Discovery Channel hostage taker shot dead by police, Guardian.co.uk, September 1, 2010, by Adrian Gabbatt, photo of Jame Lee © WTOP.com, excerpt quoted verbatim:

Hostage crisis at Discovery Channel headquarters in Maryland ends with safe escape of all three hostages

Discovery Channel hostage taker shot dead by police. Link to video about this situation.

A man has been shot and killed by police after taking three people hostage in the headquarters of the Discovery Channel in the US.

Police said all the hostages had escaped safely following the siege, which began when a man entered the building in Silver Spring, Maryland, waving a handgun and with canisters strapped to his chest.

Officers spent several hours negotiating with the man, who was reported to be unhappy with the network’s programming schedule.

According to The Associate Press on Yahoo News, the hostage taker is a James J. Lee. “Lee had said he hated the company’s shows such as ‘Kate Plus 8,’ claiming they promoted population growth. Lee said the environmental programming did little to save the planet.

“Manger said police planned to negotiate as long as necessary, but acted when officers believed the hostages were trying to escape.

“‘We saw some hand movements from hostages,’ Manger said. ‘We’re watching this and trying to keep the focus of the guy we’re talking to. We didn’t know if they were up to something or what they were doing. We are surmising they were making a break for it.’

“Manger called the hostages and the officers heroes.

“Lee repeatedly said he was ‘ready to die,’ the police chief said.

“‘I believe he was not intending to come out of there alive,’ Manger said.

“It wasn’t the first time Lee, a homeless man who previously lived in Californian, had targeted Discovery’s headquarters. In February 2008, he was charged with disorderly conduct for staging a ‘Save the Planet Protest.’ Lee threw fistfuls of cash in the air and paid homeless people to carry signs condemning the network. Police found his pockets stuffed with more than $20,000, according to court records.

“Lee served two weeks in jail after his arrest during which doctors evaluated his competency to stand trial. County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said Lee was ordered to stay 500 feet away from Discovery headquarters as part of his probation, which ended two weeks ago.

“In court and on his website, he had demanded an end to Discovery Communications LLC’s shows such as TLC’s ‘Kate Plus 8′ and ’19 Kids and Counting.’ He said the network should air ‘programs encouraging human sterilization and infertility.’

“‘Humans are the most destructive, filthy, pollutive creatures around and are wrecking what’s left of the planet with their false morals and breeding cultures,’ Lee wrote in a bitter manifesto on his website.

“Lee, 43, also objected to Discovery’s environmental programming. He wrote in 2008 that a show he called ‘Planet Green’ was ‘about more PRODUCTS to make MONEY, not actual solutions.’

“Police said he burst into the building about 1 p.m. and took hostages in the lobby. He had four crude explosive devices strapped to him. Two of them were green propane cylinders with pipes attached that contained shotgun shells. The other two were pipe bombs.

“One of the devices detonated when police shot him, Manger said. Authorities later sent in a robot to disarm a device on the gunman’s body.”

Montgomery County Police Chief, Thomas Manger, said an explosive device detonated on the gunman’s body when they shot him, and they were working to determine whether two boxes and two backpacks he also had with him were explosives.

The man, (likely James J. Lee), who is yet to be formally identified, entered the building at around 1pm local time.

Manger said officers were monitoring Lee on building security cameras and tactical officers moved in when they saw him pull out the handgun and point it at one of the hostages.

Police believe the 1,900 people who work in the building were able to get out safely.

…SNIP….

Visitors to Lee’s MySpace profile were invited to see “The idea I had to save the planet” by visiting a website apparently set up by the 43-year-old called savetheplanetprotest.com. It was unclear whether the length posting on the website was recent, but it railed against Discovery Communications at length, calling on it to broadcast “programs encouraging human sterilization and infertility”.

Discovery Communications operates cable and satellite networks in the US and elsewhere, including the Discovery Channel, TLC and Animal Planet.

Lee has a lengthy history of protesting against the Discovery Channel.

See Hostages Showed ‘Tremendous Courage’, WTOP.com, September 2, 2010.

We’re Counting on YOU! Please share Evans Liberal Politics with friends! While we enjoy a certain level of popularity on the web, in order for us to keep bringing you the latest in liberal news and politics, we really need you to SHARE Evans Liberal Politics with your friends and contacts. Please help us out — we bring you the latest in liberal and progressive news and politics just to share the truth and promote liberalism. Can you help us today?

*****

To make a Word or .pdf document of an article, or share or email it, simply load the individual article by clicking the dark blue title at the very top, or use the icons beneath the article.

