#MSU 2023 Shooting

[apollo-zero-one]

Everyone in and around MSU's campus please stay safe! Remember not to call anyone on campus, the ringing could give away their location. Silence your phones, keep them on vibrate.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Michigan Democrats are considering speeding up the passage of new gun legislation in the state following a shooting at Michigan State University on Monday evening that left three people dead.

The drive for new legislation will be one of the first significant tests of Democratic Party governance in the state since the midterm elections. Last year, Democrats unexpectedly captured “trifecta” control of Michigan, with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer cruising to reelection and her party narrowly flipping both state legislative chambers, too.

It is the first time in decades that the party had complete control in Michigan. Republicans have in the past been resistant to gun control measures, and Democrats in the state said there will be new urgency behind their drive, after the latest mass shooting in the country. Michigan Democrats are focusing on three gun policy proposals: universal background checks, safe storage laws and extreme risk protection orders, sometimes known as “red flag” laws.

“We’re going to try to move faster,” Democratic state Sen. Rosemary Bayer said in an interview Tuesday morning. “After years of not getting an inch, now we’re making real plans.”

“Some of the legislation we have goes back 10 years,” added Bayer, who represented the town of Oxford in 2021, when four students died in a mass shooting at a high school there. “We just haven’t been able to get any traction to do anything.”

Bayer said that lawmakers updated legislative proposals following the 2022 midterms, knowing they might be able to move forward on it. Even before this week’s tragedy, state Democrats had said gun laws would be among their legislative priorities now that they have complete control of the government. In a roundtable with reporters in December, Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks identified gun violence legislation as a priority for the chambers’ new majorities.

But this week’s shooting has increased the urgency.

“One of the models we’ve seen in these horrible tragedies is that we need to act quickly. Even in Florida, they were able to get it done in a red legislature,” said state Sen. Darrin Camilleri, who represents the area south of Detroit. “I think we can do that with a Democratic trifecta. There are conversations we’re having as soon as today to figure out timelines to expedite this process.”

Whitmer specifically called out all three of Democrats’ gun control priorities in her State of the State speech last month.

“Despite pleas from Oxford families, these issues never even got a hearing in the legislature,” Whitmer said at the time. “This year, let’s change that and work together to stop the violence and save lives.”

The MSU shooting occurred on campus in East Lansing on Monday evening, which killed three students and injured five more. The suspected gunman died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound off campus. The Detroit News reported that he pled guilty to a gun charge in 2019.

It is the 67th mass shooting in America this year alone, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a D.C.-based nonprofit.

Bayer, who Whitmer called out as a leader on gun control legislation in her address, said that there is a plan to introduce legislation “soon.”

“We had a schedule that we’re trying to move up even more,” she said. “We were targeting right after the first week of April, that’s what we were planning for, but we want to respond quicker.”

But Democrats in the state are also cognizant that they have very slim majorities to manage in both the state House and the state Senate. Even a single no vote from a Democratic lawmaker could sink a bill in the state House if no Republican joins.

“All you need is one Joe Manchin,” said Bayer, referencing the West Virginia Senator’s role bedeviling Democrats on Capitol Hill on a myriad of issues. (Manchin has worked with Senators from both parties on gun legislation in the past, and he supported the bipartisan law that passed last year following the mass shootings at a school in Uvalde, Texas, and a grocery store in Buffalo, N.Y.)

“With these current events, how could anyone stop it?” Bayer continued. “But I’ve thought that for years.”

Spokespeople for Whitmer and Brinks did not immediately respond to requests for comment on new legislation. But statements in the immediate aftermath of the shooting expressed despair and outrage and signaled that Democratic leadership planned to push for gun control legislation.

Brinks tweeted that her daughter, a MSU student, was “answering my texts and calls” early Tuesday morning. Tate’s spokesperson pointed to a statement he issued saying “we can continue to debate the reasons for gun violence in America, or we can act,” adding that he had “no understanding left for those in a position to effect change who are unwilling to act.”

“This is a uniquely American problem,” Whitmer, who ordered that flags around the state be lowered to half-staff on Tuesday morning, said in her own statement. “We should not, we cannot, accept living like this.”

Camilleri and Bayer expressed confidence that the party would be able to get all Democrats on board for legislation focused on red flag laws, safe storage and universal background checks. And Bayer said she thought some Republicans could join on some pieces of legislation as well. “We’ve had a couple of Republicans join our caucus on the topic,” she said. “I hope this will help more of them to come over.”

But beyond that, broader legislation may be much more difficult, the lawmakers admitted.

“When it comes to some other issues that I’m sure we’ll be discussing, those might be tougher, but the urgency to act is now,” Camilleri said.

[thundergrace]

February 18, 2023

The GoFundMe:

[wasthereamassshootingtoday]

Hello all,

It’s been a while, hasn’t it? I apologize for my sudden departure from this blog, which came following some massive changes in my life (both good and bad) that meant I didn’t have time for daily updates anymore, despite my desire to still post. I didn’t feel I could keep pace with this blog and as my last update became further and further away, I set this project aside, but I never forgot about it and all of you.

All of that being said, there was a mass shooting at my campus, Michigan State University, yesterday evening. Although I am an online graduate student, there are no words for the horror I felt seeing dozens of emergency emails come through and watching the videos of students running and endless streams of police officers showing up to my school.

There are no words for the fear that I felt for my classmates who were on campus.

I don’t personally know anyone who died or was injured in the shooting yesterday, but it was still my school, my classmates and we are all grieving and I am still in shock of what’s happened.

