Beltway Sniper Shootings-FR Commentary-Tuesday, Oct. 15

Fox News, CNN, Press Conferences | October 15, 2002 | Fox News, CNN, Press Conferences

[Peach]

To avoid multiple vanity threads regarding any news from press conferences, let's keep a live commentary thread going again today.

Note: This is the graphics-free thread. Graphics can be found under the thread titled "Beltway Sniper Shootings-Graphics Only"

[Miss Marple]

I just thought I would post a review. When people enter these threads late they sometimes have discounted or outdated information.

Now if only I could get the talking heads on television to read my reviews, we would all be on the same page.

Heheheh.

[Garak]

You don't know that for a fact. It's plausible it could be a terrorist and it's also plausible it may be another wacko serial killer.

It's plausible, and I do believe the ties should be looked into. I just don't consider it very likely, and some of the rhetoric coming from earlier in this thread - that we should kick all the Muslims out, etc, seems a little excessive given that there's zero subsantiated evidence pointing toward terrorism.

[tomkat]

and i give a flyin' goddamn what means anything to you, and what doesn't.

*plonk

[Merovingian]

News conference Montgomery County in about 20 minutes..

[OReilly]

personally, i think the tarot thing is either a deliberate misdirection, something that blew in from the neighborhood by the time the cops found that spot, or that that entire shot was a copycat ...

Some media reports that this is not terrorism because:

1. Tarot cards would not be left by ME Terrorist...

2. THe terrorists have not taken credit...

Laughable logic in my opinion. Source Kelly Areana of CNN 5 minutes ago

[texasbluebell]

Another thread saying CNN reports that the Pentagon may get involved in this sniper hunt. Hmmm...

[demlosers]

Ask yourself, would someone like Mohammed Atta, just off the boat, have an intricate enough knowledge of the back roads of Virginia and Maryland to do this?

A good map and a gps unit is all you need.

[Miss Marple]

A sniper by definition shoots from a distance, unseen. You cannot be a handgun sniper. Son of Sam was a serial killer, but not a sniper.

Zodiac was a sniper, but it was racially motivated, not random.

Charles Whitman was a sniper, but he shot from one location and did move methodically from one location to another.

[Smogger]

Most people aren't ruling out a home grown nut, but we shouldn't rule out ME terror either. It could go either way at this point.

Please stop referring to the killer or killers as "nuts". While they are very clearly clever, resourceful, and above all EVIL people they are very certainly NOT crazy. A "crazy" person (i.e. a person who has lost touch with reality) could not perpetuate this type of crime over this long a period of time without being caught.

[4Freedom]

LisaFab posted a map with the 19 Michael's stores locations in the Beltway HERE.

To paraphrase Lisa, it would be hard not to have a shooting near a Michael's store in the Beltway.

It's doubtful there's more to it than that.

[dhfnc]

that we should kick all the Muslims out, etc, seems a little excessive given that there's zero subsantiated evidence pointing toward terrorism.

Get your head out of the sand! Remember Sept. 11!

All Muslims that are in this Country illegally should be deported and those here legally, should be investigated.

If we learned anything from last year, we should limit access to this Country. Americans should be protected first!

[tomkat]

Admin: this is an on-the-record abuse report.

how did you dream up 'racist' from anything i said, other than from the depths of your own trolling blindness ?

and point out any threat i made about anyone's wife, you spineless jagoff !

[Robe]

This guy has shot 11, killed 9.

Hmmmmmmmmm..... thats 9/11,..... interesting numberology...if they quit now THAT WOULD be VERY INTERESTING!!!!!

[joey'smom]

"There was a rumor, about a tumor, nestled at the base of his brain"...sorry, just HAD to quote Kinky Friedman's song about Whitman.

[hispanarepublicana]

I think he is Hispanic

Nah, everybody knows Hispanics carry knives, not guns. </humor

[John H K]

It's plausible, and I do believe the ties should be looked into. I just don't consider it very likely, and some of the rhetoric coming from earlier in this thread - that we should kick all the Muslims out, etc, seems a little excessive given that there's zero subsantiated evidence pointing toward terrorism.

It's absolutely POSSIBLE it's Muslim terrorism. And it's absolutely possible it's some white redneck who really likes guns. Or possible it's something completely different.

My problem with MOST of the Muslim terrorism theorists is that they're "concluding" it's a Muslim terrorist, or that it "has to be" Al Quaeda. And they seem almost offended that any other possibility could be considered.

And they'll say "after my extensive analysis, blah blah blah, it clearly is Al Queda." What bothers me is that they won't admit the MAIN portion of their analysis is that they WANT it to be Al Queda...DESPERATELY WANT it to be. I have, however, actually seen a couple people in threads openly SAY they want it to be Muslim terrorism...that's at least to their credit.

It's sort of like the mainstream media; it's not that they're biased to the left that so bad, it's that they won't admit it.

Actually, there are two biases at work here; wanting it to be Muslim terrorism, and REALLY wanting it not to be a non-Muslim white guy who likes guns and shooting; I think a lot of FR posters are more terrified of the shooter being a person like that...like Thomas Dillon, and the media coverage that would ensue if the shooter turned out to be such a person...than of the shooter killing more people.

If one clears one's mind of biases, and looks at the evidence objectively and THEN try to form a conclusion, it's impossible to say with any confidence at all whether it's Muslim terrorism at all. But we've seen literally thousands of posts where people reach their conclusion FIRST that it's AL Quaeda, then they "mine" or even fabricate any evidence they can find to support their conclusion. That's backwards thinking.

[Letitring]

Interesting. Bloodhounds can track people in cars, moving. Scent is in the air, and they follow the trail. Awesome. From the latest economic report, sales were up in home improvement, videos, books. IF it's a terrorist group, and they are following the latest edicts, then hitting the economy is important to them. Just something I noticed and thought to mention. Home Depot has been doing well. Most probably, shooter is just picking good lines of fire, strategic places with many ways to enter and leave.

[rats_gave_me_shingles]

"...could not perpetuate this type of crime over this long a period of time without being caught."   What, are you nuts?!   :-)

[jacquej]

The more the "experts" on FoxNews deny the possibility of the shootings being done by terrorist in responding to questions by the moderator, stating that it isn't believable because none have stepped forward to take credit, the more convinced I become that the officials have no clue, but are desperately hoping, and wanting us believe, that it is a "lone-nut".

These frequent denials, in spite of many of us knowing that some of these terrorist groups do not claim credit, doesn't sit right with me.

I will be convinced that the federales are not trying to disinform us as soon as they make some statement indicating that terrorism cannot be eliminated as a possible motive for these shootings.

Until then, I become more convinced with each denial. The problem becomes compounded if these random sniper attacks spread around the country, and there is still this kind of denial.

Then many of the people who accept the governments' statements on the plane crashes, the OKC bombing, etc, as having nothing to do with terrorism become questioanable as well.

Than what happens?