them, leaving one of them needing hospital treatment. Israel's military said on Thursday it took the allegations seriously, but offered no explanation for the assault that occurred on Wednesday evening in the heart of Hebron. Their car was clearly marked 'TV' and they were both wearing blue flak jackets with 'Press' emblazoned on the front.

KBR case keeps percolating with charges of gag order violations 17 Dec 2012 Though a Portland jury last month awarded 12 Oregon National Guard veterans *85 million because it found that defense contractor KBR Inc. was negligent in exposing them to a hazardous chemical, the case continues to simmer in federal court in Portland. On Friday, KBR's lawyers charged that the soldiers' lawyers had violated the gag order imposed by Magistrate Judge Paul Papak, who has instructed lawyers not to discuss the case. They produced an email flyer touting a DVD by a jury consultant to the soldiers' law firm, Doyle Raizner of Houston.

Bin Laden film leak was referred to Justice; leaker top Obama official 17 Dec 2012 Pentagon investigators concluded that a senior Defense Department official who's been mentioned as a possible candidate to be the next CIA director leaked restricted information to the makers of an acclaimed film about the hunt for 'Osama bin Laden,' and referred the case to the Justice Department, according to knowledgeable U.S. officials. The Justice Department received the case involving Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Michael Vickers in September, but so far it's declined to launch a criminal prosecution, said two senior U.S. officials who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Hagel Said to Top Obama's List to Take Over at Pentagon 13 Dec 2012 Former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel has emerged as the leading candidate to become President Barack Obama's next secretary of defense and may be nominated as soon as this month, according to two people familiar with the matter. Hagel, who served as an enlisted Army infantryman in Vietnam, has passed the vetting process at the White House Counsel's office, said one of the people. The former Nebraska senator has told associates that he is awaiting final word from the president, said the other person.

UBS pays $1.5 bln to settle Libor rigging in Japan 19 Dec 2012 UBS said it will pay 1.4 billion Swiss francs (*1.53 billion) and admit wrongdoing at its Japanese arm to settle a wide-ranging, multi-regulator probe into how the Swiss bank's traders manipulated yen Libor and euroyen contracts. The Swiss bank's fine is second-largest ever levied against a bank, after Britain's HSBC last week agreed to pay *1.92 billion to settle a probe in the United States into laundering m*ney for dr*g cartels.

US Democratic Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii dead at 88 17 Dec 2012 U.S. Democratic Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, a decorated veteran of World War Two and one of the longest-serving members of Congress, died on Monday at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He was 88. Inouye, who was chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, died of complications from a respiratory illness, according to a statement issued by his office, which said "Aloha" was the last word he spoke. Inouye's death was announced on the Senate floor by Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, who hailed him as one of the "greats of this body."

Echidna Puggles Born at Perth Zoo Reportedly Mark Breeding Milestone 17 Dec 2012 If you need a pick-me-up this week, these delightful echidna puggles may be able to lend a chubby hand. According to Australia's Herald Sun, a pair of baby short-beaked echidnas were born at Perth Zoo this August... While short-beaked echidnas are not considered to be endangered (though they are protected under Australian law), their long-beaked cousins are. As conservation group EDGE notes, the "three species of long-beaked echidna...are classified as Critically Endangered -- one category away from "Extinct" -- by the IUCN.

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