This being said, I’m revisiting this blog and, knowing the impact it's had on my life and the lives of others, I’m going to try to begin giving weekly updates on the epidemic of mass shootings in this country. Maybe one day I’ll figure out how to code auto-updating posts, but, for now, I still do not have the time or capacity to commit to daily updates on these tragedies.

Thank you to all of you who’ve sent me messages checking in. Your comments meant more than you’ll ever know.

I’ll update later this week updating everyone on 2023’s mass shooting metrics, but in the meantime, please join me and the rest of MSU in mourning our three classmates who passed away and the five who are in critical condition and keep their families in your thoughts and prayers

[maa-pix]

People gather for a vigil at The Rock on the Michigan State University campus in East Lansing on Wednesday, February 15, 2023, to honor and remember the victims of the mass shooting that happened on the MSU campus that left three dead and multiple others injured.

Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press

More photos of the vigil at Detroit Free Press

[mywickedtruth]

On Monday. February 13 2023, two school shootings happened. There were probably more, but I didn’t look it up. Let me tell you how these are connected.

In Lansing, Michigan, the city I was born in, at MSU, the alma mater of my father, and the current university of my cousin’s 2 children. A young woman, Elise, a junior, who actually looks like me, was on the other side of campus when the guy went into that classroom. She is ‘ok’ safe, scared, in shock, traumatized, perhaps permanently.

Her younger brother, Jack, a freshman was in the building. Not the classroom, but in Berkeley Hall. He is ‘ok’ safe, scared, in shock, traumatized, perhaps permanently. Imagine the horror and the fear.

Now, the second shooting:

Denver, Colorado, the city I was raised in, at Denver East High School, my alma mater, and the current high school of my sisters son. A young man, Jude, a freshman, who is a varsity soccer player, was in his classroom when his teammate and friend was shot in their school parking lot. He is ‘ok’ safe, scared, in shock, traumatized, perhaps permanently.

That’s 3 kids in my family. On the same day. Do you hear me? THE SAME FUCKING DAY!! The same day. Don’t tell me to be rational. Don’t tell me I’m in your fucking prayers. Go donate money to the families. The boy that WAS SHOT IN THE FUCKING HEAD IN FRONT OF HIS HIGH SCHOOL ISN’T DEAD!!!! It’s not looking good, but his family could use some cash.

And none of mine were ‘hurt’. I’m not attending funerals. My sister, my cousin, their kids? How do they get through this? How do they parent this? How do they get their kids to go back to school? And be successful? And healthy? And and and. How do you comfort them when the nightmares come?

And thank fucking god there was a metal detector inside the high school where it did not one iota of good.

It’s a complex problem. Gun control, social services, media (mainstream and social), police, lack of culture, systemic racism, dysfunction in all levels of government, a nation divided in half by hate; violent all consuming blind hate; color coded hate -black and white, red and blue, corporate greed, and more….but no one is sitting down at the table to even try to peel the onion. Think tanks put ROVERS ON MARS but can’t keep 3rd graders safe in Uvalde or Sandy Hook or the younger siblings of my college friends at Columbine! And let me tell you how many fucks I give about rovers on Mars. (Lots of tax dollars on Mars, kids. $25.4 BILLION dollars to NASA IN 2023) let’s take one years nasa budget and fund a mass shooting solution think tank and see if they can do something with it.

FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK

I’m angry. And a woman today in my office told me it’s gods plan. It’s in the Bible, the end of days. I told her to shove her Bible up her ass. And when it’s her family I will remind her of her god and his plan. AND!!!!!

Her/ their ignorance is not as valuable as my/our intelligence. But (social) media has given them a platform to be loud. From the red neck swamp rat to the hallowed halls of the highest government offices

Thoughts and prayers are not enough. Stop voting for pussies. Stop following bullies and bigots. Stop teaching your children that gun violence is acceptable. What happened to having a fist fight at the bike rack after school? Stop allowing your kids to disrespect others. Stop disrespecting others. Don’t heckle the President of the UNITED States on national television. It’s tacky. It teaches others that this behavior is ok. It’s not. Do you hear me? It. Is. Not. Send cash to the victims. Spread love and tolerance and logic and thoughtful legislation and rational gun control and severe punishment for the guys shooting up our families. And don’t plea bargain weapons charges down.

The bullies in my high school in the 80’s were plenty mean. The terrible, troubled kids. But they didn’t have AR15’s. But now….

Fuck

[unholy-seraph]

Dude, this school shooting shit is getting the fuck out of hand. MSU (Michigan State University) had a shooter attack earlier tonight (2/13/23, ~8:00/8:30 est pm).

*Something* needs to be done. We *need* to figure out how to solve this fucking problem, and if that means tearing so much down just so we can rebuild the foundation, then so be it.

https://www.wilx.com/2023/02/14/shelter-place-shots-fired-michigan-state-university/

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/13/police-shots-fired-on-east-lansing-michigan-state-university-campus

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2023/02/13/michigan-state-shooting-what-we-know-about-shots-fired-on-campus/69901251007/

[aestheticvoyage2023]

Day 49: Saturday February 18, 2023 - “Sparty On”

Athletics resumed this weekend after a school shooting tragedy visited Michigan State earlier in the week.  And like Spartans all across the country, we gathered to cheer our basketball team, as they bussed south and east to Ann Arbor.  The team lost a hard game to their rival and it wasn’t pretty at the end but none of us were any less proud to be wearing our green and white.  Jane and Dave came over, the very root of my Spartan heart.  I served up some really great chili, and enjoyed the pickings that Jane brought.  Dad served Gin and Tonic, and our littlest Sparty, William provided the in game entertainment to keep our spirits bright.

