In Memory of
Mr. Raymond Johnson
Mr. Raymond Johnson
Planets of the Solar System
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"The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) is an independent federal agency within the U. S. executive branch that leads the implementation of the federal strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness. USICH is advised by a Council, which includes the heads of its 19 federal member agencies. The immediate past chair was Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell, and the vice chair was Secretary of Education John King. USICH partners with these 19 federal agencies, state and local governments, advocates, service providers, and people experiencing homelessness to achieve the goals outlined in the first federal strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness, Opening Doors. The mission of USICH is to:
~~Coordinate the federal response to homelessness and to create a national partnership at every level of government and with the private sector to reduce and end homelessness in the nation while maximizing the effectiveness of the Federal Government in contributing to the end of homelessness~~ USICH is made up of a small team headquartered in Washington, DC, led by Executive Director Matthew Doherty. Policy staff work closely with each of the 19 Federal Agencies that make up the Council to make progress on the goals and strategies of Opening Doors. USICH works directly with states and communities through five Regional Coordinators who connect with state and local governments in the creation of strategic plans and to promote the strategies of Opening Doors in local communities. USICH works with its partners to
In 2010, the agency released the first federal strategic plan to end homelessness in the United States which includes four goals.
The Interagency Council on the Homeless was authorized by Title II of the landmark Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act enacted on July 22, 1987. The McKinney Act established the Interagency Council on the Homeless as an "independent establishment" within the executive branch to review the effectiveness of federal activities and programs to assist people experiencing homelessness, promote better coordination among agency programs, and inform state and local governments and public and private sector organizations about the availability of federal homeless assistance. In 2002, Council members voted to approve changing the name of the agency to the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), a change that was enacted into law in 2004. The most recent reauthorization of USICH occurred in 2009 with enactment of the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act. The Council originally included the heads or their representatives of 16 Federal agencies. Five additional agencies were subsequently added by Council vote or statutory amendments, while two agencies are now inactive. The current members of the Council include the heads of the following 19 Departments and agencies: U. S. Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, Labor, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs, Corporation for National and Community Service, General Services Administration, Office of Management and Budget, Social Security Administration, United States Postal Service, and the White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives. It is estimated that 550,000 women and men are without shelter each night in the United States. Mandated by Congress under the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act of 2009, USICH was tasked to create a national strategic plan to end homelessness which will be updated periodically to reflect progress and changing priorities. As a result, Opening Doors was drafted and serves as the nation's first comprehensive national strategy for ending homelessness." Source: Wikipedia.org | Monday, August 20, 2018, 2:00PM |
 "Madison Isabella Marsh, Miss America 2024"
"Miss America is a beauty pageant that is held annually and is open to women from the United States between the ages of 17 and 25. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue," the contest is now judged on competitors' talent performances and interviews in addition to their physical appearance. Miss America travels about 20,000 miles a month, changing her location every 24 to 48 hours, touring the nation and promoting her particular platform of interest. The winner is crowned by the previous year's titleholder. The current titleholder, Miss America 2018, is Miss North Dakota 2017, Cara Mund, who was crowned on September 10, 2017, by her predecessor Savvy Shields. On February 1, 1919, there was a beauty pageant held in the Chu Chin Chow Ball at the Hotel des Artistes in New York City. The winner, Edith Hyde Robbins Macartney, was called "Miss America." Neither the title nor this pageant were related to the current "Miss American Pageant" which would develop a year later in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Rather, the origins of the "Miss America Pageant" lie in an event entitled The Fall Frolic which was held on September 25, 1920, in Atlantic City. This event was designed to bring business to the Boardwalk: "three hundred and fifty gaily decorated rolling wicker chairs were pushed along the parade route. Three hundred and fifty men pushed the chairs. However, the main attractions were the young 'maidens' who sat in the rolling chairs, headed by a Miss Ernestine Cremona, who was dressed in a flowing white robe and represented 'Peace.'" The event was so successful that The Businessmen's League planned to repeat it the following year as a beauty pageant or a "bather's revue" to capitalize on the popularity of newspaper-based beauty contests that used photo submissions. Thus, "newspapers as far west as Pittsburgh and as far south as Washington, D.C., were asked to sponsor local beauty contests. The winners would participate in the Atlantic City contest. If the local newspaper would pay for the winner's wardrobe, the Atlantic City Businessmen's League would pay for the contestant's travel to compete in the Inter-City Beauty Contest." Herb Test, a "newspaperman," coined the term for the winner: "Miss America." On September 8, 1921, 100,000 people gathered at the Boardwalk to watch the contestants from Washington, D. C., Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Ocean City, Camden, Newark, New York, and Philadelphia. The 16-year-old winner from Washington, D.C., Margaret Gorman, was crowned the "Golden Mermaid" and won $100. With the rise of second-wave feminism and the civil rights movement during the 1960s, the Miss America pageant became the subject of a series of protests that attacked it as sexist, racist, and part of U. S. militarism. The first demonstration took place during the Miss America 1969 pageant held on September 7, 1968 (won by Miss Illinois 1968, Judith Ford), when about 200 members of the group New York Radical Women demonstrated as part of the Miss America protest. In addition, a pamphlet distributed at the protest by Robin Morgan, No More Miss America!, became a source for feminist scholarship. The protest was co-sponsored by Florynce Kennedy's Media Workshop, an activist group she founded in 1966 to protest the media's representation of African Americans, along with the feminist Jeanette Rankin Brigade and the ACLU. Morgan later stated that the Miss America pageant "was chosen as a target for a number of reasons: it has always been a lily-white, racist contest; the winner tours Vietnam, entertaining the troops as a 'Murder Mascot,' the whole gimmick is one commercial shill game to sell the sponsor's products. Where else could one find such a perfect combination of American values—racism, militarism, sexism—all packaged in one ‘ideal symbol,’ a woman." The protesters compared the pageant to a county fair where livestock are judged. They thus crowned a sheep as Miss America and symbolically destroyed a number of feminine products, including false eyelashes, high-heeled shoes, curlers, hairspray, makeup, girdles, corsets, and bras. Burning the contents of a trash can was suggested, but a permit was unobtainable; news media seized on the similarity between draft resisters burning draft cards and women burning their bras. In fact, there was no bra burning, nor did anyone remove her bra. The Women's Liberation Front later demonstrated at the Miss America 1971 pageant. In late December 2017, HuffPost published an article exposing derogatory emails sent and received by CEO Sam Haskell, board members Tammy Haddad and Lynn Weidner, and lead writer Lewis Friedman. The emails, sent between 2014 and 2017, featured instances of expletive name-calling and unprofessional comments. The comments were often sexual or violent in nature and targeted former Miss America winners, notably Mallory Hagan and Katherine Shindle, both of whom joined 47 other former Miss Americas including all Miss Americas from 1988 to 2017, in signing a joint open letter calling for the firing or resignation of all involved. On December 22, the Miss America Organization released statements to USA Today, saying that it was made aware of concerns several months prior. They stated that the organization does not "condone the use of inappropriate language" and reported that its investigation had determined that Haskell was under "unreasonable distress resulting from intense attacks on his family from disgruntled stakeholders." The organization also reported that its relationship with Friedman had been terminated. Haskell explained that attacks on his character impaired his judgment when responding to the emails. Miss America's board of directors also suspended Haskell, who released a statement labeling the HuffPost article "unkind and untrue." Hagan and Shindle criticized the decision to suspend Haskell, rather than fire him, as inadequate. The following day, the President of Miss America, Josh Randle; executive chairwoman Lynn Weidner; and Haskell all resigned. The scandal prompted the pageant's producer, Dick Clark Productions, to cut ties, and the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority announced that it was reconsidering its contract with Miss America, with its executive director Chris Howard describing the scandal as "troubling," and both Frank Gilliam, incoming mayor of Atlantic City, and State Senator Colin Bell called for CRDA to end its relationship with Miss America. On December 24, Haddad also resigned. In January 2018, Gretchen Carlson, who won the Miss America in 1989, was elected as the new chairwoman of the organization, becoming the first former Miss America to serve as its leader. Katherine Shindle, Miss America 1998, was also appointed to the board alongside fellow Miss America winners, Heather French Henry (2000) and Laura Kaeppeler."
SPECIAL PAGEANTRY MESSAGE: There won’t be a Miss America crowned this year [2020] due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Miss America Organization said Friday the Miss America 2021 Competition, scheduled for December, is being postponed until next year [2021]." “Miss America [2020] Will Be First to Reign for 2 Years Due to Pandemic.” Source: Wikipedia.org | Friday, December 4, 2020, 6:00 AM CDT |
"The Small Business Administration (SBA) is a United States government agency that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and strengthen the nation's economy by enabling the establishment and viability of small businesses and by assisting in the economic recovery of communities after disasters." The agency's activities are summarized as the "3 Cs" of capital, contracts and counseling. SBA loans are made through banks, credit unions and other lenders who partner with the SBA. The SBA provides a government-backed guarantee on part of the loan. Under the Recovery Act and the Small Business Jobs Act, SBA loans were enhanced to provide up to a 90 percent guarantee in order to strengthen access to capital for small businesses after credit froze in 2008. The agency had record lending volumes in late 2010. SBA helps lead the federal government's efforts to deliver 23 percent of prime federal contracts to small businesses. Small business contracting programs include efforts to ensure that certain federal contracts reach woman-owned and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses as well as businesses participating in programs such as 8(a) and HUBZone. SBA has at least one office in each U. S. state. In addition, the agency provides grants to support counseling partners, including approximately 900 Small Business Development Centers, 110 Women's Business Centers, and SCORE, a volunteer mentor corps of retired and experienced business leaders with approximately 350 chapters. These counseling services provide services to over 1 million entrepreneurs and small business owners annually. The SBA was created on July 30, 1953, by President Eisenhower with the signing of the Small Business Act, currently codified at 15 U. S. C. ch. 14A. The Small Business Act was originally enacted as the "Small Business Act of 1953" in Title II (67 Stat. 232) of Pub.L. 83–163 (ch. 282, 67 Stat. 230, July 30, 1953); The "Reconstruction Finance Corporation Liquidation Act" was Title I, which abolished the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. The Small Business Act Amendments of 1958 (Pub. L. 85–536, 72 Stat. 384, enacted July 18, 1958) withdrew Title II as part of that act and made it a separate act to be known as the "Small Business Act." Its function was and is to "aid, counsel, assist and protect, insofar as is possible, the interests of small business concerns." The SBA has survived a number of threats to its existence. In 1996, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives planned to eliminate the agency. It survived and went on to receive a record high budget in 2000. Renewed efforts by the Bush Administration to end the SBA loan program met congressional resistance, although the SBA's budget was repeatedly cut, and in 2004 certain expenditures were frozen. The 2009 Administration has supported the SBA budget. Significant supplemental appropriations for the agency strengthened SBA lending through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010. The most visible elements of the SBA are the loan programs it administers. The SBA does not provide grants or direct loans with the exception of Disaster Relief Loans. Instead, the SBA guarantees against default certain portions of business loans made by banks and other lenders that conform to its guidelines. The 7(a) Loan Guarantee Program is designed to help entrepreneurs start or expand their small businesses. The program makes capital available to small businesses through bank and non-bank lending institutions. The Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 permanently increased the maximum size of these loans from $2 million to $5 million. The Small Business Jobs Act increased the maximum amount of SBA microloans from $35,000 to $50,000. These are offered through non-profit microloan financial intermediaries."
Source: Wikipedia.org | Friday, February 17, 2017, 10:37PM CDT |
"The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act. Its principal mission is the promotion of consumer protection and the elimination and prevention of anticompetitive business practices, such as coercive monopoly. The Federal Trade Commission Act was one of President Woodrow Wilson's major acts against trusts. Trusts and trust-busting were significant political concerns during the Progressive Era. Since its inception, the FTC has enforced the provisions of the Clayton Act, a key antitrust statute, as well as the provisions of the FTC Act, 15 U. S. C. § 41 et seq. Over time, the FTC has been delegated with the enforcement of additional business regulation statutes and has promulgated a number of regulations, codified in Title 16 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Following the Supreme Court decisions against Standard Oil and American Tobacco in May 1911, the first version of a bill to establish a commission to regulate interstate trade was introduced on January 25, 1912, by Oklahoma congressman Dick Thompson Morgan. He would make the first speech on the House floor advocating its creation on February 21, 1912. Though the initial bill did not pass, the questions of trusts and antitrust dominated the 1912 election. Most political party platforms in 1912 endorsed the establishment of a federal trade commission with its regulatory powers placed in the hands of an administrative board, as an alternative to functions previously and necessarily exercised so slowly through the courts. With the 1912 presidential election decided in favor of the Democrats and Woodrow Wilson, Morgan reintroduced a slightly amended version of his bill during the April 1913 special session. The national debate culminated in Wilson's signing of the FTC Act on September 26, with additional tightening of regulations in the Clayton Antitrust Act three weeks later. The new Federal Trade Commission would absorb the staff and duties of Bureau of Corporations, previously established under the Department of Commerce and Labor in 1903. The FTC could additionally challenge "unfair methods of competition" and enforce the Clayton Act's more specific prohibitions against certain price discrimination, vertical arrangements, interlocking directorates, and stock acquisitions. The Bureau of Consumer Protection's mandate is to protect consumers against unfair or deceptive acts or practices in commerce. With the written consent of the Commission, Bureau attorneys enforce federal laws related to consumer affairs and rules promulgated by the FTC. Its functions include investigations, enforcement actions, and consumer and business education. Areas of principal concern for this bureau are: advertising and marketing, financial products and practices, telemarketing fraud, privacy and identity protection, etc. The bureau also is responsible for the United States National Do Not Call Registry. Under the FTC Act, the Commission has the authority, in most cases, to bring its actions in federal court through its own attorneys. In some consumer protection matters, the FTC appears with, or supports, the U. S. Department of Justice. The FTC investigates issues raised by reports from consumers and businesses, pre-merger notification filings, congressional inquiries, or reports in the media. These issues include, for instance, false advertising and other forms of fraud. FTC investigations may pertain to a single company or an entire industry. If the results of the investigation reveal unlawful conduct, the FTC may seek voluntary compliance by the offending business through a consent order, file an administrative complaint, or initiate federal litigation. Traditionally an administrative complaint is heard in front of an independent administrative law judge (ALJ) with FTC staff acting as prosecutors. The case is reviewed de novo by the full FTC commission which then may be appealed to the U. S. Court of Appeals and finally to the Supreme Court. Courts have identified three main factors that must be considered in consumer unfairness cases: (1) whether the practice injures consumers; (2) whether the practice violates established public policy; and (3) whether it is unethical or unscrupulous."
