Monthly Archives: January 2011

Murder/suicide in Omaha High School

Here’s a link to NPR’s coverage of the Omaha, Nebraska high schoolmurder/suicide: Alleged Gunman In Omaha High School Kills Vice Principal, Self.  The 17-year old shooter is, apparently, the child of an Omaha detective. An excerpt from NPR’s news blog, The Two-Way:

Police say a 17-year-old high school senior shot two school administrators today in Omaha, Nebraska. Katie Knapp Schubert from member station KIOS reports:

Robert Butler Jr. walked in to the office at Millard South High School just before 1 p.m. and shot principal Curtis Case and assistant principal Vicki Kaspar. Butler was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound a short time later. Police Chief Alex Hayes says Butler was the son of an Omaha Police Detective.

“We currently are speaking with him and we have an officer assigned to help him with any needs he may have as far as his mental state goes,” Hayes said. “So we’ll be continuing to look at that and see what kind of issues were going on with Robert Butler.”

The AP reports that in an ominous Facebook update before the shooting, Butler wrote that people would “hear about the ‘evil’ things he did and said the school drove him to violence.” They add:

Butler recently transferred to the school from Lincoln, Nebraska. He wrote in the post that Omaha changed him and said he wanted people to remember him for who he was before affecting “the lives of the families I ruined.”

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Stray airliner prompts Hill evacuation – Jonathan Allen and John Maggs – POLITICO.com

A commercial airliner strayed into restricted airspace around the Capitol on Saturday, triggering an evacuation of the complex and the scrambling of fighter jets from Andrews Air Force Base.

The Piedmont Airlines DHC-8 Dash 8 turboprop, en route to Reagan National Airport from Hilton Head, S.C., lost contact with air traffic controllers due to a crew error, which triggered security measures put in place after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Piedmont is a subsidiary of U.S. Airways.

via Stray airliner prompts Hill evacuation – Jonathan Allen and John Maggs – POLITICO.com.

Stray airliner prompts Hill evacuation – Jonathan Allen and John Maggs – POLITICO.com

A commercial airliner strayed into restricted airspace around the Capitol on Saturday, triggering an evacuation of the complex and the scrambling of fighter jets from Andrews Air Force Base.

The Piedmont Airlines DHC-8 Dash 8 turboprop, en route to Reagan National Airport from Hilton Head, S.C., lost contact with air traffic controllers due to a crew error, which triggered security measures put in place after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Piedmont is a subsidiary of U.S. Airways.

A congressional source had earlier described the plane as a DC-9 passenger jet.

The plane was first noticed at 1:30 p.m., triggering an “Aircon Red” — or air condition red — alert. E-mail evacuation notices were sent to House and Senate members and staff just after 1:40 p.m., and the all clear, a return to “Aircon Green,” was given about 20 minutes later at 2:02 p.m.

An “Aircon Red” alert is triggered when an airplane enters a restricted zone about 15 miles around Washington — or about three to five minutes of flying time, depending on air speed and other factors — according to the Federal Aviation Administration and a former House aide who dealt with security issues.

Despite the clearance notice from police, alarms were audible one mile away from the Capitol and aides reported that they still did not have access to their offices over an hour after the episode was said to have ended.

“The fire marshal is on [the] scene working on silencing alarms, then reoccupation can begin,” Capitol Police spokeswoman Kimberly Schneider told POLITICO by e-mail.

FAA spokeswoman Diane Spitaliere said the plane was on its final approach to Reagan and approximately 18 minutes away from the airport when the crew mistakenly switched communication to the wrong frequency. The crew was out of contact with air traffic controllers for about 15 minutes as the plane continued its approach, a time when pilots are normally in verbal contact with the tower, she said.

A spokeswoman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which coordinates air defense in the United States and Canada, said the plane was only three minutes away from the airport when radio contact was reestablished, at which point the airliner was also a few minutes from the Pentagon and other possible targets.  F-16 fighters had scrambled from Andrews to intercept the plane, but they had not made visual contact, raising the question of whether they were in range to shoot down the plane if needed.

NORAD spokeswoman Stacey Knott said the airliner was flying at approximately 10,000 feet and the F-16 fighters returned to base without contacting the plane.

The incident triggered the evacuation order and a series of e-mails to congressional staff.

“As a precautionary measure, the buildings were evacuated and the Capitol complex was secured as we monitored the flight path,” Capitol Police wrote. “The aircraft was intercepted and began responding to directions from the FAA. The commercial aircraft safely landed at [Reagan] and the Capitol complex reopened. The U.S. Capitol Police is investigating the situation in conjunction with” the Transportation Security Administration.

Despite the “precautionary” nature of the evacuation, the alert, which would normally include loud warnings over public address speakers positioned throughout the Capitol and office buildings for such crises, must have alarmed the few people who worked during the weekend between the 111th and 112th Congresses.