Song: The Strumbellas - Spirits

Quote: “At any given moment you have the power to say this is not how the story is going to end.” ― Christine Mason Miller 

“When from these scenes we wander And twilight shadows fade, Our memory still will linger Where light and shadows played;I n the evening oft we’ll gather And pledge our faith anew, Sing our love for Alma Mater And thy praises MSU.” 

[brandedcities]

MSU shooting 2023: Police work to determine motive after 8 shot, 3 fatally, on college campus

The alleged MSU shooter has died, police said.

[masterofd1saster]

CJ current events 16feb23

Spartan murders

The mass shooter who killed three students and left five others in critical condition at Michigan State University was identified Tuesday as a 43-year-old local man who previously spent time behind bars on gun charges.

Anthony Dwayne McRae was IDed after he was found dead of a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound at 11:35 p.m., just over three hours after he first opened fire at the East Lansing campus.

“We have absolutely no idea what the motive was at this point,” MSU Police Interim Deputy Chief Chris Rozman said early Tuesday.

McRae “had no affiliation to the university — he was not a student, faculty or staff, current or previous.”***

McRae was finally tracked down after a local resident called a tip line during the more than three hours he was hunted after shooting up two locations at the school, officials said.***

Records show that McRae was arrested in June 2019 with a suspected loaded firearm in his car. He was convicted and sentenced to up to 18 months, getting released on supervision in May 2021, the Detroit News said.*** https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/13/us/michigan-state-university-shots-fired/index.html

+++

***He was arrested in 2019 for possessing guns without a concealed carry permit, Michigan Department of Corrections spokesperson Chris Gautz told Bridge Michigan on Tuesday.

Court records show McRae was initially charged with a felony in district court but later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in circuit court. He was put on probation in 2019 and was discharged from it in 2021.

On Jan.7, 2019, a police officer found McRae outside an abandoned building around 1:30 a.m. and stopped him for questioning. McRae acknowledged he had a gun without a concealed carry permit, claiming he brought the weapon with him in “fear for his safety” while out buying cigarettes, Gautz said.

He had four counts of driving while his license was suspended, Gautz said. Court records indicate he had several run-ins with local police for speeding, driving without insurance and other motor vehicle offenses. He pleaded guilty to those charges in Eaton County in 2006 and 2008 and in Ingham County in 2007 and 2008.*** https://www.bridgemi.com/talent-education/michigan-state-shooter-anthony-mcrae-had-guns-charge-run-ins-police

+++  

Some dummy posted a photo with a caption that

read: "#BREAKING: Michigan State University SHOOTING SUSPECT is 21 year old 'Lynn Dee Walker' according to dispatch audio. He is still on the loose and considered armed and dangerous. #ActiveShooter #MSU #MassShooting #MichiganStateUniversity #BreakingNews."***

Walker, a prolific tweeter who often shares his views on politics, posted several times on social media throughout the night as it became clear he was being publicly accused of an atrocity he did not commit.

He wrote: "I am at my house in western Massachusetts reading with my wife, if you see literally anybody spreading this s***, please get them to delete it. I don't ask for much & I have to be subjected to this sort of s*** on your behalf. Help me out here... If you see people posting me, report it, thanks...

"I dont want to stay up all night exonerating myself. Im just disgusted, viscerally disgusted... It's pretty f***** up that algorithmically this has brought me more followers than the good work that I do. God have mercy on the innocent people who are victims of this murder machine... Im being told CNN ran my face on tv? Someone get a screencap of that if that happened."*** https://www.newsweek.com/michigan-shooter-gunman-lynne-dee-walker-wrong-fake-hoax-1781034

***

Oakland, of course

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Video showing women who appear to be sex workers soliciting right outside a Catholic grade school in East Oakland is raising concerns about human trafficking in the area.

Parents and city officials tell the I-Team young women, some police believe may be trafficked, are walking outside St. Anthony's K-8 grade school off E. 15th Street in Oakland at all hours of the day.

Vargas called the Oakland Police Department as she picked up her daughter from school requesting officers come by to check the area. Just outside her window, a young girl in black stilettos was seen walking across the street from the school.

"My daughter asked if I liked what the girl was wearing," said Vargas. "I told her don't turn around, don't look. It's not OK."

Vargas says the women are scantily dressed or in some cases, even naked.***

We spoke with Father Ghebriel Woldai, the pastor for St. Anthony's parish.

"It's not enough," said Father Ghebriel, referring to the overall police presence. "They promised us they will do more presence here."

Father Ghebriel says St. Anthony's has had several meetings with the Oakland Police Department and city leaders over the years to enhance patrols in the area, but they need more help. He says the ongoing solicitation and trafficking has resulted in more shootings between pimps and gang members - even during the day.

MORE: Oakland dental surgeon arrested for human trafficking, offering to buy children for $30,000

"If there is a violent shooting, sometimes we experience those kinds, it scares me a lot," Father Ghebriel said. "We feel powerless... we just pray."

"But, Father, we know prayer alone, isn't going to solve the problem," Sierra said.

"Yes, I know... we start with prayer, but we have to end with action," Father said.

Action from police?

If you ask the Oakland Police Dept. - a new law is making it harder for them to crack down.

"Their hands are somewhat handcuffed," said Pierre-Antoine.

Previously, loitering with the intent to engage in prostitution was illegal. But SB 357, a bill introduced by State Sen. Scott Wiener repealed that law, in part because he found it to be disproportionately targeting transgender women.*** https://abc7news.com/human-trafficking-prostitution-oakland-catholic-school-st-anthonys/12764548/

***

Carj

The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office is seeking witnesses and video footage of a pursuit in which a Fountain police officer fell 40 feet off a bridge.

