Octopus Overlords

The report analyzed homicide data from cities that make it readily available, including New York, Atlanta and Chicago. In the 30 cities examined, homicides declined 9.4% in the first half of this year compared to the first half of last year, with about 200 fewer homicides in that period.

Twenty cities recorded a drop in homicides in that period, while 10 cities saw an increase, the study found. Raleigh, North Carolina, saw the steepest drop of 59%, while Lincoln, Nebraska, saw a 133% increase in homicides.

Additionally, the study said a snapshot of its findings “suggests that levels of nearly all offenses are lower, or have changed little, in the first six months of 2023 compared with the same period in 2022.”

Gun assaults, defined as aggravated assaults committed with a firearm, committed during the first half of this year are 5.6% lower on average than during the same period last year, “representing 514 fewer gun assaults in the cities that reported data,” the report found.

The one major exception is motor vehicle thefts, which have continued to increase in numbers, according to the study.

“There were 33.5% more motor vehicle thefts from January through June 2023 compared to the first half of 2022,” the report said.

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Fri Jul 21, 2023 12:43 pm

The same federal jury that convicted the 50-year-old Bowers on 63 criminal counts recommended that he be put to death for an attack whose impacts continue to reverberate nearly five years later. He showed little reaction as the sentence was announced, briefly acknowledging his legal team and family as he was led from the courtroom. A judge will formally impose the sentence Thursday.

Jurors were unanimous in finding that Bowers’ attack was motivated by his hatred of Jews, and that he chose Tree of Life for its location in one the largest and most historic Jewish communities in the U.S. so that he could “maximize the devastation, amplify the harm of his crimes, and instill fear within the local, national, and international Jewish communities.” They also found that Bowers lacked remorse.

Nathan James Cruz, 17, was arrested on a felony charge of making a terroristic threat to the public and a misdemeanor charge of making a terroristic threat against a family member, according to Bexar County Central Magistrate records.

It was Cruz's mother who called the police and reported threats that her son had made, Officer Nick Soliz of the San Antonio Police Department tells NPR.

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Tue Aug 08, 2023 2:35 pm Uvalde shooter's cousin arrested in San Antonio for threatening to shoot a school

Nathan James Cruz, 17, was arrested on a felony charge of making a terroristic threat to the public and a misdemeanor charge of making a terroristic threat against a family member, according to Bexar County Central Magistrate records.

It was Cruz's mother who called the police and reported threats that her son had made, Officer Nick Soliz of the San Antonio Police Department tells NPR.

Cruz reportedly made the statements to his sister while she was driving him in a car. He threatened to shoot her in the head and "shoot the school." She informed their mother, who called the police.

According to the Times and News 4, the mother was concerned because her son made the remarks while "intoxicated" and they live near an elementary school.

The mother "overheard a phone conversation the suspect made this morning in which the suspect attempted to acquire an AR-15 through an illegal private sale" according to the arrest warrant, the Times reports. When confronted by police, Cruz denied making any threats, the warrant states.

A West Virginia man and known white supremacist was arrested Thursday for allegedly targeting the Jewish community in social media posts and online comments during the trial for the Tree of Life synagogue shooter.

Hardy Carroll Lloyd, 45, was taken into custody without incident on federal charges of witness tampering, obstruction and transmitting threats.

Lloyd, a self-proclaimed "reverend" of a white supremacy movement, is accused of making several comments in May calling for Robert Bowers' release and threatening people who served on the jury at his trial.

A man who posted violent threats against President Joe Biden and other officials online was shot dead during an FBI raid on Wednesday.

Agents were attempting to serve an arrest warrant on Craig Robertson at his home in Utah, just hours ahead of a planned visit to the state by Mr Biden.
...
A criminal complaint outlined messages that Robertson made on Facebook including pictures of guns and threats to kill Mr Biden and Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney leading an investigation into a hush-money payment by Mr Trump to an adult film star.

According to the complaint, other messages targeted US Attorney General Merrick Garland and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Robertson posted on Facebook: "I hear Biden is coming to Utah. Digging out my old ghillie suit and cleaning the dust off the M24 sniper rifle."

Attorneys Richard "Dick" Harpootlian and Jim Griffin claim in the motion that Rebecca Hill, the Colleton County clerk of court, "tampered with the jury by advising them not to believe Murdaugh's testimony and other evidence presented by the defense, pressuring them to reach a quick guilty verdict, and even misrepresenting critical and material information to the trial judge in her campaign to remove a juror she believed to be favorable to the defense."
...
Hill co-authored the book, "Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders," published in July. It details Hill's experience overseeing such a major trial and her family's history with the Murdaughs, whose family patriarchs had previously wielded power as the top prosecutor in South Carolina's coastal Lowcountry.

The motion for a new trial accuses Hill of pressuring jurors in the trial, who took less than three hours to deliberate to find Murdaugh guilty, to reach a quick verdict.

Unagi wrote: ↑Tue Sep 05, 2023 2:00 pm Or maybe it was just because he was guilty as f*ck

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Thu Nov 10, 2022 3:58 pm Very important:

Infowars host Alex Jones was temporarily blocked from transferring any assets or spending money other than for ordinary living expenses by the judge overseeing the Sandy Hook defamation trial in Connecticut.

State court Judge Barbara Bellis, who oversaw the case in which a jury last month ordered Jones to pay nearly $1 billion for spreading lies about the 2012 elementary school massacre, issued the freezing order late Wednesday over concerns that he was “looting” his own estate and hiding assets through a series of shell companies owned by family members

He's been trying, and I think has succeeded temporarily, to hide assets. Will be much harder for him to do that now.