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"The United States Social Security Administration is an independent agency of the U. S. federal government that administers Social Security, a social insurance program consisting of retirement, disability, and survivors' benefits. To qualify for most of these benefits, most workers pay Social Security taxes on their earnings; the claimant's benefits are based on the wage earner's contributions. Otherwise, benefits such as Supplemental Security Income are given based on need. The Social Security Administration was established by a law codified at 42 U.S.C. § 901. Its current, Acting Commissioner, Nancy Berryhill was appointed January 19, 2017, and will serve until the true Presidential appointment takes office. SSA is headquartered in Woodlawn, Maryland, just to the west of Baltimore, at what is known as Central Office. The agency includes 10 regional offices, 8 processing centers, approximately 1300 field offices, and 37 Teleservice Centers. As of 2007, about 62,000 people were employed by SSA. Headquarters non-supervisory employees of SSA are represented by American Federation of Government Employees Local 1923. Social Security is the largest social welfare program in the United States. For the year 2014, the net cost of social security was 906.4 billion dollars which accounted for 21% of government expenditure. It has been named the 9th best place to work in the federal government. The Social Security Act created a Social Security Board, to oversee the administration of the new program. It was created as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal with the signing of the Social Security Act of 1935 on August 14, 1935. The Board consisted of three presidential appointed executives, and started with no budget, no staff, and no furniture. It obtained a temporary budget from the Federal Emergency Relief Administration headed by Harry Hopkins. In 1953, the Federal Security Agency was abolished and SSA was placed under the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, which became the Department of Health and Human Services in 1980. In 1994, President Bill Clinton signed into law 42 U. S. C. § 901 returning SSA to the status of an independent agency in the executive branch of government. SSA was one of the first federal agencies to have its national headquarters outside of Washington, D. C., or its adjacent suburbs. It was located in Baltimore initially due to the need for a building that was capable of holding the unprecedented amount of paper records that would be needed. Nothing suitable was available in Washington in 1936, so the Social Security Board selected the Candler Building on Baltimore's harbor as a temporary location. Soon after locating there, construction began on a permanent building for SSA in Washington that would meet their requirements for record storage capacity. However, by the time the new building was completed, World War II had started, and the building was commandeered by the War Department. By the time the war ended, it was judged too disruptive to relocate the agency to Washington. The Agency remained in the Candler Building until 1960, when it relocated to its newly built headquarters in Woodlawn. The road on which the headquarters is located, built especially for SSA, is named Security Boulevard and has since become one of the major arteries connecting Baltimore with its western suburbs. Security Boulevard is also the name of SSA's exit from the nearby Baltimore Beltway. A nearby shopping center has been named Security Square Mall, and Woodlawn is often referred to informally as "Security." Interstate 70, which runs for thousands of miles from Utah to Maryland, terminates in a park and ride lot that adjoins the SSA campus. Due to space constraints and ongoing renovations, many headquarters employees work in leased space throughout the Woodlawn area. Other SSA components are located elsewhere. For example, the headquarters, also known as Central Office of SSA's Office of Disability Adjudication and Review is located in Falls Church, Virginia. The Social Security Death Index is a database of death records created from the United States Social Security Administration's Death Master File Extract. Most persons who have died since 1936 who had a Social Security Number and whose death has been reported to the Social Security Administration are listed in the SSDI. For most years since 1973, the SSDI includes 93 percent to 96 percent of deaths of individuals aged 65 or older. It is frequently updated; the version of June 22, 2011 contained 89,835,920 records. Unlike the Death Master File, the SSDI is available free from several genealogy websites. The SSDI is a popular tool for genealogists and biographers because it contains valuable genealogical data. It is also useful for medical research such as clinical trials and epidemiology where survival data is missing from medical records. Given the growing problem of identity theft and the importance of the Social Security number as a personal identifier in the United States, it might seem unusual that these identifiers are released publicly. However, because the documents held by the Social Security Administration are government records, it is required to make the information public under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). In fact, the related Death Master File is used to prevent fraud so that no one can steal the identity of a dead person, and take out a credit card or a bank loan in a dead person's name. A recent government audit revealed that the Social Security Administration had incorrectly listed 23,000 people as dead in a two-year period. These people have sometimes faced difficulties in convincing government agencies that they are actually alive; a 2008 story in the Nashville area focused on a woman who was incorrectly flagged as dead in the Social Security computers in 2000 and has had difficulties, such as having health insurance canceled and electronically filed tax returns rejected. This story also noted that people in this situation can be highly vulnerable to identity theft because of the release of their Social Security numbers. In November, 2011, due to privacy and identity theft concerns, the Social Security Administration redacted and no longer include death data derived from State sources. This resulted in an approximately 33% drop in reported deaths. On December 18, 2011 Ancestry.com, changed access to the SSDI by moving the SSDI search behind a paywall, and, stopped displaying the Social Security information of people who had died within the past 10 years. Some of their originally free information is now available via paid subscription only. However, other sites still provide free access."
Source: Wikipedia.org | February 14, 2017, 11:59PM |
"Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is an insurance market located in London's primary financial district, the City of London. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company. It is a corporate body governed by the Lloyd's Act of 1871 and subsequent Acts of Parliament. It is a partially mutualised marketplace within which multiple financial backers, grouped in syndicates, come together to pool and spread risk. These underwriters, or "members," are a collection of both corporations and private individuals, the latter being traditionally known as "Names." The insurance business underwritten at Lloyd's is predominantly general insurance and reinsurance, although a small number of syndicates write term life assurance. The market has its roots in marine insurance and was founded by Edward Lloyd at his coffee house on Tower Street in around 1688. Today, it has a dedicated building on Lime Street, opened in 1986. Its motto is Fidentia, Latin for "confidence," and it is closely associated with the Latin phrase uberrima fides, or "utmost good faith." Lloyd's is not an insurance company; it is a market of members. As the oldest continuously active insurance marketplace in the world, Lloyd's has retained some unusual structures and practices that differ from all other insurance providers today. Originally created as a non-incorporated association of subscribing members, it was incorporated by the Lloyd's Act 1871 and is currently governed under the Lloyd's Acts of 1871 through to 1982. Lloyd's itself does not underwrite insurance business, leaving that to its members. Instead, the Society operates effectively as a market regulator, setting rules under which members operate and offering centralised administrative services to those members. Lloyd's syndicates write a diverse range of policies, both direct insurance and reinsurance, covering casualty, property, marine, energy, motor, aviation and many other types of risk. Lloyd's also has a unique niche in unusual, specialist business such as kidnap and ransom, fine art, specie, aviation war, satellites, personal accident, bloodstock and other insurances. The present Lloyd's building, at 1 Lime Street, was designed by architect Richard Rogersand was completed in 1986. It stands on the site of the old Roman Forum."
Source: Wikipedia.org | February 14, 2017, 11:59PM 
"The Universal Service Fund (USF) is a system of telecommunications subsidies and fees managed by the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) intended to promote universal access to telecommunications services in the United States. The FCC established the fund in 1997 in compliance with the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The fund reported a total of $7.82 billion in disbursements in 2014, divided among its four programs. The fund is supported by charging telecommunications companies a fee which is set quarterly. As of the third quarter of 2016, the rate is 17.9% of a telecom company's interstate and international end-user revenues. By 1913, AT&T had favored status from U. S. government, allowing it to operate in a noncompetitive economic environment in exchange for subjection to price and quality service regulation. The government asserted that a monopolistic telephone industry would best serve the goal of creating a "universal" network with compatible technology country-wide for telephone consumers. Regulators emphasized limits on profits, enforcing "reasonable" prices for service, setting levels of depreciation and investment for new technology and equipment, dependability and "universality" of service. "Universal" was originally used by AT&T to mean, "interconnection to other networks, not service to all customers." After years of regulation, the term came to include infrastructural development of telephony and service to everyone at a reasonable price. The Universal Service Fund was first codified in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the first major rewrite of the Communications Act of 1934. The act addresses new challenges and opportunities of the digital information age, with the goal of promoting an economic environment conducive for the growth of new information technology. It also further developed the meaning and implementation of universal service. The act calls for the creation of a joint federal-state board to make recommendations to the FCC on defining federal universal services and set time tables. The act also set out immediate priorities of universal service. The 1996 act also "mandated the creation of the universal service fund into which all telecommunications providers are required to contribute a percentage of their interstate and international end-user telecommunications revenues." The major goals of Universal Service as mandated by the 1996 Act are as follows:
Since 1985, the Lifeline program has helped low-income people pay for phone service; first landlines, then cell phones, and as of 2016 it also offers the option of Internet connectivity. It provides a subsidy of up to $10.00 a month for Americans below 135% of the poverty line for this service. The lifeline program is limited to one discount per household. A "household" includes anyone living at the same address "who share income(s) and household expenses." Source: Wikipedia.org | Sunday, January 28, 2018, 6:00AM |
"The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development is a Cabinet department in the Executive branch of the United States federal government. Although its beginnings were in the House and Home Financing Agency, it was founded as a Cabinet department in 1965, as part of the "Great Society" program of President Lyndon Johnson, to develop and execute policies on housing and metropolises. The department was established on September 9, 1965, when Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act into law. It stipulated that the department was to be created no later than November 8, sixty days following the date of enactment. The actual implementation was postponed until January 13, 1966, following the completion of a special study group report on the federal role in solving urban problems. HUD is administered by the United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. On December 5, 2016, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he would nominate Dr. Benjamin Solomon Carson, Sr to the position of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. During confirmation hearings, Carson was held under close scrutiny for his lack of experience. On January 24, 2017, the Senate Banking Committee voted unanimously to approve the nomination, sending it to the Senate floor for a complete vote. On March 2, 2017, Carson was confirmed by the United States Senate in a 58–41 vote. The Office of Public and Indian Housing is an agency of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. Its mission is to ensure safe, decent and affordable housing, create opportunities for residents' self-sufficiency and economic independence and assure the fiscal integrity of all program participants. Public housing was established to provide decent and safe rental housing for eligible low-income families, the elderly, and persons with disabilities. Public housing comes in all sizes and types, from scattered single-family houses to high-rise apartments for elderly families. There are approximately 1.2 million households living in public housing units, managed by some 3,400 HAs. Critics on the left have openly questioned whether Carson has the necessary qualifications for the job managing one of the federal government’s most complex departments. In addition to steering housing policy, Carson will oversee an expansive set of programs that provide assistance to low-income Americans and minorities seeking entry to the middle class. HUD’s annual budget for 2017 is nearly $49 billion, which is used for various government supports, including rental assistance, programs to mitigate homelessness and investments to combat urban poverty. HUD supports nearly 5 million homes with rental assistance."
Source: Wikipedia.org, March 7, 2016 | February 5, 2017 | March 2, 2017 | Yahoo Global News with Katie Couric, March 3, 2017, 12:08PM |
"The Legal Services Corporation is a private, non-profit corporation established by the United States Congress. It seeks to ensure equal access to justice under the law for all Americans by providing civil legal assistance to those who otherwise would be unable to afford it. The LSC was created in 1974 with bipartisan congressional sponsorship and the support of the Nixon administration, and is funded through the congressional appropriations process. LSC has a board of eleven directors, appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate, that set LSC policy. By law the board is bipartisan; no more than six can come from the same party. LSC has a president and other officers who implement those policies and oversee the corporation's operations. For 2013, LSC has a budget of $350,129,760 to allow the federal government to provide civil legal aid. LSC is one of the organizational descendants of the former Office of Economic Opportunity. The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, a key part of President Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society vision, established the OEO. From 1965 on, starting with a budget of $1 million, the OEO created 269 local legal services programs around the country, such as California Rural Legal Assistance, which made a name for themselves suing local officials and sometimes stirring up resentment against their federal funding. By the early 1970s the Nixon administration began dismantling the OEO; funding for legal services for the poor began to wither, and supporters looked for an alternative arrangement. In 1971 a bipartisan congressional group, including Senators Ted Kennedy, William A. Steiger, and Walter Mondale, proposed a national, independent Legal Services Corporation; at the same time, administration officials such as Attorney General John N. Mitchell and chief domestic advisor John Ehrlichman were proposing their own somewhat similar solution. By law LSC's headquarters is located in Washington D. C. In the 1970s and 1980s LSC also had regional offices. Now LSC has one office in Washington that administers all of LSC's work. LSC itself does not provide legal representation to the poor. The LSC grantee in Washington D. C. is Neighborhood Legal Services. In 2009 during the Obama administration, the LSC was on the path to getting a $50 million increase in its $390 million budget. However, the LSC came under criticism from Senator Charles Grassley, who said, "There's just a lot of money being wasted."
Source: Wikipedia.org December 4, 2015, February 5, 2017, 9:24PM CDT | Twitter.com September 20, 2016 |
Frank Guinn and J. J. Beal v. United States |
"Guinn v. United States, 238 U. S. 347 (1915), was a United States Supreme Court decision that found certain grandfather clause exemptions to literacy tests for voting rights to be unconstitutional. Though these grandfather clauses were superficially race-neutral, they were designed to protect the voting rights of illiterate white voters while disenfranchising black voters. The 1870 ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution barred each state from denying the right to vote on the basis of "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." In response, several Southern states, including Oklahoma, established constitutional provisions designed to effectively disenfranchise African-American voters without explicitly violating the Fifteenth Amendment. In his majority opinion, Chief Justice Edward Douglass White held that Oklahoma's grandfather clause was "repugnant to the Fifteenth Amendment and therefore null and void." The decision had little immediate impact, as Southern legislatures found other methods to disenfranchise blacks. When Oklahoma was admitted to the Union in 1907, it had adopted a constitution which allowed men of all races to vote, in compliance with the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. However, legislators soon passed an amendment to the Constitution that required voters to satisfy a literacy test. A potential voter could be exempted from the literacy requirement if he could prove either that his grandfathers had been voters or had been citizens of some foreign nation, or had served as soldiers before 1866. As a result, illiterate whites were able to vote — but not illiterate blacks, whose grandfathers had almost all been slaves and therefore barred from voting or serving as soldiers before 1866. Most states that had permitted free people of color to vote in early decades of the 19th century had rescinded that right before 1840. Thus, even blacks who might have descended from families free before the Civil War could not get an exemption from literacy tests. In practice these were highly subjective, administered by white registrars who discriminated against black voters. Oklahoma's amendment followed those of numerous Southern states that had similar grandfather clauses in their constitutions. The Oklahoma amendment provided: "No person shall be registered as an elector of this state or be allowed to vote in any election held herein, unless he be able to read and write any section of the Constitution of the state of Oklahoma; but no person who was, on January 1, 1866, or any time prior thereto, entitled to vote under any form of government, or who at that time resided in some foreign nation, and no lineal descendant of such person, shall be denied the right to register and vote because of his inability to so read and write sections of such Constitution. Precinct election inspectors having in charge the registration of electors shall enforce the provisions of this section at the time of registration, provided registration be required. Should registration be dispensed with, the provisions
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of this section shall be enforced by the precinct election officers when electors apply for ballots to vote." The amendment came into force before the election of November 8, 1910, was held. During that election, certain election officers refused to allow black citizens to vote; those officers were indicted and convicted of fraudulently disenfranchising black voters, in violation of the 15th Amendment and in violation of Oklahoma State Law. The 15th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States provides the right to not be discriminated against while voting on the basis of race, color, or previous servitude. In the view of some, the Grandfather Clause in the Oklahoma Constitution was void of racial discrimination since it looked at relatives prior to 1866 and not 1871, creating a loophole that allowed discrimination. Grandfather clauses were first instituted as a means of allowing whites to vote while simultaneously disenfranchising blacks. The grandfather clause in Guinn v. United States involved requirement that a citizen must pass a literacy test in order to register to vote. At the time, many poor whites in the South were illiterate and would lose their voting rights if contingent upon passing a literacy test. The grandfather clauses were introduced since very few poor whites did not have a grandfather who had been able to vote. These clauses typically allowed poor, illiterate whites to register to vote if they had been able to vote before 1867 or if their ancestors could have voted then, creating a loophole. The laws had time limits, which were used to try to get as many white voters registered as possible before the laws were challenged in court. The modern expression 'grandfathered in,' despite its links with this racial history, is not generally associated with it. The case was argued before the Court on October 17, 1913. It represented the second appearance before the Court of John W. Davis as United States Solicitor General and the first case in which the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) filed a brief. After the case was argued, the Supreme Court ruled that the Grandfather Clause of the Constitution of Oklahoma was created and intended to exclude as many illiterate black people as possible and include as many illiterate whites as possible. The number of black citizens allowed to vote under the clause approximately equals the number of white citizens barred from voting. This is undoubtedly proof of discrimination and differences in classifying whites and blacks into two classes of illiterates. Therefore, the entire amendment regarding illiteracy in voters is wholly unconstitutional, violating the 15th Amendment. The clause was implemented as a way to try to avoid violating the 15th Amendment while still disenfranchising black voters. The previous conditions of servitude based on the race or skin color of people rendered them incapable of gaining literacy or meeting the ambiguously formed loopholes within said clause. The convictions of Guinn and Beal were upheld. Even though Guinn v. United States seemed to be a major step for black voters in the South, it conveyed a false sense of victory. Oklahoma immediately implemented a new voting statute which restricted voter registration, stating that "[a]ll persons, except those who voted in 1914, who were qualified to vote in 1916 but who failed to register between April 30 and May 11, 1916, with some exceptions for sick and absent persons who were given an additional brief period to register, would be perpetually disenfranchised." After Guinn in Oklahoma, similar constitutional clauses were struck down in former slave states in the South like Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Virginia, but just like Oklahoma, these states found other ways to disenfranchise black voters, mainly through poll taxes. Many kept literacy tests in place, as only the use of Grandfather Clauses had been struck down, the result being the only substantive change was poor white as well as blacks were disenfranchised."