The alleged carjackers in the pursuit drove the wrong way on Interstate 25 at one point and attempted another armed carjacking at a gas station, the sheriff’s office said in a Friday news release detailing the pursuit. Three people were arrested in the pursuit, and the officer, Julian Becerra, is recovering from his injuries.

Fountain police officers and several other agencies were assisting the Department of Correction Parole Unit on Feb. 2 in locating a known carjacking suspect with active felony warrants.

Officers tracked the vehicle from Pueblo to Colorado Springs, and at about 5:30 p.m., officers spotted the vehicle at a store parking lot near North Academy Boulevard and Platte Avenue.

The carjacking suspects were believed to be attempting another carjacking in the store parking lot, but “because of the reckless actions of the suspect driving the vehicle, officers were unable to safely maintain the visual contact” and couldn’t confirm that carjacking, according to the news release.

A little while later at 7:15 p.m., the vehicle was located again on Interstate 25 heading north toward Fountain and tracked to the area of Colorado 85 and Alegre Circle, where officers confirmed the vehicle was occupied by three people.

Officers attempted several tactical vehicle interventions, maneuvers meant to force a fleeing driver to lose control and stop, but were unsuccessful.

The vehicle drove south on U.S. 85 through Fountain then entered Interstate 25 and headed south in the northbound lanes, according to the news release.***

https://www.denverpost.com/2023/02/10/fountain-police-officer-injured-pursuit-carjacking/

***

Californication

It seems that residents of California’s Mendocino County need to be careful to avoid drunk driving—except after being caught cheating on a spouse. The latest lowlight in Golden State legal history may sound like a tale from the Onion or the Babylon Bee. But the Bee covering this story is the one based in Sacramento.

The newspaper’s Daniella Segura reports:

A husband caught cheating on his wife drove drunk legally to escape his angry wife and lover, a California jury found.

The 60-year-old Ukiah man was caught driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.11%, the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office said in a Feb. 4 Facebook post. In California, it is illegal to drive with a BAC higher than 0.08%.

After a four-day trial, a jury found he was “not guilty of driving a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and not guilty of driving a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol .08 or greater,” the district attorney said.

The Facebook page for Mendocino County District Attorney David Eyster*** https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-two-angry-women-defense-11675981851

***

Nellie has a point

→ Atomwaffen founder arrested for plotting terror attack: The founder of neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen was arrested this week for plotting to attack the power grid outside Baltimore. “This alleged planned attack threatened lives and would have left thousands of Marylanders in the cold and dark,” Maryland U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron said in a press release. The group of radicals who sometimes call themselves accelerationists (as in, accelerate the fall of modern society) have long argued that electrical grids are vulnerable, and taking them down is a good way to sow chaos. They’re right on both fronts! Accelerationist groups seem to be behind a growing number of attacks on electric grids around the country.

Listen, America has problems; that’s why we TGIF. But if you really, really hate modern America—like, hate it enough to want to shut down Baltimore’s power in February and most likely cause people to freeze to death—I recommend you simply move to a country that might suit you better. Qatar is right there, happy to have you. Iran is beautiful this time of year. Let’s keep the lights on, though.*** https://www.thefp.com/p/tgif-real-housewives-of-the-sotu

***

“Out on bond” is a sign you must change your evil ways

A Houston high school student who tried hiding from police in a school, causing a lockdown, following a police shooting during an attempted robbery was out of jail on bond at the time.

Mahamoudou Sylla, 19, was out on multiple bonds at the time he was allegedly involved in the shooting near Wisdom High School last week.

"He was out on multiple bonds," Andy Kahan with Crime Stoppers Houston told Fox Houston. "The first bond was for evading arrest, the second bond was really serious aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon with three other co-defendants."***

Sylla and two other suspects – John Nsenguwera, 18, and a 17-year-old year teen – were involved in a robbery last week at an apartment complex when one of the suspects allegedly shot at someone. Houston police officers responded and an officer shot Nsenguwera, who allegedly pointed a gun at the cops. He was injured and taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.*** https://www.foxnews.com/us/houston-teen-robbery-shooting-lockdown-high-school-jail-bond

***

W/o 1st Amendment, prayer is a crime

Authorities in the United Kingdom charged a Catholic priest with violating a censorship zone when he silently prayed outside an abortion clinic while holding a sign that said “praying for free speech.”

Father Sean Gough, a pro-life priest stationed in Wolverhampton, England, had also parked his car in the area near the abortion clinic, which is covered by a Public Spaces Protection Order, according to Alliance Defending Freedom International. Authorities also took issue with Gough’s car, which has an “unborn lives matter” bumper sticker on it, ADF said.

*** https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/02/09/priest-punished-for-silently-praying-outside-abortion-clinic-father-sean-gough-adf-international/

***

Wonderful human being

Boston law enforcement announced Monday that an accused fentanyl dealer arrested by federal agents over the weekend is also charged with the broad daylight murder of a 13-year-old boy last month.

Csean Alexander Skerritt, who federal prosecutors say also goes by "Shizz Grimmy" or "Black," was charged through an arrest warrant Monday for the murder of 13-year-old Tyler Lawrence of Norwood.