The judge in Alex Jones’s bankruptcy case ruled on Thursday that he will not be allowed to use his Chapter 11 filing to evade paying more than $1 billion in verdicts to families of the Sandy Hook shooting.

The ruling by Judge Christopher Lopez in a Houston bankruptcy court means that Mr. Jones, the Infowars conspiracy broadcaster, will likely be working the rest of his life to pay his debt to the families. Last year, they were awarded historic damages in defamation lawsuits against him.

It also closes off the possibility that Mr. Jones could liquidate Infowars and force the families to accept whatever proceeds result, leaving him free to start a new business.

Earlier this year, the families asked that Judge Lopez order Mr. Jones to pay them the full damage awards, with no possibility of a trial or a forced settlement over a lesser amount — in legal terms, to make Mr. Jones’s debts to the families “non-dischargeable” through bankruptcy.

At least 20 people are believed to be dead from a mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday evening, according to multiple sources briefed on the situation.
Dozens are injured, sources said.
The suspect is still at large.
The shooting may have unfolded in multiple locations, including a bowling alley and a local bar.

Police in Maine have identified the suspected shooter, according to multiple law enforcement sources.

The suspect has a history of military service and is a firearms instructor, the sources said.

The sources said he also has a mental health history, including a two-week stay this summer at a mental health facility after he allegedly made threats about carrying out a shooting at a National Guard facility.

Authorities have traced the suspect's white Subaru to a location in Lisbon, Maine, sources said.

A nurse at Maine Medical told ABC News the shooting unfolded at a bowling alley during its youth night.

em2nought wrote: ↑Wed Oct 25, 2023 11:59 pm A Subaru? Hmm.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Thu Oct 26, 2023 12:20 am

em2nought wrote: ↑Wed Oct 25, 2023 11:59 pm A Subaru? Hmm.

What, exactly, is funny?

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Thu Oct 26, 2023 12:20 am

em2nought wrote: ↑Wed Oct 25, 2023 11:59 pm A Subaru? Hmm.

What, exactly, is funny?

em2nought wrote: ↑Thu Oct 26, 2023 1:00 am

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Thu Oct 26, 2023 12:20 am

em2nought wrote: ↑Wed Oct 25, 2023 11:59 pm A Subaru? Hmm.

What, exactly, is funny?

Subaru isn't the typical ride of the white supremacist.

naednek wrote: ↑Thu Oct 26, 2023 1:00 am

em2nought wrote: ↑Thu Oct 26, 2023 1:00 am

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Thu Oct 26, 2023 12:20 am

em2nought wrote: ↑Wed Oct 25, 2023 11:59 pm A Subaru? Hmm.

What, exactly, is funny?

Subaru isn't the typical ride of the white supremacist.

my analysis seems to be spot on

em2nought wrote: ↑Wed Oct 25, 2023 11:59 pm A Subaru? Hmm.

Alefroth wrote: ↑Thu Oct 26, 2023 1:57 am

em2nought wrote: ↑Wed Oct 25, 2023 11:59 pm A Subaru? Hmm.

True colors.

em2nought wrote: ↑Thu Oct 26, 2023 4:34 am

Alefroth wrote: ↑Thu Oct 26, 2023 1:57 am

em2nought wrote: ↑Wed Oct 25, 2023 11:59 pm A Subaru? Hmm.

True colors.

You've got me, I like dark humor. Particularly if it's the kind that can get you cancelled in this new normal.

em2nought wrote: ↑Thu Oct 26, 2023 1:00 am

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Thu Oct 26, 2023 12:20 am

em2nought wrote: ↑Wed Oct 25, 2023 11:59 pm A Subaru? Hmm.

What, exactly, is funny?

Subaru isn't the typical ride of the white supremacist.

em2nought wrote: ↑Thu Oct 26, 2023 4:34 am

Alefroth wrote: ↑Thu Oct 26, 2023 1:57 am

em2nought wrote: ↑Wed Oct 25, 2023 11:59 pm A Subaru? Hmm.

True colors.

You've got me, I like dark humor. Particularly if it's the kind that can get you cancelled in this new normal.

Unagi wrote: ↑Wed Oct 25, 2023 11:13 pm

The sources said he also has a mental health history, including a two-week stay this summer at a mental health facility after he allegedly made threats about carrying out a shooting at a National Guard facility.

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Thu Oct 26, 2023 9:35 am

Unagi wrote: ↑Wed Oct 25, 2023 11:13 pm

The sources said he also has a mental health history, including a two-week stay this summer at a mental health facility after he allegedly made threats about carrying out a shooting at a National Guard facility.

How are these people unmonitored? I mean I guess that's a rhetorical question, since we value guns over mental health, but it's infuriating that signs like this are just ignored.

Federal law generally prohibits possession of firearms and ammunition by people who have been found by a court, board, commission, or other lawful authority to be a danger to themselves or others, or to lack “the mental capacity to contract or manage [their] own affairs,” as a result of their mental condition or illness.1 Federal law also generally prohibits people from possessing firearms if they have been involuntarily hospitalized or committed to a mental health or substance abuse treatment facility by a court, board, commission, or other lawful authority.2

No federal law, however, requires states to report the identities of these individuals when they become ineligible to possess firearms to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (“NICS”) database, which the FBI uses to perform background checks prior to firearm transfers. As a result, state laws in this area are critical to ensuring the accuracy and effectiveness of the background check system.

Octavious wrote: ↑Thu Oct 26, 2023 9:54 am I'm shocked no good guy with a guy stepped in. Shocked...