Source: Wikipedia.org | Sunday, February 5, 2023, 12:00 AM CDT |
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Meanwhile, across what pond?
"A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression, either naturally or artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake and there are no official criteria distinguishing the two, although defining a pond to be less than 12 acres in area, less than 16 ft in depth and with less than 30% with emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing the ecology of ponds from those of lakes and wetlands. Ponds can be created by a wide variety of natural processes (e.g. on floodplains as cutoff river channels, by glacial processes, by peatland formation, in coastal dune systems, by beavers), or they can simply be isolated depressions (such as a kettle hole, vernal pool, prairie pothole, or simply natural undulations in undrained land) filled by runoff, groundwater, or precipitation, or all three of these. They can be further divided into four zones: vegetation zone, open water, bottom mud and surface film. The size and depth of ponds often varies greatly with the time of year; many ponds are produced by spring flooding from rivers. Ponds may be freshwater or brackish in nature. 'Ponds' consisting of saltwater, with a direct connection to the sea to maintain full salinity, are normally regarded as part of the marine environment. These bodies of water do not support fresh or brackish water-based organisms, and are not considered to be ponds."
Source: Wikipedia.org | Thursday, January 18, 2024, 3:30PM CDT |
"The world ocean or ocean sea is the body of salt water that covers ~70.8% of the Earth. In English, the term ocean also refers to any of the large bodies of water into which the world ocean is conventionally divided. Distinct names are used to identify five different areas of the ocean: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Antarctic/Southern, and Arctic. The ocean contains 97% of Earth's water and is the primary component of the Earth's hydrosphere, thus the ocean is essential to life on Earth. The ocean influences climate and weather patterns, the carbon cycle, and the water cycle by acting as a huge heat reservoir. Oceanographers split the ocean into vertical and horizontal zones based on physical and biological conditions. The pelagic zone is the open ocean's water column from the surface to the ocean floor. The water column is further divided into zones based on depth and the amount of light present. The photic zone starts at the surface and is defined to be "the depth at which light intensity is only 1% of the surface value." This is the zone where photosynthesis can occur. In this process plants and microscopic algae (free floating phytoplankton) use light, water, carbon dioxide, and nutrients to produce organic matter. As a result, the photic zone is the most biodiverse and the source of the food supply which sustains most of the ocean ecosystem. Ocean photosynthesis also produces half of the oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere. Light can only penetrate a few hundred more meters; the rest of the deeper ocean is cold and dark (these zones are called mesopelagic and aphotic zones). The continental shelf is where the ocean meets dry land. It is [shallower,] with a depth of a few hundred meters or less. Human activity often has negative impacts on the ecosystems within the continental shelf. The terms "the ocean" or "the sea" used without specification refer to the interconnected body of salt water covering the majority of the Earth's surface. It includes the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Antarctic/Southern and Arctic Oceans. As a general term, "the ocean" and "the sea" are often interchangeable, although speakers of British English refer to "the sea" in all cases, even when the body of water is one of the oceans." [Alphabetically, the various ocean breadths and depths are approximated as follows]
Source: Wikipedia.org | Thursday, January 18, 2024, 3:30 PM CDT |
 "Nidal M. Hasan"
"Nidal M. Hasan (born September 8, 1970) is a United States Army Medical Corps officer and sole accused in the November 5, 2009 Fort Hood shooting, which occurred less than a month before he was due to deploy to Afghanistan. Hasan has been charged in the mass shooting with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder. As of May 2013, court-martial proceedings are scheduled to begin July 5, 2013. During the six years that Hasan worked as an intern and resident at Walter Reed Medical Center, colleagues and superiors were deeply concerned about his inappropriate behavior and comments. The 39-year-old Hasan was not married and has been described as socially isolated and stressed by his work with soldiers and upset about their accounts of warfare. At Fort Hood, he took an apartment away from other officers. Two days before the shooting, he gave away many of his belongings to a neighbor. The Senate released a report describing the mass shooting as "the worst terrorist attack on U. S. soil since September 11, 2001." The Army held an Article 32 hearing beginning on October 12, 2010, which recommended that charges against Hasan be referred to a General Court Martial. Hasan was arraigned on July 20, 2011 and trial was scheduled for March 2012. It was delayed for certain internal reasons and appeals, and the judge was replaced. Judge Colonel Tara Osborn has been assigned to the case. Hasan was born in Arlington County, Virginia, to Palestinian parents who immigrated to the U.S. from al-Bireh in the West Bank. Raised as a Muslim together with his two younger brothers, he attended Wakefield High School in Arlington for his freshman year. On August 23, 2013, a panel of thirteen officers convicted him of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder. Judge Colonel Tara Osborn continues to preside over the case while Hasan awaits sentencing."
Source: Wikipedia.org August 24, 2013  "Nancy Gonzalez"
"Nancy Gonzalez. The ex-prison guard impregnated by condemned cop killer Ronell Wilson has lost custody of her baby son—for boozing it up with Wilson’s relatives. Nancy Gonzalez—who will be sentenced later this month for her jailhouse romp with the murderer of two police officers—lost her parental rights after she was plied with alcohol by Wilson family members at two meetings over the summer, according to court papers. Wilson relatives had wanted Gonzalez to testify about the baby at Wilson’s sentencing hearing earlier in the year in a bid to help him avoid the death penalty. But Gonzalez refused to testify, and Wilson was indeed sentenced to die for killing undercover NYPD Detectives Rodney Andrews and James Nemorin during a gun buy-and-bust in 2003."
Source: nydailynews.com November 4, 2013 |
 "William J. Jefferson"
"William J. Jefferson (born March 14, 1947) is a former American politician from the U. S. state of Louisiana. He served as a member of the U. S. House of Representatives for nine terms from 1991 to 2009 as a member of the Democratic Party. He represented Louisiana's 2nd congressional district, which includes much of the greater New Orleans area. He was Louisiana's first black congressman since the end of Reconstruction. On November 13, 2009, Jefferson was sentenced to thirteen years in federal prison for bribery after a corruption investigation, the longest sentence ever handed down to a congressman for bribery or any other crime. He began serving that sentence in May 2012 at a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility in Beaumont, Texas. Jefferson was born in Lake Providence, the parish seat of East Carroll Parish in far northeastern Louisiana, where he and his eight brothers and sisters worked alongside their father, a farmer and a heavy equipment operator for the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The Jeffersons were among the few African American families in the area who actually owned their land (as opposed to sharecropping) which gave them a certain degree of respectability in the community. Nonetheless, he grew up in an environment of poverty. In 1969, Jefferson received a bachelor's degree from historically black Southern University in Baton Rouge, where he had participated in Army ROTC; in 1969 he led a protest against substandard campus facilities and negotiated a resolution of the complaint with then-Governor John J. McKeithen. On graduation from Southern University he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Army and served in a reserve capacity until 1975. In 1972, he earned a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. In 1996, he received a LLM in taxation from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D. C. In 1972 and 1973 Jefferson began the practice of law, having initially served as a clerk for Judge Alvin Benjamin Rubin of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Suspecting Jefferson of bribery, the FBI raided his Congressional offices in May 2006, but he was re-elected later that year. On June 4, 2007, a federal grand jury indicted Jefferson on sixteen felony charges related to corruption. Jefferson was defeated by Republican Joseph Cao on December 6, 2008, being the most senior Democrat to lose re-election that year. In 2009, he was tried in Virginia on corruption charges. On August 5, 2009, he was found guilty of eleven of the sixteen corruption counts. Jefferson's lawyers have promised to appeal, a gesture which New Orleans former U.S. attorney Harry Rosenberg told the Times-Picayune may work in Jefferson's favor because the jury failed to convict him on all sixteen of the indictment counts. Jefferson was sentenced to thirteen years on November 13, 2009, the longest sentence yet handed down to a congressman for bribery or any other crime. On March 26, 2012, the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed Jefferson's conviction and sentence on ten of the eleven counts on which he was convicted. The Court of Appeals vacated and remanded the conviction on one count of the indictment, involving alleged wire fraud, holding that venue on that count was improper in the federal court in Virginia. On April 20, 2012, U. S. District Court judge T. S. Ellis revoked Jefferson's bail and ordered that he report to prison to begin serving his thirteen-year sentence by May 4, 2012. On May 4, 2012, Jefferson surrendered to the Bureau of Prisons facility in Beaumont, Texas to begin serving his 13-year sentence. He is scheduled for release on August 30, 2023. Jefferson owes $5 million in legal fees and has filed for bankruptcy. On October 5, 2017, Jefferson was ordered released after a judge threw out 7 of 10 charges against him."
Source: Wikipedia.org January 22, 2014 |
"Ronell E. Wilson (born May 4, 1982) was convicted of the 2003 capital murder of two undercover New York City police officers in Staten Island, New York. His trial before Judge Nicholas Garaufis of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York began on November 27, 2006. On December 20, 2006, he was found guilty of the capital murders as well as other related charges. On January 30, 2007, Wilson was sentenced to death, the first such sentence by a federal jury in New York since the federal death penalty was reinstated in 1988. Prosecutors alleged Wilson was the leader of a violent drug gang called the Stapleton Crew that originated in the Stapleton housing projects of Staten Island. He was convicted for murdering NYPD Detectives James Nemorin and Rodney Andrews in a gun sale, then searching their bodies and stealing their car. The victims' family members and fellow police officers greeted pronouncement of his death sentence with cheers and applause; Wilson reacted by sticking his tongue out in their direction. After Wilson's death sentence was vacated by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, he was moved from the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York. While in the MDC, he fathered a child with prison guard Nancy Gonzalez during an illicit rendezvous in the "activity room" on July 15, 2012. On March 22, 2013 Gonzalez gave birth to a son they named Justus. The Wilson's attorneys are pressing an argument stating that he is mentally disabled and therefore not eligible for the death penalty based on the 2002 U. S. Supreme Court ruling outlawing the execution of mentally disabled offenders. The prosecutor in the original case, Jack Smith, is now the Chief of the Public Integrity Section of the Department of Justice. On July 24, 2013, a Brooklyn federal jury sentenced Wilson to death for the 2003 murders, reinstating the previous death sentence that was thrown out in 2010."
Source: Wikipedia.org November 4, 2013  "Ivan Lopez"
"On April 2, 2014, [a] mass shooting occurred at the Fort Hood military base near Killeen, Texas. Four people, including the gunman, were killed, while sixteen additional people were injured. The shooter, 34-year-old Ivan Lopez, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Immediately prior to the shooting, Lopez tried to seek a leave form, but was informed that he would have to come back later to try and retrieve it. At approximately 4:00 p.m., he opened fire with a .45-caliber Smith & Wesson M&P pistol inside a medical brigade building, hitting several soldiers. He then went to another building, where he continued firing. Roughly fifteen minutes after the shooting first started, Lopez was confronted by an unidentified female military police officer, prompting him to commit suicide. It was later revealed that Lopez, who was in uniform at the time of the shooting, wasn't authorized to carry a concealed firearm. The Bell County Sheriff's Office dispatched deputies and troopers from the Texas Department of Public Safety to the nearby post after receiving reports of an "active shooter," sheriff's Lt. Donnie Adams said. FBI spokeswoman Michelle Lee said its agents were also headed to the scene. The base confirmed the shooting in a brief statement posted online on April 2, 2014. On its Twitter feed and Facebook page, Fort Hood officials ordered everyone on base to "shelter in place" during the shooting. The injured victims were taken to Scott & White Memorial Hospital and Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center. Reacting to the incident, President Barack Obama said that he was left "heartbroken" and assured that the events would be investigated. The base was previously the scene of a mass shooting in 2009, in which 13 people were killed and more than 30 wounded. The shooter was identified as 34-year-old Ivan Lopez, an Iraq War veteran who was born in Guayanilla, Puerto Rico. He previously served in the Puerto Rico National Guard from 1999 to 2010 and also joined the United States Army in June 2008. He was married and had four children. In 2011, he served a four-month tour in Iraq. Lopez was a specialist assigned to the 13th Sustainment Command, a logistics and support unit at Fort Hood. He was previously assigned in Fort Bliss, but moved to Fort Hood two months prior to the shooting. Lopez was allegedly distraught over the deaths of his mother and grandfather during a two-month period five months prior to the shooting, and was also undergoing psychiatric treatment for depression and anxiety. He tried to take a 24-hour leave of absence in order to attend his mother's funeral, but it took five days for the leave to be approved, which allegedly upset him. During a press conference on the day of the shooting, Fort Hood Commander Mark A. Milley stated that Lopez died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. On March 1, one month prior to the shooting, Lopez allegedly purchased the weapon used in the shooting from Guns Galore, the same store where Nidal Malik Hasan, the convicted perpetrator of the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, purchased his own weapon. During that same month, he had seen a psychologist and was prescribed Ambien for a sleeping problem."
Source: Wikipedia.org April 25, 2014  "Dylann Storm Roof"
"Dylann Storm Roof (born April 3, 1994) is an American suspected of perpetrating the June 17, 2015 Charleston church shooting. During a prayer service at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Roof claimed to have killed nine African Americans, including senior pastor and state senator Clementa C. Pinckney, and injured one other person. After several people identified Roof as the main suspect, he became the center of a manhunt that ended the morning after the shooting with his arrest in Shelby, North Carolina. He later confessed that he committed the shooting in hopes of igniting a race war. Three days after the shooting, a website titled The Last Rhodesian was discovered and later confirmed by officials to be owned by Roof. The website contained photos of Roof posing with symbols of white supremacy and neo-Nazism, along with a manifesto in which he outlined his views towards blacks, among other peoples. He also claimed in the manifesto to have developed his white supremacist views following research on the 2012 shooting of Trayvon Martin and "black-on-white crime." Roof has been charged with nine counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. He also faces federal hate crime charges, for which he faces the death penalty. His trial in state court will start on July 11, 2016. Dylann Roof was born in Columbia, South Carolina, to Franklin Bennett. Roof, a carpenter, and Amelia "Amy" Cowles, a bartender. Both were divorced but temporarily reconciled at the time of his birth. When Roof was five, his father married Paige Mann Hastings in November 1999, but they divorced after ten years of marriage. Bennett Roof was allegedly verbally and physically abusive towards Mann. The family mostly lived in South Carolina [although] from about 2005 to 2008, they temporarily moved to the Florida Keys. There is no information about Roof attending local schools there. According to a 2009 affidavit filed for Mann's divorce, Roof exhibited signs of obsessive–compulsive disorder as he grew up, obsessing over germs and insisting on having his hair cut in a certain style. When he was in middle school, he exhibited an interest in smoking marijuana, having once been caught spending money on it. On the evening of June 17, 2015, a mass shooting took place at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, United States. During a routine Bible study at the church, a white man about 21 years old, later identified as Roof, opened fire with a handgun, killing nine people. Roof was unemployed and living in largely African-American Eastover at the time of the attack. On July 16, Roof's trial in state court was scheduled by Circuit Court Judge J. C. Nicholson to start on July 11, 2016. On July 20, Roof was ordered to provide handwriting samples to investigators. The order explained that following his arrest in Shelby, notes and lists were found written on his hand and at other locations; that the handwriting samples were needed to determine if the handwriting matched. Roof reappeared in state court on October 23, 2015, at 2:00 p.m. and is scheduled to reappear on February 5, 2016, at 9:00 a.m., before Nicholson."