The teen was discovered with multiple gunshot wounds Jan. 29 at 11:32 a.m. in the area of 119 Babson Street in Mattapan, Massachusetts, where the middle schooler was reportedly staying with his grandparents. He was pronounced dead at the scene, the Boston Police Department said.***

https://www.foxnews.com/us/accused-boston-fentanyl-dealer-charged-monstrous-broad-daylight-murder-13-year-old-boy-evil-intent

***

‘Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it. - Orwell, G.  (1949).  1984. 

Josh Alexander is a 16 y/o student at  St. Joseph’s Catholic High School in Renfrew, Ontario, Canada.  There was a classroom discussion of gender.   “I said there were only two genders and you were born either a male or a female and that got me into trouble. And then I said that gender doesn’t trump biology.”

St Joe’s told him he could return only if he shut up.

“I walked into one of my classes. I sat down and everyone looked pretty surprised to see me there. Within two minutes the vice-principal was in the classroom asking me to leave,” Josh said.

He left the class and “almost immediately I was met with the police.” Josh was put in the back of a cruiser, driven off property and later released and charged with trespassing.  https://nationalpost.com/opinion/catholic-school-has-student-arrested-for-expressing-catholic-beliefs

Hm.  I wonder if Jesus ever said

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,*

because he has anointed me

to bring glad tidings to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to let the oppressed go free,  Luke 4:18.

***

***

Change anything?

Unsurprisingly, another high-profile crime story can be traced back to someone with a long, violent criminal history who probably should not have been out of jail in the first place.

Kendrid Hamlin, the man who attacked Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) in an elevator in her apartment complex, has a criminal history stretching back to 2015 when he would have been around 18 years old. Hamlin has been convicted of “engaging in a lewd, obscene sexual act,” stealing from a supermarket, entering a woman’s home without permission and stealing her laptop, and biting, spitting on, and kicking police officers.

Hamlin was sentenced to just 35 days in jail after assaulting the officers. His release date was two weeks before he attacked Craig. Hamlin punched Craig in the face and grabbed her near the neck when she refused to let him into her apartment.

The incident was so jarring that Craig and 30 other House Democrats decided to brave the accusations of racism by members of their own party in voting to override the city’s new proposed criminal justice reforms. The D.C. Council was trying to water down sentences for violent criminals even more than the current standards that allowed Hamlin to be out on the streets one month after assaulting police officers.*** https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/another-high-profile-crime-committed-by-a-violent-career-criminal

***

Worth a look

When Nicole Hockley's son was killed during the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, she joined parents in calling on lawmakers to strengthen gun laws to prevent other families from experiencing such tragedy.

When passing federal legislation proved difficult in 2013, Hockley turned her focus to a more hands-on method to prevent school shootings : student-oriented gun violence prevention.***

In 2018, Sandy Hook Promise developed an anonymous reporting system that allows students to upload tips, photos, or social media posts if they believe someone is harming themselves or others. The reports go to Sandy Hook Promise’s national crisis center — the first nationally accredited anonymous reporting system in the country.

Sandy Hook Promise’s tool kit is responsible for the prevention of 13 credible planned shootings and 93 acts of violence with a firearm as of January 2023, Hockley said.*** https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/patriotism-unity/sandy-hook-promises-pivot-student-intervention-stops-school-shootings

***

Good review of fentanyl

https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-is-fentanyl-drug-opioid-health-safety-explained-11658341650

***

Faster death of despair

A veterinary tranquilizer that can cause serious wounds for regular users is spreading menace within the illicit drug supply.

Xylazine, authorized only for animals, is one ingredient in an increasingly toxic brew of illicit drugs that killed a record of nearly 107,000 people in the U.S. in 2021. It is typically mixed with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that itself has broadly infiltrated U.S. drug supply, including in supplies of cocaine and methamphetamine. Taken together, the volatile mixing means drug users often don’t know what’s in the substances they take.

Dealers may mix xylazine into fentanyl to save money, federal law-enforcement authorities said. The drug—known as “tranq” among some users—can be purchased at low prices from Chinese suppliers and offset some of the opioid in the mix. Its presence in the drug supply is part of the arms race between criminals seeking to enhance their products and authorities trying to disrupt the market. Public-health authorities are working on ways to monitor the constantly changing drug market.

For users, xylazine can also lengthen a high—with serious risks. The overdose-reversal drug naloxone that can be critical to saving fentanyl users doesn’t work against xylazine. And users can become physically dependent on xylazine in addition to fentanyl, complicating treatment.

Severe wounds are another hallmark. They appear where users inject drugs, and on other parts of their bodies. They start as purple blisters, or white patches of skin encircled by red rings, said Jason Bienert, a wound-care nurse in Elkton, Md. Tissue beneath the lesions can die within hours, Mr. Bienert said. He has had luck treating the wounds the way he would treat a burn victim.  *** https://www.wsj.com/articles/tranq-a-veterinary-drug-is-worsening-the-fentanyl-crisis-a27e7065

***

We fund censorship?

The State Dep’t funnels $200k - $300k to  Global Disinformation Index, a theoretically non profit org.  GDI apparently exists to blacklist and privately censor outlets to the right of Karl Marx.

GDI operates a "dynamic exclusion list" with conservative media outlets. The Washington Examiner confirmed that the outlet is on this list, and GDI has, separately, claimed the 10 "riskiest" news outlets are the American Spectator, Newsmax, the Federalist, the American Conservative, One America News Network, the Blaze, the Daily Wire, RealClearPolitics, Reason, and the New York Post.

