Beltway Sniper Shootings-FR Commentary-Wed., Oct. 23,2002

Fox News, CNN, Press Conferences | October 23, 2002 | Fox News, CNN, Press Conferences

[Peach]

Let's keep a live commentary thread going again today. The FBI Tip Line #1-888-324-9800.

All seems quiet since yesterday's news the shooter may target children specifically. It was released on various news outlets the shooter's 3-page letter to police was in broken English and threatened extreme violence. Police announced an electronic transfer of $10m as requested by the shooter was not possible but other options for transfer remain open. No one seriously believes police will actually give the shooter $$, but police are trying to keep a dialogue open with the shooter in an effort to capture this monster.

[commish]

I'll have to find the info .. story broke a few months back ... There was a training camp that trained Professional Bodygaurds, but it was linked to training ME Terrorists!!!!

[JDGreen123]

You remember Marion Alabama. They had that Islamic training camp. After the discovery in Marion, Alabama, of a training camp possibly linked to Islamic militants, that included a school bus and mannequin riddled with bullet holes, the possibility is chilling.

I will find the exact story.

[Mo1]

Heck if I know .. this case has been all over the place and to be honest .. I give up on how this will end

[slimer]

WOW! Thanks for the update.

It looks for sure like there is more than one person in this thing - but what just dawned on me is this - up until now, these perps have been on the offensive, but now I believe that LEO's are beginning to turn it around and ...now they are having to play defense. Let's hope this is true.

[bcoffey]

"Boy, this thread is starting to resemble a drunken conversation at a downtown bar!"

I'll volunteer to be the designated poster :)

[Darlin']

FOFLOL. Don't move again. We're about to see a composite of a stump.

[Senator Pardek]

Har - that was explained to you. My beef with Klayman is personal, not political.

I will not bad-mouth him here.

[Elenya]

Boy, this thread is starting to resemble a drunken conversation at a downtown bar!

I'd like some right now myself, but there's no way I'm gonna go the the store.

[Freedom2specul8]

That was tacoma not seattle..sorry. I was reading the map about washington.

[rintense]

Almost done with my LaBatts Blue Light (in a bottle, of course). Wine would hit me too hard tonight, and I'd be typing like you!

[John Jamieson]

Got a Cherry Red over Silver, Capric Classic in super condition except hasn't run for 3 years. Caddillac wire wheels. Let you have it cheap.

[Katya]

Okay, so perhaps the murder is the shooting spree referred to on the radio. Though the training camp angle seems to fit as well. Are you in Alabama now? Wondering what the local news down there is covering.

[Mo1]

I think I remember that story

[tubebender]

Oh, no you don't tubebender. What's the "oh, never mind". Give over.

Uh...can't we all just get along...

[Peach]

Both.

[Catspaw]

Training camp in Marion, Alabama:

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/DailyNews/WNT_alabama_camp020725.html

[Dog]

That info came from the Brits....

[RobFromGa]

I know, I know, just kidding. More inportant stuff coming up soon.

I have been to Marion, SC many times. (Sidenote: the movie The Patriot is based on The Swamp Fox in large part).

[Lion's Cub]

Who is Semi Osman? Where does he live? What does he do?

Excerpts from

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/722854/posts

SAMI SAMIR EL-KASSEM, born 1970 in Sierra Leone; alias SEMI OSMAN, permanent legal resident living in Tacoma, Washington; alias Daniel Anthony McClellan of Washington state; alias Michael McClellan of Washington state

DECEMBER 1988 : Semi Osman apparently first entered the US in 1988 with a British passport through New York City.

FEBRUARY - MARCH 1988 (early) : Osman reportedly served briefly in the Army, undergoing basic training at Fort Benning, Ga.and was discharged as an E-2. Army officials contacted at Fort Benning could not locate records pertaining to Osman's Army service, saying they likely had been transferred to permanent storage.

The region is home to about 35,000 sailors and their families, spread out among four major Navy bases: Naval Submarine Base Bangor, Naval Station Bremerton/Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Naval Station Everett and Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. Other smaller Navy facilities also are in the region, with the Army's Fort Lewis, which provides small-arms training and other facilities to sailors in the region, and McChord Air Force Base. Pending the outcome of his arrest, Osman has been transferred to a non-drilling, non-paid status in a Volunteer Training Unit, Filostrat said.

He was arrested in May.

My theory is that the whole story about the letters and the ransom was an elaborate psyop designed to either make the cell members turn against each other or to convince Osman to talk. Looks like it worked to me. Somebody got real upset about the prospect of someone collecting 10M dollars and talked. Since Osman is sitting in jail, I figure it may be him. The rest are falling like dominoes as we speak :)

[rintense]

That's damn scary. We're back to everyone being 'shocked'.