Source: Wikipedia.org | December 17, 2015, 2:00PM | YouTube 12/15/2016  "Jason Brian Dalton"
"On the night of February 20–21, 2016, six people were killed and two others injured in a series of random shootings that took place at an apartment complex, outside a Cracker Barrel restaurant, and a car dealership in Kalamazoo County, Michigan. Police have detained a "strong suspect," later identified as Jason Dalton. The shootings began around 5:45 p. m. when a woman was shot multiple times in a Kalamazoo apartment parking lot; the woman survived but is in critical condition. About three hours later, the shooter arrived at a Kia dealership in Kalamazoo, where he shot and killed two people. This was followed by a third shooting outside a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Texas Township, where four people seated inside two vehicles were killed and one other person was wounded. Police believe none of the victims at the separate scenes were connected. Police have identified the suspect in the shootings as Kalamazoo resident Jason Brian Dalton, who is 45. Police detained the suspect around 12:40 a. m. after pulling over his vehicle, a black Chevrolet HHR, which matched the description of the getaway vehicle in the shootings. Police found a semi-automatic handgun in the car. Police indicated that Dalton had no known criminal history. According to documents released by the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, Dalton was born on June 22, 1970. Dalton is believed to have attended Comstock High School in Kalamazoo, graduating in 1989. Dalton worked as a driver for Uber and purportedly took fares between shooting incidents. An Uber representative stated that Dalton had passed company background checks. Dalton was married and had two children at the time of the shootings. The fatalities include a father and his 18-year-old son; and four women aged 60, 63, 68, and 74. A 14-year-old girl who was with the four women was initially included in the fatalities, but later confirmed to have survived. Joe Sullivan, Uber's Chief Security Officer, released a statement reading, "We are horrified and heartbroken at the senseless violence in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Our hearts and prayers are with the families of the victims of this devastating crime and those recovering from injuries. We have reached out to the police to help with their investigation in any way that we can."
Source: Wikipedia.org | ABC World News, February 21, 2016, 5:15PM  "Micah Xavier Johnson"
"On July 7, 2016, at the end of a peaceful protest, Micah Xavier Johnson ambushed and shot twelve police officers and two civilians in Dallas, Texas, United States, killing five of the officers. Johnson was an African American Army Reserve veteran who expressed his hatred of white people and was reportedly angry over recent police shootings of black men. The protest was being held against police killings in the aftermath of the shooting deaths of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, in the preceding days. Following the shooting, police confronted Johnson at a parking garage, and a standoff ensued. Police eventually killed Johnson with a bomb attached to a bomb-disposal robot. The shooting was the deadliest incident for U. S. law enforcement since the September 11 terrorist attacks. A protest was organized in Dallas by the Next Generation Action Network in response to the killings of two men, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, by police officers in Louisiana and Minnesota respectively, days before. The Dallas protest was one of several held across the U. S. on the night of July 7. Around 800 protesters were involved, and around 100 police officers were assigned to protect the event and the surrounding area. Before the shooting occurred, no other incidents were reported and the event was peaceful. The gunfire first started in downtown Dallas at 8:58 p. m. A bystander reported hearing 50 to 75 shots. Dallas Police Chief David O. Brown said that some of the officers were shot in the back, and that the shooter had some knowledge of the protest route. Another bystander, who recorded cell phone video of the event from his hotel balcony, reported observing the shooter, who was clad in tactical clothing and armed with a rifle. The bystander stated that the shooter loaded his rifle and began firing indiscriminately to draw officers near his position. When one officer approached a corner, the shooter engaged him in a gunfight, forcing the officer to take cover behind a concrete pillar. The shooter fired at one side of the pillar, then ran over to the other side, ambushed the officer, and shot him multiple times from behind at point-blank range, killing him. After firing additional gunshots into the officer's body, the gunman fled upon being shot at by additional officers. Following the shooting, the gunman engaged officers in a standoff at a nearby parking garage, firing intermittently at them. One officer was injured in the shootout. A suspicious package was discovered near the garage and was secured by a bomb squad. Chief Brown later stated that the gunman had declared that the end was near, his intentions were to kill more law enforcement personnel, and that he had placed explosives all over the garage and downtown Dallas. During negotiations, Johnson said that he acted alone and was not part of any group. The standoff ended in the early hours of July 8, after the shooter was killed by a C-4 bomb deployed and set off by a robot. A sweep of downtown Dallas found no presence of explosives. Micah Xavier Johnson was a resident of Mesquite, Texas. He graduated from John Horn High School in 2009. Johnson had served in the U. S. Army Reserve from March 2009 to April 2015, serving as a carpentry and masonry specialist. Johnson held the rank of private first class and was deployed to Afghanistan from November 2013 to July 2014 with the 420th Engineer Brigade. Johnson received the Army Achievement Medal and a NATO Medal for his tour of duty in Afghanistan. He left the Army Reserve following his return from Afghanistan and was working as an aide for mentally challenged children prior to his death. He had no criminal record in Texas. Five officers were killed and nine people—seven officers and two civilians—were injured in the shooting. The deaths of five officers in the shooting made this the deadliest incident for police officers in the United States since the September 11 attacks, surpassing two 2009 shootings in Lakewood, Washington, and Oakland, California, where four officers each were killed."
Source: CBS Evening News w/ Scott C. Pelley, July 8, 2016, 5:30PM-6:00PM | Wikipedia.org, 8:00PM | ABC newsmagazine “20/20,” July 8, 2016, 8:00PM-9:00PM  "Katherine Johnson"
"The near-fatal back shooting of Mr. Sammy Johnson occurred on Monday, October 30, 1995. The [back] shooting of Walter Scott occurred on April 4, 2015, in North Charleston, South Carolina, following a daytime traffic stop for a non-functioning brake light. Scott, an unarmed black man, was fatally shot by Michael Slager, a white North Charleston police officer. Slager was charged with murder after a video surfaced which showed him shooting Scott from behind while Scott was fleeing, and which contradicted his police report. The race difference led many to believe that the shooting was racially motivated, generating a widespread controversy. The case was independently investigated by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Office of the U. S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina, and the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division conducted their own investigations. In June 2015, a South Carolina grand jury indicted Slager on a charge of murder. He was released on bond in January 2016. In late 2016, a five-week trial ended in a mistrial due to a hung jury. In May 2016, Slager was indicted on federal charges including violation of Scott's civil rights and obstruction of justice. In a May 2017 plea agreement, Slager pleaded guilty to federal charges of civil rights violations, and he was returned to jail pending sentencing. In return for his guilty plea, the state's murder charges were dropped. In December 2017, Slager was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Walter Lamar Scott (February 9, 1965–April 4, 2015) was a forklift operator, studying massage therapy. An arrest warrant had been issued since a January 16, 2013 court hearing regarding his child support payments. Scott had previously been jailed three times because of the child support payments. Scott previously served two years in the U. S. Coast Guard before being given a general discharge in 1986 for a drug-related incident. Michael Thomas Slager (born November 14, 1981) 33 years old at the time of the incident, served in the North Charleston Police Department for five years and five months prior to the shooting. Before becoming a police officer, he served in the U. S. Coast Guard. Slager was named in a police complaint in 2013 for allegedly using a Taser on a man without cause. Slager was cleared by the police department over the incident; the victim and several witnesses said they were not interviewed. Following the Scott killing, North Charleston police stated they would re-review the 2013 complaint. Slager was named in a second tasing-without-cause complaint following an August 2014 police stop. A complaint filed in January 2015 resulted in Slager being cited for failing to file a report. Personnel documents describe Slager as having demonstrated "great officer safety tactics" in dealing with suspects, and note his proficiency with a Taser. At 9:30 a.m., April 4, 2015, in the parking lot of an auto parts store at 1945 Remount Road, Slager stopped Scott for a non-functioning third brake light. Scott was driving a 1991 Mercedes, and, according to his brother, was headed to the auto parts store when he was stopped. The video from Slager's dashcam shows him approaching Scott's car, speaking to Scott, and then returning to his patrol car. Scott exited his car and fled with Slager giving chase on foot. Slager pursued Scott. Slager then fired both of his Taser cartridges. He continued to pursue Scott into a lot behind a pawn shop at 5654 Rivers Avenue, and the two became involved in a physical altercation. Slager then fired his Taser, hitting Scott. Scott fled, and Slager drew his handgun, firing eight rounds at him from behind. The coroner's report stated that Scott was struck a total of five times: three times in the back, once in the upper buttocks, and once on one of his ears. During Slager's state trial, forensic pathologist Lee Marie Tormos testified that the fatal wound was caused by a bullet that entered Scott's back and struck his lungs and heart. Official autopsy reports have not been released. Immediately following the shooting, Slager radioed a dispatcher, stating, "Shots fired and the subject is down. He grabbed my Taser." When Slager fired his gun, Scott was approximately 15 to 20 feet away and fleeing. In the report of the shooting filed before the video surfaced, Slager said he had feared for his life because Scott had taken his Taser, and that he shot Scott because he "felt threatened." A passenger in Scott's car, reported to be a male co-worker and friend, was later placed in the back of a police vehicle and briefly detained. A toxicology report showed that Scott had cocaine and alcohol in his system at the time of his death. The level of cocaine was less than half the average amount for "typical impaired drivers", according to the report. Tormos testified that Scott did not test positive for alcohol. After the police department reviewed the video, Slager was arrested on April 7 and charged with murder. On June 8, a South Carolina grand jury indicted Slager on the murder charge. The murder charge was the only charge presented to the grand jury. On January 4, 2016, after being held without bail for almost nine months, Slager was released on $500,000 bond. He was confined to house arrest until the trial, which began October 31, 2016. On December 5, the judge declared a mistrial after the jury became deadlocked with 11 of the 12 jurors favoring a conviction. A retrial had been scheduled to begin in August 2017. However, the state charges were dropped as a result of Slager pleading guilty to a federal charge. On May 11, 2016, Slager was indicted on federal charges of violating Scott's civil rights and unlawfully using a weapon during the commission of a crime. In addition, he was charged with obstruction of justice as a result of his statement to state investigators that Scott was moving toward him with the Taser when he shot him. Slager pleaded not guilty, and a trial was scheduled to begin in May 2017. Slager faced up to life in prison if convicted. On May 2, 2017, as part of a plea agreement, Slager pleaded guilty to a violation of 18 U. S. C. § 242, deprivation of rights under color of law. In return for the guilty plea, the charges of obstructing justice and use of a firearm during a crime of violence were dismissed. On December 7, 2017, a federal judge sentenced Slager to 20 years in prison. Although defense attorneys had argued for voluntary manslaughter, the judge agreed with prosecutors that the "appropriate underlying offense" was second-degree murder. Because there is no parole in the federal justice system, Slager will likely remain in prison about 18 years after credit for time served in jail. In an out-of-court settlement, the City of North Charleston agreed in October 2015 to pay $6.5 million to Scott's family." On Monday, October 30, 1995, Mr. Sammy Johnson (born Wednesday, December 7, 1955) formerly of 39197 Hwy 929, Prairieville, LA was also shot in the back. Mr. Johnson was shot at the hand of his own sibling while Mr. Johnson was attempting to simply change a light bulb in the Heir home the two were sharing together. The wood framed house was left by Mr. Johnson's father, the Late Mr. Jessie James Johnson (1912-1989). Without any obvious provocation whatsoever, Ms. Johnson fired two shots in rapid succession of one another, one of which struck Mr. Johnson in his back. Mr. Johnson received aid from a nearby neighbor & was subsequently flown by helicopter to the hospital. A Ms. "Katherine Johnson" (pictured above) (born Monday, August 16, 1948) was later apprehended that same day and was allegedly & originally charged with "Attempted Second Degree Murder." Ms. Johnson was later released from the Ascension Parish jailhouse allegedly on a lesser charge. The weapon used is believed to have been a .45 Caliber handgun. Currently, she's believed to be residing in Orleans Parish. Her exact physical address is not known by the victim, Mr. Sammy Johnson. Mr. Johnson yet resides in Ascension Parish, State of Louisiana. Following surgery at the "Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center" Baton Rouge, LA between October 30, 1995-November 7, 1995, one of Mr. Johnson's attending physicians stated to him, "you're a lucky man, the bullet just missed your spleen." This is the only really platform that the victim, Mr. Sammy Johnson, has had so far to tell his side to this sordid story.
Source: Wikipedia.org | December 10, 2017, 9:29AM | updated August 16, 2018, 9:29AM | Post updated by ClassicShoppes.us, February 2, 2019, 9:00 AM CDT  "Walter Lamar Scott"
"Walter Lamar Scott was a 50-year-old forklift operator, studying massage therapy. An arrest warrant had been issued since a January 16, 2013, court hearing regarding his child support payments, for which he had previously been jailed three times. Scott previously served two years in the U. S. Coast Guard before being given a general discharge in 1986 for a drug-related offense. Following his sudden, unlawful demise and in subsequent litigation it appears that a wrongful death lawsuit settled for $6.5 million."
Source: Wikipedia.org | Updated January 11, 2023, 11:00 PM CDT  "Michael Aikens"
"Three men arrested for Gonzales triple murder." "LA (WAFB)-Three men are behind bars for the brutal murders of three Gonzales residents last month. The Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office says Michael Aikens, 35, Rolondo Stewart, 22, and Travis Moore, 19, were arrested Tuesday afternoon for the murders of Robert and Shirley Marchand, and Shirley's son, Douglas Dooley. Aikens worked for the couple. According to reports, more arrests could be pending. Deputies say all three victims were found February 18th at the Marchand's home on Babin Road with their throats slashed and signs of blunt trauma. There were no signs of forced entry. Robert Marchand, 74, and Douglas Dooley, 50, were pronounced dead at the scene. Shirley Marchand, 72, clung to life for two weeks after the attack, but later succumbed to her injuries. A safe containing gold coins worth an estimated $500,000 was stolen from the residence. It was found two days later at a park in Livingston Parish. The bottom of the safe had been torched open and most of the coins had been stolen. All three men have been charged with three counts of first degree murder, three counts of armed robbery and three counts of aggravated burglary." The subject, known as Michael Aikens, 35, was also one of four suspects in the Aggravated Burglary, Attempted Murder and Robbery of local resident, Mr. Sammy Johnson, (born, Wednesday, December 7, 1955) formerly of 39197 Hwy 929, Prairieville, LA, some years earlier in May of 1997. In mid 2001, Aikens was identified by Mr. Johnson, the victim in the 1997 crime but he was never arrested and charged in that crime. Aikens accomplices in the May 1997 crime in Prairieville are not believed to be the same ones named in the horrifying brutal murder in Gonzales. It is said, that Michael Aikens, who may have been a "Hired Killer," is now serving a prison sentence of three consecutive life terms in a state penitentiary; but only for his part in the brutal & horrifying triple murders.
Source: WAFB TV News 9 in 2012, preserved and documented herein on Tuesday, October 18, 2016, 12:13AM | “Copyright 2012 WAFB. All rights reserved” |
 "Clarence R. Nagin, Jr."