However, GDI has ranked the 10 "least risky" as the Wall Street Journal, NPR, ProPublica, the Associated Press, Insider, the New York Times, USA Today, the Washington Post, Buzzfeed News, and HuffPost, according to a 27-page memo.*** https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/equality-not-elitism/disinformation-inc-government-backed-organization-sent-315-000-to-group-blacklisting-conservative-news

***

Mmmm, ok

On Valentine’s Day 2018, a 19-year-old opened fire on students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, wounding 17 and killing 17 people, including Alaina Petty, the 14-year-old daughter of Ryan Petty.***

Ryan Petty, the father believes cultivating more law-abiding gun owners and changing the law to allow a supermajority on a jury to recommend the death penalty are two areas of unfinished work.

"If you can't get the death penalty for killing 17 in a school, I don't know what you can get the death penalty for," Ryan Petty told the Washington Examiner, referring to a jury's decision in October last year to spare the shooter, Nikolas Cruz, by recommending a life sentence over the death penalty.

The jury voted 11-1 for capital punishment, prompting anguish and sorrow from victims' family members and blunt calls from Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) himself, who said defendants like Cruz "deserve the death penalty."

Now, the Florida legislature is considering a new law with the backing of the governor to permit a presiding judge to override a jury's recommendation of life or allow capital punishment if at least eight jurors agreed, creating the lowest threshold for issuing capital punishment. The bill, known as HB 555, has so far been referred to the Criminal Justice Subcommittee ahead of the start of the legislative session on April 10.*** https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/parkland-father-wants-to-arm-staff-change-death-penalty-rules

***

It’s People v. Dharmesh Patel, not Neha v.  Dharmesh

The wife of a doctor who drove his family off a cliff last month in California does not want him prosecuted for the attempted murder of herself and their two young children, according to reports.

Dharmesh Patel, 42, was in court last week and pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted murder when his defense attorney stated that Neha Patel did not want her husband prosecuted. However, Neha Patel told paramedics at the crash site that “he tried to kill us.”

"She said very simply this was not an accident. We do believe the evidence establishes the necessary intent to kill,” San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe told the San Francisco Chronicle.***

The doctor was driving along a narrow oceanside highway near San Francisco when he suddenly took a sharp turn and veered off a cliff. His Tesla landed on a bed of rocks near the surf and had to be rescued by teams that rappelled 250 feet from the road.

Dharmesh Patel and his wife and two children all survived without serious injuries. The family lived in the Los Angeles suburb of Pasadena, where Patel worked as a hospital radiologist.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Sean Gallagher told NBC Bay Area that Dharmesh Patel will be prosecuted regardless of his wife’s wishes.*** https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/wife-doctor-drove-off-california-cliff-doesnt-want-him-prosecuted

***

I know, let’s making pimping legal!!!

A California Republican official bashed a San Francisco lawmaker’s push toward legalizing prostitution and called it a detriment to police who attempt to arrest human traffickers.

San Francisco County Supervisor Hillary Ronen said she supports creating a red light zone to decriminalize sex work and plans to introduce the resolution Tuesday, the Los Angeles Times reported. This comes after police closed down an area of the Mission District to traffic to curb extensive prostitution there.

"What sane person would argue that the solution to human trafficking is to make it easier?” said Assemblyman James Gallagher (R).

“We need to identify traffickers, arrest them, and put them behind bars for a long time, but under California law, human trafficking isn’t considered a violent crime, so traffickers are able to benefit from early release programs,” he said.

Last year Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) signed a bill that decriminalized the intent to engage in prostitution. San Francisco residents have since seen a spike in such activity, prompting the street closure.

State Sen. Scott Wiener (D) was one of the bill’s authors.*** https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/gop-lawmakers-seek-to-thwart-san-francisco-push-to-legalize-prostitution

Cui bono?  [Cicero used it; not sure who started.] Who profits?  Who loses?

***

Good

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, February 13, 2023 Two Amazon Marketplace Sellers and Four Companies Plead Guilty to Price Fixing DVDs and Blu-Ray Discs

Two Amazon marketplace sellers and four of their companies have pleaded guilty to price fixing DVDs and Blu Ray Discs.

On Feb. 10 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, Bruce Fish of Hayfield, Minnesota, along with BDF Enterprises, Inc., a corporate entity owned by Fish, admitted to participating in a conspiracy to fix the prices of DVDs and Blu-Ray discs sold on the Amazon marketplace. Victor Btesh of Brooklyn, New York, and three New York corporate entities of which Btesh is the sole or majority owner, pleaded guilty to the same conspiracy on Feb. 9.

According to the plea agreements, Btesh and Fish, along with their four corporate entities, agreed with co-conspirators to raise and maintain the prices of DVDs and Blu-Rays sold in Amazon marketplace storefronts, resulting in those products being sold at collusive and noncompetitive prices. Amazon Marketplace is an e-commerce platform that enables third-party vendors to sell new or used products alongside Amazon’s own offerings. Amazon Marketplace is owned and operated by Amazon.com, Inc. The four corporate entities are the first corporate defendants to plead guilty and the owners are the fifth and sixth individuals in the scheme.*** https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-amazon-marketplace-sellers-and-four-companies-plead-guilty-price-fixing-dvds-and-blu-ray

***

Love this

***

What?  You liked him?