We’re Counting on You!
Tell Your Friends About Evans Liberal Politics!

Listen to 183 Rock and Pop Hits!

Our Playlist is #1 Rated by Google

WASHINGTON (Reuters) 5:39 p.m., November 9, 2009 – U.S. intelligence agencies learned an Army psychiatrist tried to contact people linked to al Qaeda and they gave the information to federal authorities before the man allegedly went on shooting spree in Texas last week, U.S. sources said on Monday.

It is unclear what federal law enforcement authorities did with the information.

Reporting for Reuters, Adam Entous

*****

Ft. Hood Shooting: Texas army killer linked to Sept. 11 terrorists, Citizens for Legitimate Government, November 9, 2009, by Lori Price, excerpt quoted verbatim, with update from Los Angeles Times:

“Are you ready? Wait for it… it’s good: Fort Hood shooting: Texas army killer linked to September 11 terrorists –Major Nidal Malik Hasan worshipped at a mosque led by a radical imam said to be a “spiritual adviser” to three of the hijackers who attacked America on Sept 11, 2001. 07 Nov 2009 Hasan, the sole suspect in the ['Manchurian Candidate'-style] massacre of 13 fellow US soldiers in Texas, attended the controversial Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Great Falls, Virginia, in 2001 at the same time as two of the September 11 terrorists, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt. His mother’s funeral was held there in May that year. The preacher at the time was Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born Yemeni scholar who was banned from addressing a meeting in London by video link in August because he is accused of supporting attacks on British troops and backing terrorist organisations.

“Report: Suspected Fort Hood shooter prayed at same mosque as 9/11 terrorists 08 Nov 2009 Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the U.S. Army psychiatrist accused of shooting dead 13 people and wounding 30 others in Fort Hood, Texas, prayed at the same mosque as two of the September 11 terrorists, according to a report published in the Sunday Telegraph. Hasan attended the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Great Falls, Virginia, in 2001, at the same time as the two terrorists, and the FBI may investigate whether Hasan met them, the Telegraph reported.”

UPDATE: See Fort Hood Gunman Gave Signals Before His Rampage, The New York Times, November 8, 2009, by James C. McKinley, Jr., and James Dao.

See Fort Hood shooting suspect’s ties to mosque investigated, Los Angeles Times, November 9, 2009, by Josh Meyer, excerpts quoted verbatim:

Reporting from Washington – The FBI and the Army on Sunday were investigating whether the military psychiatrist suspected in the Ft. Hood shooting rampage had an association with militants at a mosque in Virginia or in cyberspace.

A senior federal law enforcement official said there was no immediate evidence of such a link, nor of any direct connection between the suspected gunman, Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, and terrorist groups or individuals, either in person or online. …But authorities are still scouring “voluminous” hard drives, multiple e-mail accounts and website trails “to see what’s out there, and to see what it all means,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. “There’s a lot of work being done.”

The official said investigators were looking into Hasan’s association with the Dar al Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Va., in early 2001, about the same time that a radical Islamist prayer leader and two of the Sept. 11 hijackers were there.

The mosque is one of the biggest in the United States, and the official cautioned that thousands of people go there for prayer services and other events. The funeral of Hasan’s mother was held there on May 31, 2001, the Associated Press reported.

… Authorities were focusing aggressively on whether Hasan more recently had been following the fiery online sermons and blog postings of that imam, Anwar al Awlaki, the official said.

Awlaki, a U.S. citizen, left the United States in 2002 and is believed to be in Yemen. He is actively supporting the Islamist jihad, or holy war against the West, through his website.

Early this morning, after Awlaki’s name was publicly linked to Hasan’s, a posting on Awlaki’s site was titled “Nidal Hassan Did the Right Thing.”

…The London Telegraph first reported the potential link between Hasan and the mosque.

In recent days, authorities poring over Hasan’s computer, Internet records and multiple e-mail accounts have found evidence that he visited other radical Islamist websites with some frequency, according to several officials familiar with the investigation.

“Obviously, people who visit these websites can be influenced by or affected by them, by the influence of the clerics, as opposed to being directed by them,” said the senior federal law enforcement official. “It goes back to his state of mind.”

Some counter-terrorism officials and experts said that although Hasan’s connections to Awlaki, if any, are unclear, the imam has had a major effect on aspiring violent extremists around the world.

“Awlaki is one of the principal jihadi luminaries for would-be homegrown terrorists,” said Evan Kohlmann, a terrorism consultant for the U.S. and other governments. “His fluency with English, his unabashed advocacy of jihad and mujahideen organizations, and his Web-savvy approach are a powerful combination.”