"Clarence R. Nagin, Jr. (born June 11, 1956), also known as C. Ray Nagin, was the 60th mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana from 2002 to 2010. He was formerly a consultant, entrepreneur, author, and public speaker. He became internationally known in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the New Orleans area. He was convicted in 2014 on 20 counts of corruption during his time as mayor. Nagin was first elected in March 2002 and received significant crossover vote from just about every segment of the population. He was re-elected in 2006 even though the election was held with at least two-thirds of New Orleans citizens still displaced after Katrina struck. He was term limited by law and left office on May 3, 2010. On February 12, 2014, Nagin was convicted on 20 corruption charges, including wire fraud, bribery, and money laundering related to his alleged dealings with two troubled city vendors following Hurricane Katrina disaster. On February 20, 2013, Nagin pleaded not guilty in federal court to all charges. He was convicted on 20 of 21 of these charges on February 12, 2014. Nagin was born on June 11, 1956, in New Orleans' Charity Hospital, to a modest-income family. His childhood was typical of that of urban youth, and his father held two jobs: a janitor at New Orleans City Hall by night and a fabric cutter at a clothing factory by day. After the factory shut down his father became a fleet mechanic at a local dairy, to earn sufficient pay to support his family. His mother was employed as manager of a Kmart in-store restaurant. In 1982, Nagin married Seletha Smith, a New Orleans native. Together, they have three children: Jeremy, Jarin, and Tianna. "The jury has reached a verdict in the federal corruption case against former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. The former N. O. Mayor was found guilty on 20 of 21 counts, including bribery, money laundering and fraud. The jury deliberated for a total of seven hours. Prosecutors said Nagin took money, free vacations and trips, and truck loads of granite for Stone Age. Nagin denied taking bribes or giving out city contracts in exchange for favors. Jurors decided Nagin was innocent of bribery when it came to getting granite for his family's company Stone Age LLC. Prosecutors argued Nagin took more than $500,000 of bribes and committed criminal acts starting in 2005 and stretching through the next several years as the city fought to recover from Hurricane Katrina. Nagin said the bribes were actually investments. He also denied allegations that he helped Home Depot open a store in New Orleans in exchange for steering business to Stone Age. Defense attorney Robert Jenkins said they will appeal the ruling. Nagin was considered a political outsider when he was elected mayor in 2002. He held the office until he was term limited out in 2010. The judge has ordered Nagin to home incarceration until his sentencing hearing. Nagin could be looking at a significant amount of jail time. Some charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years. On July 15, 2014, Nagin's attorney filed an appeal with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Bureau of Prisons disregarded a judicial recommendation for Nagin to serve his time in Oakdale, La., and instead assigned him to a federal prison camp in Texarkana, Tex. On Sept. 3, 2014, a judge deemed Nagin indigent and ordered the Federal Public Defender's Office to take over his appeal. Nagin claimed to be near penniless and said he was receiving food stamps support. He reported to the aforementioned prison camp on Sept. 8, 2014. Nagin was accompanied by members of his immediate family and did not speak to reporters as he was searched and admitted through the main gate. His earliest possible release date is May 25, 2023. He was released on April 27, 2020, due to a COVID-19 scare."
Source: Twitter.com/WAFB TV February 12, 2014; Wikipedia.org September 11, 201 and May 2, 2020, 9:47 AM CDT.  “Syed Rizwan Farook”
"On December 2, 2015, husband and wife Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik shot and killed 14 people and injured 21 others at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California. They targeted a holiday party for employees of the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health, held in an auditorium with at least 100 people, before fleeing in an SUV. Farook had attended the party as an employee. After a regional manhunt, the two perpetrators were killed by police after gunfire was exchanged with them while in their vehicle, approximately four hours later. It was the second-deadliest mass shooting in California's history, after the 1984 San Ysidro McDonald's massacre, and the deadliest in the United States since the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Police emphasized that no motive has yet been discovered. The FBI took over the investigation, and is treating the probe as a counter-terrorism investigation. Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik left their six-month-old daughter with Farook's mother the morning before the attacks, saying they were going to a doctor's appointment. Farook, a health inspector for the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health, was reportedly in attendance at the department's holiday party at the Inland Regional Center, a nonprofit facility on South Waterman Avenue serving people with developmental disabilities. There were over 100 people in attendance. Coworkers reported that he had been quiet during the early parts of the event and noticed he had left the party abruptly, leaving his coat, before a group photo was taken. There were some reports that an argument occurred before his departure. In later police briefings, it was said he left "under circumstances that were described as angry." At 10:59 am Pacific Standard Time, two perpetrators wearing ski masks and camouflage opened fire on the party-goers. Witnesses said that they recognized Farook as one of the shooters by his voice and build. A shootout on East San Bernardino Boulevard, about 1.7 miles away from the shooting, began around 3:00 pm. Police requested a BearCat and medical assistance. After the SUV was pursued and stopped, the couple exchanged fire with police from inside their vehicle, which was a black Ford Expedition SUV which Farook had rented several days previously. The gunfire lasted under a minute before both perpetrators were killed. The sheriff's department confirmed that one male and one female were killed. According to the San Bernardino police chief, during the shootout, police fired 380 rounds and the couple fired 76 rounds. Police locked down streets in the area and residents were asked to stay indoors. Police identified the dead perpetrators as Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik. Farook was a 28-year-old U. S. citizen, born in Illinois to Pakistani immigrants. He grew up in Riverside, California, and attended La Sierra High School, graduating in 2004, one year early. He then attended California State University, San Bernardino, receiving a bachelor's degree in environmental health in either 2009 or 2010. He was a student for one semester in 2014 at California State University, Fullerton, in their graduate program for environmental engineering, but never completed the program. Farook worked as a food inspector for the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health for five years before the shooting. From July to December 2010, he was a seasonal employee for the county. He was hired as an environmental health specialist trainee on January 28, 2012, and became a permanent employee on February 8, 2014. A coworker stated that he had not noticed Farook exhibiting any unusual behavior recently and two other coworkers described him as quiet and polite. His brother served in the U. S. Navy from 2003 to 2007, receiving multiple commendations. Malik was a 27-year-old woman originally from Pakistan who had lived in Saudi Arabia. A coworker of Farook said he went to Saudi Arabia in the spring of 2014 for about a month and married her there after meeting her through the Internet. Farook described his wife as a pharmacist; she joined him in California shortly after their wedding. They had a daughter of six months at the time of their deaths. The couple traveled to the U. S. in July 2014; Malik entered on a K-1 visa (fiancée visa) on a Pakistani passport. According to a State Department spokesman, all applicants for such visas are fully screened. Farook applied for permanent residency (a "green card") for Malik in September 2014, and she was granted a conditional green card in July 2015. Obtaining such a green card would have required the couple to prove that the marriage was legitimate, as well as required Malik to provide her fingerprints and pass criminal and national security background checks using government databases. Malik was one of a small number of female mass shooters in the United States; according to FBI statistics, women constituted only 3.75 percent of shooters of active-shooter incidents between the years 2000 and 2013."
Source: ABC & CBS Evening News, Wikipedia.org December 2-3, 2015  "Ethan Anthony Couch"
"Ethan Anthony Couch (born April 11, 1997) is an American teenager given 10 years probation in juvenile court, on 4 counts of intoxication manslaughter, for recklessly driving drunk on June 15, 2013 in Burleson, Texas. He was illegally driving on a restricted license and speeding, lost control, plowed into a group of people standing near a disabled SUV and struck a parked vehicle there to assist. Four people were killed in the collision; two passengers in Couch's truck suffered serious bodily injury and a total of nine people were injured. In December 2013, Judge Jean Hudson Boyd sentenced Couch to 10 years of probation and subsequently ordered him to therapy at a long-term, in-patient facility, after his attorneys argued that the teen had "affluenza" and needed rehabilitation instead of prison. Boyd then retired as judge the following December. Couch's sentence set off what the New York Times called "an emotional, angry debate that has stretched far beyond the North Texas suburbs." Couch became the subject of a manhunt and was listed in the National Fugitive Database on December 11, 2015, after his probation officer was unable to contact him. On December 28, 2015, authorities detained Couch and his mother in the Mexican resort city of Puerto Vallarta. Couch's parents were married in Johnson County, Texas in 1996, and divorced in 2007. He grew up in Burleson and previously attended Anderson Private School. Couch drove himself to school at the age of thirteen. When the head of the school questioned that practice, his father threatened to buy the school. At the age of fifteen, Couch was cited for "minor in consumption of alcohol" and "minor in possession of alcohol," after he was caught in a parked pick-up truck with a naked, passed out 14-year-old girl. He pleaded no contest and was sentenced to probation, a compulsory alcohol awareness class, and 12 hours of community service. His parents have each had their own run-ins with the law, publicized retrospectively in the media following their son's conviction. Fred Couch has been charged with criminal mischief, theft by check and assault, but the charges were dismissed. On August 19, 2014, he was arrested for impersonating a police officer, allegedly displaying a fake badge during a disturbance call. In 2013, Tonya Couch was sentenced to a $500 fine and a six-month community supervision order for reckless driving when she used her vehicle to force another motorist off the road. On Saturday evening June 15, 2013, according to authorities and trial testimony, Couch was witnessed on surveillance video stealing two cases of beer from a Walmart store, driving with seven passengers in his father's red 2012 Ford F-350 pickup truck, and speeding 70 miles per hour in a designated 40 miles per hour zone. Three hours after the incident, he had a blood alcohol content of 0.24, three times the legal limit for adult drivers in Texas, and tested positive for Valium."
Source: Wikipedia.org January 4, 2016, 8:46AM (Photo taken February 22, 2016, 12:20AM)  "Omar Mir Seddique Mateen"
"Omar Mir Seddique Mateen (November 16, 1986–June 12, 2016) lived about 100 miles from Orlando. Mateen was an American citizen born in New York to Afghan parents, and was a Muslim. He attended Martin County High School for at least one year and reportedly held two degrees in science from Indian River State College, received in 2006 and 2007. According to Florida Department of Law Enforcement records, he had no criminal record in Florida. Mateen lived in Fort Pierce, Florida, but received mail at his parents' home in nearby Port St. Lucie. He had worked for the security firm G4S in Jupiter, Florida, since 2007. He held an active firearms license and a security guard license. Mateen married an Uzbekistan-born wife in April 2009; they divorced in July 2011. Law enforcement sources said Mateen called 9-1-1 and pledged allegiance to ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi just before he started shooting. Mateen's father said, "This had nothing to do with religion," and was quoted as saying that he had seen his son get angry after witnessing a gay couple kiss at a festival marketplace in Miami months prior to the attack, which he suggested might be a motivating factor. Imam Shafiq Rahman at the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce told reporters that Mateen would come to the mosque with his father and his three-year-old son as recently as two days before the shooting, and said of him, "He was the most quiet guy. He would come and pray and leave. There was no indication at all of violence." The imam said that he did not preach violence toward homosexuals. On June 12, 2016, a mass shooting occurred at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. At least 50 people, including the gunman ["Omar Mir Seddique Mateen"] were killed and 53 others were wounded. The attack is the deadliest mass shooting in United States history."
Source: ABC World News Tonight w/ David Muir | June 12, 2016, 5:00-5:30PM | Wikipedia.org  "Gavin Eugene Long"
"Gavin Eugene Long (July 17, 1987–July 17, 2016) On July 17, 2016, Gavin Eugene Long shot six police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Three died and three were hospitalized, one critically; of the officers who died, two were members of the Baton Rouge Police Department, while the third worked for the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office. Long, who associated himself with organizations linked to black separatism and the sovereign citizen movement, was shot and killed by a SWAT officer during a shootout with police at the scene. Police arrested and questioned two other suspects, but Long was confirmed to be the only person involved in the shooting. The shooting occurred during a period of unrest in Baton Rouge, though it is unclear if the events are related. Baton Rouge was experiencing ongoing protests following the officer-involved killing of Alton Sterling less than two weeks before on July 5. On July 7, the FBI's New Orleans field office issued a warning about "threats to law enforcement and potential threats to the safety of the general public" stemming from the death of Sterling. Within the previous week, four suspects were arrested in connection with an alleged plot to kill Baton Rouge police officers, which was described as a credible threat by law enforcement officials. Ten days earlier, five police officers were killed in a mass shooting in Dallas. Long arrived at Hammond Aire Plaza, a shopping complex on Airline Highway, sometime before 8:40 a.m. CT and began scouting the area in search of police officers. He first spotted a police patrol vehicle parked at a B-Quik convenience store; it belonged to a sheriff's deputy who was working security in the area. Long parked his vehicle behind an adjacent building, got out, and prepared to shoot, but found that the vehicle was empty. He then drove north and noticed a police officer washing his vehicle a short distance away, but the officer left before Long could get close. By 8:40, police received a call about a suspicious person carrying a rifle near the plaza. When officers arrived at the scene, they found Long clad in black and wearing a face mask behind the Hair Crown Beauty Supply store on the 9600 block of Airline Highway. Shots were reportedly fired two minutes later. Another two minutes afterwards, there were reports that officers were down. According to investigators, Long fired upon the first responding officers, fatally wounding three. One of the officers was killed trying to help another. Long shot another police officer and then moved to another part of the complex, where he shot two sheriff's deputies. At 8:46, he was reported to be near Benny's Car Wash. Officers fired on Long from behind the cover of patrol cars. Eventually, a SWAT team responded to the scene; one member took aim at Long from about 100 yards away and killed him at about 8:48. Louisiana State Policesaid Long was the only person involved in the shooting. The entire shooting lasted for less than ten minutes. Long grew up in Kansas City and graduated from high school in 2005. His parents divorced when he was eleven, and his father was neglectful of Long, according to court records. He failed to appear on scheduled visits with his son while the divorce was pending, and did not deliver birthday or Christmas presents to him. Court records described one instance where Long was picked up by his father, but dropped off at a day care facility at a casino shortly after. Long served in the U. S. Marine Corps as a data network specialist from August 22, 2005, to August 1, 2010. He was honorably discharged with the rank of sergeant. During his military service, he was deployed to Iraq from June 2008 to January 2009. He was also assigned to units in San Diego, California, and Okinawa, Japan. Long was awarded the Good Conduct Medal, along with an Iraq Campaign Medal, a National Defense Service Medal, a Navy Unit Commendation, and others. Following his military service, Long told relatives and friends that he suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder, though an official diagnosis was not made clear. He reportedly had prescriptions for Ativan and Valium, both anti-anxiety drugs, as well as Lunesta, a sleep aid. Health records from the U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs reportedly indicated contacts with Long from 2008 to August 2013, with no specific details disclosed. According to Long's mother, the VA then sent him a letter denying him further treatment on the grounds that his disorder was not related to his military service. Long was identified as a "black separatist" by a U.S. law enforcement official. Social media posts indicated that he was an active member of the anti-government New Freedom Group. According to CNN, a card was found on Long's body, suggesting that he was a member of the Washitaw Nation, a group of African Americans associated with the sovereign citizen movement that originated in Richwood. Long graduated from Central Texas College in Killeen in 2011 with an associate degree, and also studied for two semesters at Clark Atlanta University, a historically black university, from 2012 to 2013. In addition, he spent a semester at the University of Alabama in the spring of 2012, with his name making it to the Dean's List as a general business major. According to local court records, Long had no criminal record and was divorced."
Source: Wikipedia.org | Monday, July 25, 2016, 12:00AM  "Esteban Santiago-Ruiz"
"A mass shooting occurred at Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport in Broward County, Florida, United States, at 12:55 p.m. EST on January 6, 2017 near the baggage claim in Terminal 2. Five people were killed while six others were injured in the shooting. Up to 40 people sustained injuries in the ensuing panic. A suspect was taken into custody after surrendering to responding police officers. The assailant opened fire with a 9mm Glock semi-automatic pistol in the airport at about 12:55 p. m. EST, in the baggage claim area of Terminal 2, which is the host terminal for Delta Air Lines and Air Canada. Video showed travelers rushing out of the airport and hundreds of people waiting on the tarmac as numerous law enforcement officers rushed to the scene. Part of the panic occurred following "unfounded reports of additional gunshots," the false alarm touched off a brief panic in other terminals. Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer tweeted from the airport, "Shots have been fired. Everyone is running." The shooting lasted about 70 to 80 seconds. The suspect laid down on the ground after he stopped shooting, after running out of ammunition. Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel stated that law enforcement officers did not fire shots and that the gunman was arrested without incident. The Broward County Sheriff's Office reported that five people were killed. Originally, eight people were have said to have been injured, but the sheriff clarified on January 7 that the number of people injured due to the shooting was actually six, with three admitted in intensive care units. The sheriff said that in addition to the people injured by gunshots, about 30 to 40 others were "injured in the panic" during the even. Esteban Santiago-Ruiz born March 16, 1990, a 26-year-old resident of Alaska and a military veteran, was arrested immediately after the shooting. Because the attack took place at an airport, it falls under federal criminal jurisdiction. Santiago-Ruiz was put in federal custody after the incident. Santiago flew from Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Anchorageon a Delta flight, connecting through Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport. Investigators say that he checked a declared 9mm pistol in his baggage before retrieving it in Fort Lauderdale and loading the gun in an airport bathroom just before the attack. According to law enforcement officials, he had purchased Glock 9mm and .40 caliber pistols in the past, but it was unknown whether these were the firearms used in the attack. Santiago was reported to be carrying military identification at the time of the shooting Santiago was reportedly born in New Jersey in 1990, having moved to Puerto Rico two years later. He lived most of his life in Peñuelas, Puerto Rico, and attended high school there. He joined the Puerto Rico National Guard on December 14, 2007, and served in the Iraq War from April 23, 2010 to February 19, 2011 as a combat engineer. He later served in the Alaska Army National Guard from November 21, 2014, until receiving a general discharge in August 2016 for "unsatisfactory performance." He was a private first classand received ten awards during his time in the military. In January 2016, Santiago was arrested and charged with assault in an incident involving his girlfriend in Anchorage, Alaska. It was alleged that he was yelling at her, broke down the door, and proceeded to strangle her. The case resulted in a deferred prosecution agreement."