***

Know your country’s extradition treaties

DENVER — A suspect who was originally set for trial nearly nine years ago in a child sexual assault case in Adams County was recently extradited from Morocco, the 17th Judicial District Attorney's Office announced Monday. Patrick McKenner, 52, had been wanted since he failed to appear for a motions hearing in May 2014. Investigators with the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice eventually located McKenner in Morocco, where he was detained by local authorities. FBI officials traveled to Morocco last week to extradite McKenner, who was turned over to the custody of Adams County Sheriff's Office at Denver International Airport on Saturday.*** https://www.9news.com/article/news/crime/colorado-suspect-2013-child-sex-assault-extradited-morocco/73-eac35a0e-2469-4000-9e9d-f6ada8c612ed

***

Cassandra mentioned this concept

***In the private sector, employee vs. employer bargaining concerns the allocation of profits. A private business facing extortionate union demands can relocate or go out of business. A government can do neither. Collective bargaining presupposes adversarial conflict, but in “negotiations” between government employee unions and government, the unions want government to do what government wants to do: expand, using money from a third party, the citizenry. In 2006, New Jersey’s Democratic governor — management — assured a rally of 10,000 government employees, “We will fight for a fair contract!” Who would fight whom?***

Police unions, too, win contracts with thick layers of protections to shield substandard performers from accountability. Of the approximately 2,600 complaints the Minneapolis Police Department received in the decade before the murder of George Floyd, 12 led to discipline, the most severe being a 40-hour suspension. In 2017, a Post report on 37 large cities’ policing found a dismissal rate of 130 officers a year out of 91,000. Seventy percent of San Antonio officers fired for cause from 2006 to 2017 were rehired after contractually mandatory arbitration.

It is quaint that the 1939 Hatch Act bars “political activity” by federal employees, the unionized 25 percent of whom pay dues that fund unions’ political activities. Public sector unions are, Howard says, “a political force unlike any in American history — amassed and entrenched using state power.” These unions spend $1 billion to $3 billion a year influencing political decisions: “No other interest group, no industry, comes close to mobilizing that amount of political money.”*** https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/02/08/public-unions-harm-schools-police-government/ 

***Wed

Lying is bad.  Lying doesn’t make you a hero, particularly when you take money for it.  

Dr. Michael J. Kirk Moore runs the Plastic Surgery Institute of Sandy, Utah.  Apparently, if you gave him $50, he would falsely certify that you had rec’d the covid vax.  The FBI arrested him, and he has been indicted.  https://www.lopmatrix.com/legend-utah-doctor-arrested-for-saving-nearly-2000-people-from-the-covid-shots/

***

Top quality parody

https://babylonbee.com/news/city-legalizes-weed-having-no-adverse-effects-except-making-the-whole-city-smell-like-weed

***

***

Don’t start any wars for us.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, February 14, 2023  

Four Florida Men Arrested in Plot to Kill Haitian President, Grand Jury Returns Indictment Against 11

This morning, U.S. federal law enforcement arrested two U.S. citizens and a legal permanent resident living in South Florida and one U.S. citizen living in Tampa pursuant to criminal complaints on charges relating to their participation in the events leading to the July 7, 2021, assassination of President Jovenel Moïse of Haiti. Following the arrests, a South Florida grand jury returned a third superseding indictment charging these four individuals, along with seven others previously arrested and charged in the United States for their alleged roles in the plot.

The four men arrested in Florida today are: Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, 50, a Colombian national and U.S. permanent resident of Miami; Antonio Intriago 59, a Venezuelan-American of Miami; Walter Veintemilla, 54, of Weston; and Frederick Bergmann, 64, of Tampa.

They made their initial federal court appearances today at 2:00 p.m. in Miami before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lauren Louis.*** https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/four-florida-men-arrested-plot-kill-haitian-president-grand-jury-returns-indictment-against

*** Thurs

Look at the pics

https://nypost.com/2023/02/15/anthony-tony-mitchell-froze-to-death-in-alabama-jail-freezer-lawsuit/

A first responder’s job is dealing with people at their worst.  People who aren’t hostile, abusive, and insane are the exception.

***

The bailiff should fire when ready.

Former MTV star Connor Smith allegedly tried to engage in sex acts with a girl under the age of 15, according to Illinois police.

Lake County Sheriff’s Office issued an arrest warrant for the MTV “Are You The One?” star after he interacted with an undercover officer who was posing as a minor for “several weeks” online.

Smith, 32, sent explicit videos and images of himself before planning a meet-up to engage in sexual acts, police said.

The reality star then drove to meet the minor on Feb. 9 but was apprehended by detectives before fleeing in his vehicle, the press release states.

Smith faces three felonies — traveling to meet a minor, grooming, and disseminating harmful material.

Police said that Smith has yet to surrender as of early Thursday. A judge signed off on a $1 million bond after his arrest.***

In 2021, the troubled reality star was arrested for allegedly raping and assaulting a 16-year-old girl.

The alleged crime began when the teen claimed she provided someone with her address after she saw they were selling a cat via Snapchat, TMZ reported.***

https://pagesix.com/2023/02/16/ex-mtv-star-connor-smith-wanted-for-trying-to-meet-girl-under-15-for-sex/

***

If she just waited, she could have had the tat for free

Jen Shah will be reporting to prison on Friday with some new ink.

The former “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” star got two new tattoos just days before she is scheduled to start her six-and-a-half year prison sentence for wire fraud.

Shah, 49, got the word “Keiki” — the Hawaiian term for “baby” or “child” — tattooed across the top of her left forearm.

Similarly, she got the names of her husband, Sharrieff Shah, as well as her two sons, Sharrieff Jr. and Omar, inked on the bottom of her right arm.

Jen was arrested in March 2021 for running a nationwide telemarketing scheme which targeted thousands of people, mainly the elderly.***  https://pagesix.com/2023/02/15/jen-shah-gets-two-new-tattoos-before-reporting-to-prison/

***

I get that it was an attempt, but why isn’t he incarcerated at least a little?

A former Cherry Creek High School softball coach has been sentenced to 10 years’ probation after pleading guilty in a child sex crime case.