“The Capitol Police are tracking an unidentified incoming aircraft. All persons in the U.S. Capitol, Hart, Dirksen and Russell buildings should evacuate now,” read an alert sent to senators and staff.

A similar note sent to members of the House and staff advised that “an unauthorized aircraft has entered restricted airspace.”

Richard E. Cohen contributed to this report.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/46937.html#ixzz1A6GiEoKy

via Stray airliner prompts Hill evacuation – Jonathan Allen and John Maggs – POLITICO.com.

Reform Material Support Laws for Terrorists – NYTimes.com

DID former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Tom Ridge, a former homeland security secretary, and Frances Townsend, a former national security adviser, all commit a federal crime last month in Paris when they spoke in support of the Mujahedeen Khalq at a conference organized by the Iranian opposition group’s advocates? Free speech, right? Not necessarily.The problem is that the United States government has labeled the Mujahedeen Khalq a “foreign terrorist organization,” making it a crime to provide it, directly or indirectly, with any material support. And, according to the Justice Department under Mr. Mukasey himself, as well as under the current attorney general, Eric Holder, material support includes not only cash and other tangible aid, but also speech coordinated with a “foreign terrorist organization” for its benefit. It is therefore a felony, the government has argued, to file an amicus brief on behalf of a “terrorist” group, to engage in public advocacy to challenge a group’s “terrorist” designation or even to encourage peaceful avenues for redress of grievances.Don’t get me wrong. I believe Mr. Mukasey and his compatriots had every right to say what they did. Indeed, I argued just that in the Supreme Court, on behalf of the Los Angeles-based Humanitarian Law Project, which fought for more than a decade in American courts for its right to teach the Kurdistan Workers’ Party in Turkey how to bring human rights claims before the United Nations, and to assist them in peace overtures to the Turkish government.But in June, the Supreme Court ruled against us, stating that all such speech could be prohibited, because it might indirectly support the group’s terrorist activity. Chief Justice John Roberts reasoned that a terrorist group might use human rights advocacy training to file harassing claims, that it might use peacemaking assistance as a cover while re-arming itself, and that such speech could contribute to the group’s “legitimacy,” and thus increase its ability to obtain support elsewhere that could be turned to terrorist ends. Under the court’s decision, former President Jimmy Carter’s election monitoring team could be prosecuted for meeting with and advising Hezbollah during the 2009 Lebanese elections.The government has similarly argued that providing legitimate humanitarian aid to victims of war or natural disasters is a crime if provided to or coordinated with a group labeled as a “foreign terrorist organization” — even if there is no other way to get the aid to the region in need. Yet The Times recently reported that the Treasury Department, under a provision ostensibly intended for humanitarian aid, was secretly granting licenses to American businesses to sell billions of dollars worth of food and goods to the very countries we have blockaded for their support of terrorism. Some of the “humanitarian aid” exempted? Cigarettes, popcorn and chewing gum.Under current law, it seems, the right to make profits is more sacrosanct than the right to petition for peace, and the need to placate American businesses more compelling than the need to provide food and shelter to earthquake victims and war refugees.Congress should reform the laws governing material support of terrorism. It should make clear that speech advocating only lawful, nonviolent activities — as Michael Mukasey and Rudolph Giuliani did in Paris — is not a crime. The First Amendment protects even speech advocating criminal activity, unless it is intended and likely to incite imminent lawless conduct. The risk that speech advocating peace and human rights would further terrorism is so remote that it cannot outweigh the indispensable value of protecting dissent.At the same time, Congress also needs to reform the humanitarian aid exemption. It should state clearly that corporate interests in making profits from cigarettes are not sufficient to warrant exemptions from sanctions on state sponsors of terrorism. But Congress should also protect the provision of legitimate humanitarian aid — food, water, medical aid and shelter — in response to wars or natural disasters. Genuine humanitarian aid and free speech can and should be preserved without undermining our interests in security.

via Reform Material Support Laws for Terrorists – NYTimes.com.

Tens of thousands flee southern Chile's coast after magnitude 7.1 earthquake | World news | The Guardian

The Associated Press, via The Guardian:

Tens of thousands flee southern Chile’s coast after magnitude 7.1 earthquakeNo immediate reports of deaths as people flee for higher ground in fear of tsunami similar to one that ravaged coastline last year o o Share91 o Reddit o Buzz up Associated Press in Santiago The Guardian, Monday 3 January 2011 Article historyA magnitude 7.1 earthquake shook southern Chile yesterday, sending thousands fleeing for higher ground in fear of a tsunami like that which ravaged the coastline last year. There were no immediate reports of deaths or damage, and Vicente Nunez, head of the National Emergency Office, said no tsunami alert was issued.The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii also said no destructive Pacific Ocean-wide tsunami was expected.Some mobile phone aerials and electrical power were knocked out in the Araucania region where the quake was centred, 370 miles 595km south-southwest of the capital, Santiago.

via Tens of thousands flee southern Chile’s coast after magnitude 7.1 earthquake | World news | The Guardian.