Source: Wikipedia.org | Sunday, January 8, 2017, 9:11PM  "Stephen Craig Paddock"
"Stephen Craig Paddock (April 9, 1953–October 1, 2017) was an American mass murderer, who committed the 2017 Las Vegas Strip shooting. He fired modified semi-automatic weapons from his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel into a crowd of approximately 22,000 concertgoers at a country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip on October 1, 2017. Paddock, who lived in Mesquite, Nevada, died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The incident surpassed the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting. The deadliest mass shooting by a lone gunman in U. S. history, with 58 fatalities and 489 injuries. Sean H Hockland, of Minneapolis, MN, by way of Spanaway, WA, a known associate of Paddock's is currently being held at a federal holding facility in Reno, NV for questioning in connection to the deadly shooting. Stephen Paddock was born in Clinton, Iowa. He grew up in Tucson, Arizona, and Sun Valley, California, as one of four sons of Benjamin Hoskins Paddock. Benjamin was a convicted bank robber who escaped prison in 1969, and subsequently had his name added to the FBI's most-wanted list. Stephen was 15 years old at the time. According to his brother Eric, they never really knew their father as he was never with their mother. In 1967, Paddock completed his studies at Richard E. Byrd Middle School, then graduated from John H. Francis Polytechnic High School in 1971, and from California State University, Northridge in 1977, with a degree in business administration. He worked for the federal government from about 1975 to 1985. Paddock was a letter carrier for the U. S. Postal Service from 1976 to 1978. He worked for six years as an Internal Revenue Service agent, until 1984. He was a federal auditor for one year, in 1985, focusing on defense contractors. Towards the end of the 1980s, he worked for three years as an internal auditor for a company that later merged to form Lockheed Martin. Paddock's work career after this period is not clear. However, it is known he lived in the Los Angeles area and owned personal property in areas including Panorama City,Cerritos and North Hollywood, from the 1970s to early 2000s. He owned rental properties around the country, including two run-down apartment buildings in the working-class neighborhood of Hawthorne, California. He owned an apartment complex in the Dallas suburb of Mesquite, which he sold in 2012. Relatives said Paddock was worth at least $2 million. According to court records, Paddock was married and divorced twice. He was first married from 1977 to 1979, and for the second time from 1985 to 1990, both marriages in Los Angeles County, California. According to his brother, Paddock had no political or religious affiliations of any kind. Paddock lived in Texas and in California, then in a retirement community in Melbourne, Florida from 2013 to 2015. In 2016 he moved 2,400 miles west across the country from Melbourne, Florida, to a new retiree home in Mesquite, Nevada, about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas. According to property records, he bought a single-family home in Mesquite in 2013, and sold his two-bedroom home in Melbourne. For several years, he lived with his girlfriend in a retirement community in Reno, Nevada in addition to his home in Mesquite. An Australian acquaintance said he met Paddock in the United States and the Philippines. He described Paddock as intelligent and methodical. He alleged Paddock won a lot of money applying algorithms to gambling on machines and that he studied gun laws. The acquaintance considered Paddock a generous man whenever he and his girlfriend visited him. In 2010, Paddock applied for and received a U. S. passport. He was an avid traveler. He was on 20 cruise ship voyages, visiting several foreign ports including in Spain, Italy, Greece, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. He was accompanied by his girlfriend on nine of them."
Source: Wikipedia.org | Saturday, October 7, 2017, 7:23PM CDT |
 “Willie Cory Godbolt”
"On May 27, 2017, a "Willie Cory Godbolt" allegedly shot and killed eight people at three different houses in Lincoln County, Mississippi. The shootings began at around 11:30 p.m. at a house in Bogue Chitto. Three women and police officer William Durr were shot dead at that house. Two boys were found shot to death at a house in Brookhaven and an adult male and female were found shot to death at another house. The suspect, 35-year-old "Willie Cory Godbolt," was shot and wounded by police and taken to hospital for treatment. While being arrested Godbolt told a reporter that he had intended to commit suicide by cop and that he deserved to die for his actions. The victims have not been publicly identified but include Godbolt's wife's mother, aunt, two sisters and brother-in-law. Godbolt's wife and their children were unharmed in the incident. The suspect in the shootings is Cory Godbolt. Godbolt has an extensive criminal record dating back to 2005 that includes arrests for armed robbery, aggravated assault, simple assault, driving with a suspended license and disorderly conduct. He was most recently arrested in 2016 for assault. Godbolt stated to the reporter who interviewed him that he had gone to the Bogue Chitto house to talk with his estranged wife, her mother and stepfather about taking his children back home and that one of them called the police, ultimately leading to the shooting."
Source: Wikipedia.org, Monday, May 29, 2017, 1:50PM CDT | Associated Press Posted: May 28, 2017 8:40 AM CDT Updated: May 28, 2017 3:17 PM CDT  "Ronald Gene Simmons, Sr."
"Ronald Gene Simmons, Sr., (July 15, 1940–June 25, 1990) was an American spree killer, who killed 16 people over a week-long period in Arkansas in 1987. A retired military serviceman, Simmons murdered fourteen members of his family, including a daughter he had sexually abused and the child he had fathered with her, a former co-worker, and a stranger, and wounded four others. Simmons was sentenced to death sixteen times, and after refusing to appeal his sentence, was executed by Arkansas in 1990. Ronald Gene Simmons was born on July 15, 1940, in Chicago, Illinois, to Loretta and William Simmons. On January 31, 1943, William Simmons died of a stroke, and within a year Simmons's mother had remarried, this time to William D. Griffen, a civil engineer for the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. In 1946, the corps moved Griffen to Little Rock, Arkansas, the first of several transfers that would take the family across central Arkansas over the next decade. On September 15, 1957, Simmons dropped out of school and joined the U. S. Navy, and was first stationed at Naval Station Bremerton in Washington, where he met Bersabe Rebecca Ulibarri, whom he married in New Mexico on July 9, 1960. Over the next eighteen years, the couple had seven children. In 1963, Simmons left the navy, and approximately two years later joined the U. S. Air Force. During his twenty-year military career, Simmons was awarded a Bronze Star Medal, the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross for his service as an airman, and the Air Force Ribbon for Excellent Marksmanship. Simmons retired from the air force and military service on November 30, 1979, at the rank of master sergeant. On April 3, 1981, Simmons was being investigated by the Cloudcroft, New Mexico, Department of Human Services for allegations that he had fathered a child with his 17-year-old daughter, Sheila, whom he had been sexually abusing. Fearing arrest, Simmons fled New Mexico with his family, first to Ward, Arkansas, in late 1981, and then to Dover, Arkansas, in the summer of 1983. The family took up residence on a 13-acre tract of land that would become known as Mockingbird Hill. The residence was constructed of two older-model mobile homes joined to form one large home, which did not have a telephone or indoor plumbing, and surrounded by a makeshift privacy fence which was as high as 10 feet tall in some places. Simmons worked a string of low-paying jobs in the nearby town of Russellville, Arkansas. He quit a position as an accounts receivable clerk at Woodline Motor Freight after numerous reports of inappropriate sexual advances and went to work at a Sinclair Mini Mart for approximately a year and a half before quitting on December 18, 1987. Shortly before Christmas 1987, Simmons decided to kill all the members of his family. On the morning of December 22, he first killed his wife Rebecca and eldest son Gene by shooting them with a .22-caliber pistol, and then killed his 3-year-old granddaughter Barbara by strangulation. Simmons dumped the bodies in the cesspit he had made his children dig. Simmons then waited for his other children to return to the house, and after their arrival he told them he had presents for them, but wanted to give them one at a time. He first killed his daughter, 17-year-old Loretta, whom Simmons strangled and held under the water in a rain barrel. The three other children, Eddy, Marianne, and Becky, were then killed in the same way. Around mid-day on December 26, the remaining members of the family arrived for their Christmas visit. The first to be killed was Simmons's son Billy and his wife Renata, who were both shot dead. He then strangled and drowned their 20-month-old son, Trae. Simmons shot and killed his oldest daughter, Sheila (whom he had sexually abused), and her husband, Dennis McNulty. Simmons then strangled his child by Sheila, 7-year-old Sylvia Gail, and finally his 21-month-old grandson Michael. Simmons laid the bodies of his whole family in neat rows in the lounge. All the corpses were covered with coats except that of Sheila, who was covered by Rebecca Simmons' best tablecloth. The bodies of the two grandsons were wrapped in plastic sheeting and left in abandoned cars at the end of the lane. After the murders, Simmons went for a drink in a local bar, then returned to the house and, apparently oblivious to the corpses lined up around him, spent the rest of the evening and the following day drinking beer and watching television. Simmons was charged with 16 counts of murder, found guilty, and sentenced to death. He refused to appeal his death sentence, stating, "To those who oppose the death penalty in my particular case, anything short of death would be cruel and unusual punishment." John Bynum successfully prosecuted the case. Simmons was first tried for the Russellville crimes, and a jury convicted him of capital murder and sentenced him to death. He made an additional statement, under oath, supporting his sentence:
Source: Wikipedia.org | Tuesday, August 1, 2017, 10:00PM CDT |
 "Sayfullo Habibullaevich Saipov"
"The suspect, 29-year-old Sayfullo Habibullaevich Saipov, was born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, then a part of the Soviet Union, on February 8, 1988 and lived most of his life in the districts of Beltepa and Uchtepa. Saipov was the eldest of four children and their only son. In 2005, he graduated from a professional college and studied at the Tashkent Financial Institute from 2005 to 2009, before working as an accountant. He entered the United States under a Diversity Immigrant Visa in 2010, and is a permanent ("green card") resident in the U. S. He resided in Stow, Ohio, before moving to Tampa, Florida, and then Paterson, New Jersey. He worked in New Jersey as a driver for the passenger transport company Uber for six months. Public records show he held a commercial truck license. He was issued traffic citations in Maryland in 2011, in Pennsylvania in 2012 and 2015 and in Missouri in 2016, where records showed he was driving a tractor-trailer. In 2015, federal agents interviewed Saipov about his contacts with two suspected terrorists but a case was never opened against him. People who knew Saipov personally described him as a "little aggressive" and not very religious. A preacher at the mosque Saipov attended in Tampa said Saipov was devoted to outward observances of Islam but exhibited rudimentary knowledge of the Quran. The preacher also said Saipov was very critical of American policies regarding Israel. On November 1, federal prosecutors brought terrorism charges against Saipov, the Uzbek immigrant accused in the truck rampage that left eight people dead, saying he was spurred to attack by the Islamic State group’s online calls to action and picked Halloween because he figured streets would be extra crowded. Even as he lay wounded in the hospital from police gunfire, Sayfullo Saipov asked to display the Islamic State group’s flag in his room and said "he felt good about what he had done," prosecutors said in court papers. Saipov, 29, was brought to court in a wheelchair to face charges that could bring the death penalty. Handcuffed and with his legs shackled, Saipov nodded his head repeatedly as he was read his rights in a brief court proceeding that he followed through a Russian interpreter. He was ordered held without bail. Outside court, his appointed lawyer, David Patton, said he hoped "everyone lets the judicial process play out." "I promise you that how we treat Mr. Saipov in this judicial process will say a lot more about us than it will say about him," Patton said. Prosecutors said Saipov had 90 videos and 3,800 photos on one of his two cell phones, many of them ISIL-related pieces of propaganda, including images of prisoners being beheaded, shot or run over by a tank. Saipov left behind knives and a note, in Arabic and English, that included Islamic religious references and said, "Islamic Supplication. It will endure," FBI agent Amber Tyree said in court papers. "It will endure" commonly refers to ISIL, Tyree said. Questioned in his hospital bed, Saipov said he had been inspired by ISIL videos and began plotting an attack about a year ago, deciding to use a truck about two months ago, Tyree said. During the last few weeks, Saipov searched the internet for information on Halloween in New York City and for truck rentals, the agent said. Saipov even rented a truck on Oct. 22 to practice making turns, and he initially hoped to get from the bike path across lower Manhattan to hit more pedestrians on the Brooklyn Bridge, Tyree said. He even considered displaying ISIL flags on the truck during the attack but decided it would draw too much attention, authorities said. John Miller, deputy New York police commissioner for intelligence, said Saipov "appears to have followed, almost exactly to a T, the instructions that ISIL has put out."
Source: Wikipedia.org | National Post | Friday, November 3, 2017, 12:00AM CDT "Mass shootings in the United States"
"The United States has more mass shootings than any other country. A mass shooting is usually defined as a shooting resulting in at least four victims, excluding the perpetrator. When the definition is restricted to four or more people dead, data shows 146 mass shootings between 1967 and 2017, with an average of eight people dead including the perpetrator. The perpetrator generally either commits suicide or surrenders when confronted by armed individuals, be they law enforcement or, occasionally, armed citizens. The frequency in which mass shootings occur depends upon definition. In recent years, the number of public mass shootings has increased substantially, even though there has been a massive decrease in gun related deaths. Studies indicate that the rate at which public mass shootings occur has tripled since 2011. Between 1982 and 2011, a mass shooting occurred roughly once every 200 days. However, between 2011 and 2014 that rate has accelerated greatly with at least one mass shooting occurring every 64 days in the United States. In "Behind the Bloodshed," a report by USA Today, said that there were mass killings every two weeks and that public mass killings account for 1 in 6 of all mass killings. Mother Jones listed seven mass shootings, defined as indiscriminate rampages in public places resulting in four or more victims killed, in the U. S. for 2015. The average for the period 2011–2015 was about 5 a year. An analysis by Michael Bloomberg's gun violence prevention group, Everytown for Gun Safety, identified 110 mass shootings, defined as shootings in which at least four people were murdered with a firearm, between January 2009 and July 2014; at least 57% were related to domestic or family violence. This would imply that not more than 43% of 110 shootings in 5.5 years were non-domestic, though not necessarily public or indiscriminate; this equates to 8.6 per year, broadly in line with the other figures. Other media outlets have reported that hundreds of mass shootings take place in the United States in a single calendar year, citing a crowd-funded website known as Shooting Tracker which defines a mass shooting as having four or more people injured or killed. In December 2015, The Washington Post reported that there had been 355 mass shootings in the United States so far that year. In August 2015, The Washington Post reported that the United States was averaging one mass shooting per day. An earlier report had indicated that in 2015 alone, there had been 294 mass shootings that killed or injured 1,464 people. However, an article from Russia Today stated that 42 percent of the incidents involved zero deaths, and 29 percent one death. Shooting Tracker and Mass Shooting Tracker, the two sites that the media have been citing, have been criticized for using a criterion much more inclusive than that used by the government—they count four victims injured as a mass shooting—thus producing much higher figures. There are several factors that work together to create a fertile environment for mass murder in the United States. Those factors include: failure of government background checks due to incomplete databases and staff shortages, relatively high accessibility of guns, acute copycat phenomenon, desire for fame and notoriety, widespread chronic gap between people's expectations for themselves and their actual achievement, and individualistic culture."