Paul “Pablo” Severtson was sentenced Monday in Arapahoe County District Court, according to the district attorney’s office.

Severtson was arrested in July as part of a child sex crime investigation connected to a Virginia girl who took her own life.*** https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/former-cherry-creek-hs-softball-coach-sentenced-to-ten-years-probation-for-child-sex-crime/ar-AA17xkym

+++

***In March, local investigators were contacted by the Hanover County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia about a juvenile girl who died by suicide, the news release said. Through the course of the Virginia investigation, authorities discovered that the girl had been communicating with an individual, identified as Severtson, on social media messaging apps.

Through his social media accounts, Severtson passed himself off as someone in his early 20s who was into fitness, 

according to the sheriff’s office. Investigators allege Severston was attempting to persuade the Virginia girl to send him nude images and videos of herself, “which due to her age, would be considered child sexual abuse material.”***https://www.denverpost.com/2022/07/20/paul-pablo-severtson-girls-softball-coach-arrested-suspect-child-sex-crime/

***

Loudon County really wants to hide its shame

The school board in Loudoun County, Virginia, voted on Tuesday night to keep the findings of an independent report on sexual assault private. The report, compiled by the law firm Blankingship and Keith, focused on how the district responded to two sexual assault incidents at Stone Bridge High School in May 2021. The 15-year-old “gender fluid” male student pleaded guilty to counts of rape in “forced sodomy” and “forced fellatio” against a teenage girl at Stone Bridge. The student allegedly sexually assaulted another teenage girl at Broad Run High School while waiting for his first trial.

The school board claimed that it had to keep the repot secret because it would reveal students’ personal data, in violation of the law. John Beatty, a member of the school board, contested this claim, telling The Daily Signal that he made a motion to redact students’ names in releasing the report.

In December, a special grand jury released a separate report on Loudoun County Public Schools’ handling of the 15-year-old “gender fluid” student’s multiple sexual assaults. The grand jury, which Virginia Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares requested in April, consisted of Loudoun County citizens, who heard from over 40 witnesses and perused over 100 pieces of evidence.

The jury’s report states that Loudoun County Public Schools “failed at every juncture….LCPS as an organization tends to avoid managing difficult situations by not addressing them fully.” The grand jury suggested that the report be released to the public so the community might view as much information as possible.***

Mike Smith, an LCPS father, questioned the merit of this decision in a public comment session at Tuesday’s school board meeting. “I understand you want to redact minors’ names, everyone knows that these things [name reduction requirements] happen,” he said. “But what happened outside the event? What happened behind the scenes? What happened behind the scenes is almost scarier than the actual event. It’s just going to perpetuate more.”***

One LCPS mother chided the board for citing attorney-client privilege: “I’m very furious because once again people at this county in this school board are protecting adults….They aren’t protecting children.”

Parents leveled additional sexual assault allegations at LCPS staff. One former LCPS mother, Tumay Harding, accused board members of “hiding behind Title IX” nondiscrimination law and brushing her off after Harding reported a science teacher who allegedly sexually assaulted and harassed her daughter and two of her daughter’s friends.

Harding implored, “I want this teacher to not hurt anybody again.”

She asked the same question thousands of parents around the United States have been asking in the wake of disturbing revelations kept from parents and the public: “As you heard today, two years prior, the same allegations from a girl were hidden from us. What else is being hidden from us?”*** https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/02/15/loudoun-county-school-board-votes-hide-report-male-gender-fluid-student-raping-students-parents/

***

[betsu-betsu]

Sources check out

https://www.democracynow.org/2023/3/16/headlines/michigan_lawmakers_vote_to_overturn_anti_union_right_to_work_law

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/09/07/politics/michigan-1931-abortion-law-unconstitutional/index.html

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/michigan-senate-oks-sweeping-gun-control-reforms-after-msu-shooting%3famp

https://apnews.com/article/lgbtq-elliott-larsen-michigan-whitmer-discrimination-6dab85a296020e9612ed417028b6cf09

Michigan Democrats have had a truly incredible afternoon: they've ended the state's anti-union "right to work" law, repealed an abortion ban from 1931, enacted universal background checks on gun sales, and passed an LGBTQ anti-discrimination law. All in the last 24 hours

[gymnasticscoaching]

#SpartanStrong MSU

February 13, 2023, a mass shooting on the campus of Michigan State University (MSU) in East Lansing. Three students were killed and five others injured. #SpartanStrong remembers those innocent victims. During @MSU_Gymnastics practice yesterday, the Spartan gymnasts wore #SpartanStrong leotards, which were donated by Sylvia P (MSU's leotards supplier). The company sent them to the team as a “we…

[teemurryshopping]

Spartan Strong Tee Shirt

Shop Now, Spartan Strong Tee Shirt , Spartan Strong Sweater Special Lunch for The Michigan Honors Victims of Michigan State Shooting Before Basketball Game Vs. Spartans #spartanstrong, #msu, #msubasketball Grab Now>>https://www.pinterest.com/teeviewshopping/spartan-strong-tee-shirt/

here>>https://spring-pod-seller.blogspot.com/2023/02/spartan-strong-tee-shirt.html

[gadgetsforusesblog]

First MSU Shooting Victim Released From Hospital Identified

Sparrow Hospital in Lansing. (February 2023) GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan (WOOD) — The victim of the deadly Feb. 13 MSU shooting who was the first to be released from the hospital has been named. In a Facebook post, Troy Forbush identified himself as one of the eight vitims of the shooting and the unload first. “I was shot in the chest, had a fight to death and almost wouldn’t have made it if the…