Source: Wikipedia.org | Tuesday, January 30, 2018, 12:00AM |
 "Nikolas Cruz"
"On February 14, 2018, a mass shooting occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in the Miami metropolitan area. Seventeen people were killed and fourteen more hospitalized, making it one of the world's deadliest school massacres and the deadliest high school shooting in modern U. S. history. Nikolas Cruz, the man arrested as the shooter, is in custody of the Broward County Sheriff's Office, charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder. The shooting took place on February 14, 2018, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. At approximately 2:40 p.m. EST, near dismissal time, staff and students heard gunfire and enacted a "code red" lockdown. The shooter activated a fire alarm while wearing a gas mask and carrying smoke grenades. He was armed with a .223 caliber AR-15 style rifle and multiple magazines. He briefly escaped by blending in with students fleeing the school before being tracked by school security camera recordings and arrested without incident in nearby Coral Springs, Florida. A United States government official said the rifle used in the shooting was purchased legally after passing a background check. The shooting was the deadliest shooting to take place at an American high school, surpassing the 1999 Columbine High School massacre. Seventeen students and staff were killed and many others injured, including at least fourteen who were hospitalized. Three people remained in critical condition the next day. Of those killed, twelve died in the school, two just outside the school buildings, one on the street and two at the hospital. The suspected shooter was identified as Nikolas Cruz, a 19-year-old former student of the school. His former math teacher said an email from the school administration had circulated among teachers, warning that Cruz had made threats against other students, leading to his ban from wearing a backpack on campus. He was later expelled for fighting with the boyfriend of his former girlfriend. Cruz was a member of the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps, which awarded him multiple times for outstanding academic performance. A former classmate said he had a lot of anger management issues and often joked about guns and gun-related violence, including "shooting up establishments." Another described him as "super stressed-out all the time and talked about guns a lot and tried to hide his face." A current student said, "I think everyone had in their minds if anybody was going to do it, it was going to be him." Another classmate described him as a loner without many friends, saying, "He told me how he got kicked out of two private schools. He was held back twice. He had aspirations to join the military. He enjoyed hunting." Cruz also bragged about killing animals. Acquaintances of the family stated that Cruz's mother would call the police over to the house to try to "talk some sense" into him. Sheriff Scott Israel of Broward County described the suspect's online profiles and accounts as "very, very disturbing." The profiles contained numerous pictures and posts of the suspect with a variety of weapons, including long knives, a shotgun, a pistol, and a BB gun. The suspect's YouTube videos included violent threats, such as "I wanna die Fighting killing s**t ton of people." The suspect left a comment on another user's YouTube video in September 2017 stating "I'm going to be a professional school shooter" which prompted the user to report Cruz to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Nikolas was adopted at birth by Lynda Cruz and her husband, the latter of whom died during Nikolas's childhood of a heart attack. His adopted mother died on November 1, 2017 from influenza and pneumonia. He had been living with relatives and friends since her death. He had also previously been receiving mental health treatment; however, he stopped going and never returned. Cruz has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder. If found guilty he could face the death penalty. The suspect was originally misreported as "Nicolas de Jesus Cruz," however, officials have stated that individual is not the same as the suspect, noting the suspect's birthday is in September 1998, while the other individual's birthday is in May 1998."
Source: Wikipedia.org | Thursday, February 15, 2018, 12:00PM  "Jesse Joseph Tafero"
"Jesse Joseph Tafero (October 12, 1946–May 4, 1990), was convicted of murder and executed via electric chair in the state of Florida for the murders of Florida Highway Patrol officer Phillip Black and Donald Irwin, a visiting Canadian constable and friend of Black. The officers were killed during a traffic stop where Tafero, his wife Sunny Jacobs, and their children were passengers. After Tafero's execution, the driver, Walter Rhodes, confessed to shooting the officers. On the morning of February 20, 1976, Black and Irwin approached a car parked at a rest stop for a routine check. Tafero, his wife Sonia "Sunny" Jacobs, their two children ages 9 years and 10 months and Walter Rhodes were found asleep inside. Tafero had previously been in prison and was on probation. Black saw a gun lying on the floor inside the car. He woke the occupants and had first Rhodes then Tafero come out of the car. According to Rhodes, Tafero then shot both Black and Irwin with the gun which was legally registered to Jacobs who bought guns on behalf of Tafero-he couldn't legally apply for a license because of his record and led the others into the police car and fled the scene. According to Tafero, Rhodes shot the officers and handed the gun to him so that Rhodes could drive. They later disposed of the police car and kidnapped a man and stole his car. All three were arrested after being caught in a roadblock. When they were arrested, the gun was found in Tafero's waistband. This account, however, was later contradicted by Rhodes, and there was subsequently enough evidence to support reasonable doubt regarding Tafero's conviction. Gunpowder tests found residue on Rhodes consistent with "having discharged a weapon," residue on Tafero consistent with "handling an unclean or recently discharged weapon, or possibly discharging a weapon," and residue on Jacobs and her son consistent with "having handled an unclean or recently discharged weapon." Prior to his conviction for murder, Tafero had been convicted of attempted robbery and "crimes against nature" when he was 20 years old. Rhodes entered into a plea agreement for a reduced sentence of second degree murder in exchange for his testimony against Tafero and Jacobs. At their trial, he testified that Jacobs fired first from the back seat, then Tafero took the gun from her and shot the two officers. Rhodes later recanted his testimony on three occasions, in 1977, 1979, and 1982, stating that he shot the policemen, but ultimately reverted to his original testimony. Tafero and Jacobs were convicted of capital murder and were sentenced to death while Rhodes was sentenced to three life sentences. He was released in 1994 following parole for good behavior. The children were placed in the care of Sunny Jacobs' parents until their deaths in a 1982 plane crash. The children were then separated and Sunny's younger child, Christina, was placed into foster care with a friend of Jacobs. Sunny's older child, Eric, who was in his mid-teens, first resided with Sonia's brother Alan, then lived on his own, struggling to survive by working at a pizza restaurant and various odd jobs. Tafero and Jacobs continued their relationship through letters while serving time in the prison. Because there was no death row for women in Florida, Jacobs was put into solitary confinement for the first five years of her imprisonment and let out only once or twice a week for exercise. She learned yoga to pass the time, and after being moved to the general prison population, began teaching yoga to other prisoners. Although the jury had recommended a life sentence for Jacobs, Judge Daniel Futch, known as “Maximum Dan” for his reputation for tough sentences, imposed the death sentence. In 1981, the Florida Supreme Court commuted Jacobs' sentence to life in prison, holding that Futch lacked sufficient basis to override the jury's sentencing recommendation. Tafero was to be executed by electrocution. The machine, dubbed "Old Sparky", malfunctioned, causing six-inch flames to shoot out of Tafero's head. A member of the execution team had used a synthetic sponge rather than a sea sponge, which is necessary to provide greater conductivity and a quick death. In all, three jolts of electricity were required to execute Tafero, a process that took seven minutes. Prison inmates later claimed that 'Old Sparky' was "fixed" and tampered with to make Tafero's execution more like torture. One close inmate friend of Tafero later said he could smell the burning flesh of his friend for days after. Rhodes confessed to the shootings after Tafero's death. The case became a cause célèbre among death penalty opponents, who cited the brutal circumstances of his execution as reasons it should be abolished. Rhodes did not receive further jail time. Filmmaker Micki Dickoff made a crime drama on the case entitled In the Blink of an Eye, which aired as an ABC Movie of the Week in 1996. Sunny Jacobs, even though she had not been exonerated, is featured in The Exonerated, a made-for-cable television film, first aired on the former Court TV cable television network on January 27, 2005. When her death sentence was overturned in 1981, she was sentenced to life with a 25-year minimum mandatory sentence. In 1992, when her case was reversed on appeal, she was found guilty to second-degree murder and was released on time served. In 2011, Jacobs married Peter Pringle, who had been exonerated after being sentenced to death in Ireland."
Source: Wikipedia.org | Friday, May 4, 2018, 10:18PM CDT |
 "Joseph James DeAngelo"
"The Golden State Killer is a recent moniker for a serial killer, serial rapist, and serial burglar who committed at least 13 murders, at least 50 rapes, and over 100 burglaries in California from 1974 through 1986. He committed crimes throughout the state and acquired various monikers in different regions before it was conclusively known that all were the same person. His monikers during different periods of criminal activity included the East Area Rapist, and Original Night Stalker. In recent years, he has also been called the Diamond Knot Killer and the Golden State Killer, the latter of which was coined from a true crime book. His last known crime, the only one after 1981, took place in 1986. In 2001, several of the East Area Rapist crimes in Northern California were linked by DNA to the Original Night Stalker murders in Southern California. All of the Northern California DNA-linked assaults occurred in Contra Costa County, but the distinctive modus operandi (MO) of the rapist makes it very likely the same man was also responsible for the attacks in the Sacramento area. Several suspects were cleared through DNA evidence, alibi, or other investigative means and methods. On June 15, 2016, the FBI and local law enforcement agencies held a news conference to announce a nationwide effort and a US$50,000 reward for his All of the Northern California DNA-linked assaults occurred in Contra Costa County, but the distinctive modus operandi (MO) of the rapist makes it very likely the same man was also responsible for the attacks in the Sacramento area. capture. On April 25, 2018, authorities announced the arrest of suspect 72-year-old Joseph James DeAngelo, a former police officer, on six counts of first-degree murder based on DNA evidence. Law enforcement also announced that separate incidents in Visalia in 1974-1975 that were previously attributed to the Visalia Ransacker, are now also connected to the same suspect. DNA evidence conclusively links the Golden State Killer to eight murders in Goleta, Ventura, Dana Point and Irvine, with two other murders in Goleta linked by modus operandi but not DNA. Many investigators also suspect the same killer in three other murders—two in Rancho Cordova and one in Visalia. The offender also committed more than 50 known rapes in the California counties of Sacramento, Contra Costa, Stanislaus, San Joaquin, Alameda, Santa Clara and Yolo as well as hundreds of incidents of additional burglaries, peeping, stalking and prowling. On April 24, 2018, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department arrested 72-year-old Joseph James DeAngelo (born November 8, 1945). DeAngelo, a former police officer in Auburn and Exeter, California, was charged with six counts of first-degree murder, with special circumstances. Authorities in Sacramento, Orange, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties are preparing charges against DeAngelo for all twelve of the murders in the Golden State Killer case. A cogent clue was a statement that the killer made during one of his attacks, "I hate you, Bonnie." DeAngelo had been engaged to a Bonnie, but never married her. Before the arrest, law enforcement uploaded the Golden State Killer's DNA profile from crime scenes to Florida-based genetic genealogy website GEDmatch, and identified the killer's family, after which it found that DeAngelo had been engaged to a Bonnie. They then identified DeAngelo as the main suspect and acquired two discarded samples of his DNA, one of which definitively matched that of the killer. Joseph DeAngelo was born in Bath, New York, the son of Joseph James DeAngelo Sr. and Kathleen Louise DeGroat. He was in the U. S. Navy during the Vietnam War, serving as a damage controlman on the cruiser USS Canberra.[127] He reportedly lost part of a finger during his military service. After returning to the U. S., DeAngelo worked as a police officer in Exeter, from 1973 until 1976, then in Auburn from 1976 until 1979, when he was fired after being caught shoplifting a hammer and dog repellent. From 1990 until his retirement in 2017, DeAngelo worked as a truck mechanic at the Roseville distribution center for Save Mart Supermarkets. DeAngelo's work history in the decade between his Auburn and Roseville jobs is not currently known. DeAngelo was engaged to a woman named Bonnie in 1970, whom he met as a classmate at Sierra College, but he never married her. He did marry lawyer Sharon Marie Huddle in 1973 and had three daughters with her, although they eventually separated. DeAngelo was living in Citrus Heights with one of his daughters and a granddaughter at the time of his arrest. His brother-in-law recalled DeAngelo casually bringing up the East Area Rapist in conversation during the original case. Neighbors reported that DeAngelo frequently engaged in loud and profane outbursts. The case was a factor in the establishment of California's DNA database, which collects DNA from all accused and convicted felons in California and has been called second only to Virginia's in effectiveness in solving cold cases. After the DeAngelo arrest, achieved after the Golden State Killer's DNA profile was compared to the 650,000 profiles on the GED match website, several concerns have been raised particularly given California's Online Privacy Protection Act, and in the wake of the recent Facebook scandal regarding the ethics of the secondary use of personally identifiable information."
Source: Wikipedia.org | Sunday, April 29, 2018, 10:00AM  "Dimitrios Pagourtzis"
"A gunman opened fire at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, on May 18, 2018, causing at least 10 fatalities. At least 13 people from the shooting were treated at Texas hospitals, including eight students. Six of the eight students have already been discharged. One patient is in fair condition and expected to remain in the hospital for several days. Police identified the alleged shooter as 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis, who was taken into custody. A second person, an unidentified 18-year-old, was also taken into custody. The alleged gunman is reportedly Dimitrios Pagourtzis, a 17-year-old male who attended the school. Another suspect in the shooting was later arrested. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez reported ten fatalities as of 11:17 am (CT), and multiple injuries including two law enforcement officers. The shooter began firing his weapon into an art class at the school at around 7:40 am. An injured school resource officer is being treated. Possible explosive devices were found at the school and off the campus. Santa Fe Police Chief Jeff Powell stated "There have been explosive devices found inside the high school, and in the surrounding areas adjacent..." and told residents in the surrounding area to be aware of all suspicious objects. According to Governor of Texas Greg Abbott, two weapons, a shotgun and a .38 revolver, were used. Both weapons appear to be legally owned by the suspect's father. A law enforcement official identified the shooter as Dimitrios Pagourtzis, age 17, who was injured during the shooting. Pagourtzis was born to Greek immigrant parents. He was a member of a dance team with a local Greek Orthodox church, and also played on the school's junior-varsity football team. One of his former teachers, Valerie Martin, described him as "quiet, but he wasn't quiet in a creepy way." According to at least one witness, Pagourtzis was the victim of bullying by multiple students and coaches. Martin also stated that she had never seen him draw or write anything in his class journal that she found suspicious or unusual. Pagourtzis's private writings, found after the shooting by authorities on his computer and cell phone, indicated that he did feel suicidal. Pagourtzis was booked into the Galveston County Jail on 10 capital murder charges along with aggravated assault charges without bond. President Donald Trump expressed his condolences in a press conference shortly following the shootings, and promised action from his administration. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos said schools must be "safe and nurturing environments" and "we simply cannot allow this trend to continue." Democratic Leader and U. S. Representative Nancy Pelosi also issued a statement on the shooting. "This morning, our nation was heartbroken by the horrific murder of innocent children and a teacher at Santa Fe High School. All Americans grieve for those whose lives were stolen by this tragedy, and our prayers are with the families and loved ones of who have been wounded. We are all grateful to the first responders, whose courage and heroism prevented more lives from being lost." The organizers of the March for Our Lives stated, "[t]o the students and faculty of Santa Fe High School, we are with you.” Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a press briefing that the attack was "one of the most heinous attacks that we've ever seen in the history of Texas schools."
Source: ABC World News Tonight with David Jason Muir; reporting from the site of a royal wedding in the UK, Friday, May 18, 2018, 5:30PM | Wikipedia.org, 7:07PM CDT |
 "Robert Gregory Bowers"
"The Pittsburgh synagogue shooting was a mass shooting that occurred at Tree of Life–Or L'Simcha Congregation in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on October 27, 2018, while Shabbat morning services and a bris were being held. Eleven people were killed, and seven were injured. The sole suspect, 46-year-old Robert Gregory Bowers, was arrested and charged with 29 federal crimes and 36 state crimes. Using the online social network Gab, Bowers posted anti-Semitic comments against the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society in which the Tree of Life congregation was a supporting participant. Referring to Central American migrant caravans and immigrants, he posted on Gab shortly before the attack that "HIAS likes to bring invaders in that kill our people. I can't sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I'm going in.” The shooting was the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the United States in history. Tree of Life–Or L'Simcha Congregation is a Conservative Jewish synagogue. The synagogue describes itself as a "traditional, progressive, and egalitarian congregation "It is located in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1 mile east of Carnegie Mellon University and about 5 miles east of downtown Pittsburgh. The Squirrel Hill neighborhood is one of the largest predominantly Jewish neighborhoods in the United States and has historically been the center of Pittsburgh's Jewish community, with 26 percent of the city's Jewish population living in the area. At 9:50 a.m. EDT, a gunman described as a "bearded heavy-set white male" entered the building and allegedly shouted "All Jews must die!" before opening fire and "shooting for about 20 minutes." He was armed with a Colt AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and three Glock .357 SIG semi-automatic pistols, all four of which he fired, according to authorities. A member of the Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh told reporters that between 60 and 100 people were inside the building to attend regularly scheduled Shabbat morning services and a bris, a circumcision celebration marking a birth and naming ceremony. By 9:54 a.m., police began receiving calls from people barricaded in the building reporting the attack. At 9:59 a.m., police arrived at the synagogue. The gunman fired on police from the synagogue, wounding two officers. Officers and a plainclothes detective returned fire causing the gunman to retreat into the building. At 10:30 a.m., tactical teams entered the building and were again fired upon by the gunman. Officers returned fire and wounded him, leading him to retreat to a room on the third floor of the synagogue. In the exchange of gunfire two SWAT members were also wounded, one critically. At 11:08 a.m., the gunman crawled out of the room in which he was hiding and surrendered. As he received medical care in police custody, he allegedly told a SWAT officer that he wanted all Jews to die, and that Jews were committing genocide to his people, according to a criminal complaint filed in Allegheny County. Eleven people were killed, including three on the ground level and four in the synagogue's basement. Among the dead were two brothers and a married couple. At least six others were injured, including four police officers. Most of the victims were taken to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital and UPMC Mercy, while the suspected shooter was taken to Allegheny General Hospital. Robert Gregory Bowers, born September 4, 1972, a 46-year-old resident of Baldwin, Pennsylvania, was arrested as the suspected shooter. He attended Baldwin High School in the Baldwin-Whitehall School District from August 1986 to November 1989. He then dropped out of high school and worked as a trucker. Neighbors described Bowers as "a ghost" and said that he rarely interacted with others. He was reported to have been heavily involved in far-right websites such as Gab and had promoted anti-Semitic conspiracy theories online through social media. Bowers was charged by the US Department of Justice with 29 federal crimes. The federal charges include eleven counts of obstruction of exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death, eleven counts of use of a firearm to commit murder during a crime of violence, four counts of obstruction of exercise of religious beliefs resulting in bodily injury to a public safety officer, and three counts of use and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence. The crimes of violence are based upon the federal civil rights laws prohibiting hate crimes. Bowers was also charged with 36 state criminal counts, including 11 counts of criminal homicide, 6 counts of aggravated assault, 6 counts of attempted criminal homicide and 13 counts of ethnic intimidation. Bowers appeared in federal court in Pittsburgh on October 29, to hear the charges against him. His attorney was appointed by the court and he was remanded to the custody of the United States Marshals Service without bail pending further hearings. Bowers was indicted by the federal grand jury on October 31. The charges carry a maximum penalty of death or 535 years in federal prison. On November 1, Bowers entered a plea of not guilty, "as is typical at this stage of the proceedings" his public defender said."
Source: Wikipedia.org | Saturday, November 3, 2018, 7:00PM CDT |
 "Jake Thomas Patterson"
"On Monday, October 15, 2018, a 911 call was received from the Barron, Wisconsin, home of 13-year-old Jayme Lynn Closs and her parents. Upon arrival, police found that Closs’ parents had been shot to death and the teenager was missing. Police believed Closs was abducted, and that she was not a suspect in her parents’ deaths. She was found alive on January 10, 2019, in Eau Claire Acres, about six miles east of Gordon, Wisconsin. A suspect, Jake Thomas Patterson, was taken into custody shortly after Closs was located. Jayme Closs was 13 years old at the time of her disappearance. An Amber Alert was issued nationwide around 3:30 pm on October 15. Closs was described as 5 feet tall, 100 lbs, with blonde or strawberry-blonde hair. Prior to the murders and kidnapping, she had been last seen on October 14 at a family member's birthday party. The Barron County Sheriff announced she had been found alive on January 10, 2019. On Monday, October 15, 2018, a 911 call was made from the home of the Closs family at around 1:00 am. While the operator did not speak with anyone, they heard a disturbance and a lot of yelling. When the dispatcher attempted to call the number back, they reached the voicemail of Denise Closs. Upon arrival four minutes after the call, police saw that the front door had been shot in, and Jayme's parents, James Closs (56 years old) and Denise Closs (46 years old), were dead from gunshot wounds. Police, at the time, said they had no suspects in their deaths. The family dog was still in the home when officers arrived, and it was believed that Jayme was home at the time of the shooting, based on details in the 911 call and evidence from the home. No gun was recovered after searching the home. Two vehicles were spotted on surveillance footage near the Closses' residence, with police identifying them as vehicles of interest. They were described as a red or orange 2008–2014 Dodge Challenger, and a black 2006–2010 Ford Edge or 2004–2010 Acura MDX. Neighbors also said they heard two gunshots around 12:30 am on October 15, but dismissed them inasmuch as hunting was common around their homes, and they did not call 911. On January 10, 2019, the Barron County Sheriff's Department announced that Jayme Closs had been found near Gordon, Wisconsin, and a suspect had been taken into custody. Late on January 10, investigators blocked all roads leading to a cabin in the 14100 block of South Eau Claire Acres Circle as they combed for evidence. A cabin at that address was previously owned by the suspect Jake Thomas Patterson's parents, but ownership was turned over to the Superior Choice Credit Union about a week after the October 15 abduction. In a Facebook post at 7:55 pm, Sheriff Fitzgerald announced that the Douglas County Sheriff's Department had located Closs alive. He stated: "Shortly after this a suspect was taken into custody in regards to this case. We do not have any other details at this time as this is a very fluid and active investigation. We will not be answering any questions or taking calls on this tonight." A KMSP-TV report said the relatives of Closs did not recognize the name of the kidnapper. According to reports by KSTP-TV, a Douglas County woman was walking her dog Thursday afternoon when a teenage girl approached her and asked for help. The woman took her to a neighbors' house in order to call the police and to provide shelter. According to KARE-TV, Jayme told the neighbors she knew the name of the person who took her and explained that the same person had killed her parents. As they waited for police to arrive, Jayme also told the neighbors the captor had kept her just a few houses down, in the same Eau Claire Acres neighborhood of Gordon, Wisconsin. The neighbors described Jayme as calm and quiet, but they said she also appeared dazed and was surprised the neighbors recognized her from news coverage. Jayme's description of the suspect and his vehicle, according to police, led deputies to arrest the suspect within a matter of minutes. Jayme was found in Gordon at 4:43 p.m., and the suspect was taken into custody at 4:54 p.m. Minutes after Closs was found, a Douglas County sheriff's deputy spotted a car described by Closs as belonging to the suspect. Authorities took the driver, 21-year-old Jake Thomas Patterson, into custody. Patterson faces two counts of first-degree intentional homicide and one count of kidnapping. Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald said Patterson had no previous criminal history in Wisconsin. Patterson is in custody in Barron County, authorities said at a news conference on the morning of January 11. The house in Gordon where Patterson allegedly held Closs captive was owned by Patterson's father at the time of the murder and kidnapping, but was turned over to a credit union about a week later. Police don't believe Patterson had any social media contact with Jayme or her family. Patterson's parents divorced in 2007. He has an older sister. He also has an older brother, who has a criminal record, including a no contest plea to a 2013 fourth-degree sexual assault charge; the older brother was sentenced to one year probation. Patterson (born 1997) graduated from Northwood High School in nearby Minong, Wisconsin, in 2015."
Source: Wikipedia.org | Monday, January 14, 2019, 9:45AM |
 "Dakota Theriot"
"On January 26, 2019, Dakota Theriot was suspected of fatally shooting his parents and three other people, in Ascension and Livingston parishes, in the U. S. [State] of Louisiana. Investigators claim that Theriot killed three victims in Livingston Parish before he stole a truck and drove to the neighboring county and shot and killed his parents. The victims in Livingston Parish were Billy Ernest, aged 43, Summer Ernest, aged 20, and Tanner Ernest, aged 17; Elizabeth and Keith Theriot, both in their early fifties, were killed in Gonzales. The neighbor of the Ernest family told reporters that the two surviving Ernest children ran to her home to call 9-1-1 and were unharmed in the incident. Police found both Elizabeth and Keith Theriot alive at their house after Keith called 911. Keith reportedly identified his son as the shooter. The couple later died in [a] hospital. Theriot has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, illegal use of weapons, and home invasion. After a day-long manhunt, Theriot was arrested by the Virginia State Police in Richmond County, Virginia, approximately 1,000 miles from the crime scene, in the driveway of his grandmother's home in Warsaw. Dakota Theriot drove almost 16 hours through the night Saturday from Louisiana to Virginia, where he sought refuge with his grandmother after allegedly killing five people. Two Richmond County deputies encountered the 21-year-old Theriot in the driveway of his grandmother’s home in the 14000 block of Historyland Highway in Warsaw, Virginia, just after 7 a. m. Central Time Sunday, Richmond County Sheriff Stephan Smith said. Theriot had been on the run close to 24 hours." On Janaury 11, 2023, it was reported through several local news channels that the assailant in this crime spree copped a plea deal to avoid the so-called dealth penalty. He is on slate to serve five(5) consecutive life terms inside a state penal instituttion without the possibility of probation or parole.
Source: Wikipedia.org | Wednesday, January 30, 2019, 12:00AM | Last updated on January 11, 2023, 10:15 PM CDT |
 "David Foreman, Jr."
"The arrest comes after 61-year-old Byron Hayes and 70-year-old Douglas Tillotson were found shot in a home on Tillotson Road in Prairieville Thursday morning. A Prairieville [Louisiana] man has been arrested in connection with a home invasion that left one elderly man dead and another hospitalized. Early Friday morning, deputies arrested 46-year-old David Foreman Jr. on charges of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, illegal use of a weapon, possession of a firearm by [a] convicted felon, possession of [a] stolen firearm, and possession of drug paraphernalia. The arrest comes after 61-year-old Byron Hayes and 70-year-old Douglas Tillotson were found shot in a home on Tillotson Road in Prairieville Thursday morning. Hayes was found dead at the scene, and Tillotson was taken to a local hospital in critical condition [Tillotson passed away in June of 2018, possibly succumbing to his injuries]. Investigative leads led detectives to Foreman’s residence on Thursday evening. Authorities say he had a crack pipe on his person, and he was arrested on multiple charges."
Source: WeeklyCitizen.com, October 20, 2017 | Mr. Sammy Johnson's Personal Google+ page post of October 24, 2017, reviewed February 1, 2019, 10:48 PM, CDT | Post updated by ClassicShoppes.us, February 2, 2019, 9:00 AM CDT |
 "Theodore Robert Bundy"
"Theodore Robert Bundy (born Theodore Robert Cowell; November 24, 1946–January 24, 1989) was an American serial killer, kidnapper, rapist, burglar, and necrophile who assaulted and murdered numerous young women and girls during the 1970s and possibly earlier. After more than a decade of denials, he confessed to 30 homicides that he committed in seven states between 1974 and 1978. The true number of victims is unknown and possibly higher. Many of Bundy's young female victims regarded him as handsome and charismatic, which were traits that he exploited to win their trust. He would typically approach them in public places, feigning injury or disability, or impersonating an authority figure, before overpowering and assaulting them in secluded locations. He sometimes revisited his secondary crime scenes, grooming and performing sexual acts with the decomposing corpses until putrefaction and destruction by wild animals made further interaction impossible. He decapitated at least 12 victims and kept some of the severed heads as mementos in his apartment. On a few occasions, he broke into dwellings at night and bludgeoned his victims as they slept. In 1975, Bundy was jailed for the first time when he was incarcerated in Utah for aggravated kidnapping and attempted criminal assault. He then became a suspect in a progressively longer list of unsolved homicides in multiple states. Facing murder charges in Colorado, he engineered two dramatic escapes and committed further assaults, including three murders, before his ultimate recapture in Florida in 1978. For the Florida homicides, he received three death sentences in two separate trials. Bundy was executed in the electric chair at Florida State Prison on January 24, 1989. Biographer Ann Rule described Bundy as "a sadistic sociopath who took pleasure from another human's pain and the control he had over his victims, to the point of death, and even after." He once called himself "the most cold-hearted son of a bitch you'll ever meet." Attorney Polly Nelson, a member of his last defense team, wrote he was "the very definition of heartless evil."
Source: Wikipedia.org Monday, February 25, 2019, 12:00 AM CDT | ABC's 20/20 2/2019 |
 "Gary Montez Martin"
"On February 15, 2019, a mass shooting took place at Henry Pratt Company in Aurora, Illinois. Six people including the perpetrator died and six others were injured. The first reports of the shooting began to arrive at 1:24 p.m., with the first officers arriving four minutes from the first call. Witnesses said they saw the perpetrator carrying a handgun with a green laser sight attached. The shooting prompted a multi-agency response with agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the United States Marshals Service assisting local police. The shooter returned fire when law enforcement arrived. Officers reported at 2:59 p.m. that the suspect had been shot and killed. The exchange of gunfire lasted about 90 minutes. In total, five people were killed by the gunman. Five police officers were injured along with another civilian. The perpetrator was killed by law enforcement officers. The five victims fatally shot were male workers at the Henry Pratt plant:
A sixth plant employee sustained gunshot wounds during the shooting, and was hospitalized with non life threatening injuries. The six injured police officers ranged in age from 23 to 59. Four of them sustained gunshot wounds, one was injured by shrapnel, and one had a non-gunfire injury sustained while responding to the shooting. None of the injuries were life threatening. Gary Montez Martin, a 45-year-old former employee of the Henry Pratt plant, was identified as the perpetrator. Relatives of the shooter told reporters that he had been released from his position at the company about two weeks prior to the shooting. Other news outlets reported that he was being fired from his job on the day of the shooting, and that the shooting itself started during the termination meeting. Martin was convicted in 1995 for a felony aggravated assault in Mississippi, and served two-and-a-half years in prison in Mississippi for that conviction. Aurora police stated that he had six arrests with the Aurora Police Department, including arrests for domestic violence and violating an order of protection, and that he had a 2017 arrest in Oswego, Illinois for disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property. Martin was not legally allowed to possess a gun in Illinois because of his prior felony conviction in Mississippi. However, in 2014 he applied for, and was issued an Illinois FOID card because the FOID background check in Illinois did not involve a fingerprint check. In March 2014, he was able to buy a gun, which he is believed to have used during the shooting, from a licensed gun dealer in Aurora using that FOID card. Later that month he applied for a concealed carry license from the Illinois State Police. The concealed carry background check involved a fingerprint check, and Martin's felony conviction was discovered at that point. The Illinois State Police rejected his concealed carry application, cancelled his FOID card and sent him a written notice demanding that he turn in the gun that he had purchased. He did not do so. According to a CNN report, the authorities are now trying "to determine why he didn't surrender the weapon and whether law enforcement followed up with him to confiscate the gun." On February 15, after the shooting, the police conducted a search of Martin's home but did not find anything to indicate that he had planned the shooting in advance. Aurora mayor Richard Irvin said, "It's a shame that mass shootings such as this have become commonplace in our country [and] that a cold and heartless offender would be so selfish as to think he has the right to take an innocent life." Source: Wikipedia.org Monday, February 25, 2019, 11:59 PM CDT |
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