Moe Factz 42 - "GBG"

Moe Factz with Adam Curry for July 4th 2020, Episode number 42
"GBG"
Download the mp3
Executive Producers:
  Dwayne Melancon
  Jon Lucas
  Swen Hollestelle
  Alejandro Alcocer
  Theodora Dorinda Ongena
  Matthew Noes
  Lisa Lesley
Associate Executive Producers:
  Daniel Hollingsworth
  jacob smith
  Richard Sposto
  Illuminadia
  Gregory Kierdak
  Malcolm Allen
Show Club Members:
  Sir Matthew, Black Knight of the Ice Giants
  DH Slamma Tha God
Description
  Adam and Moe launch a new initiative. And it isn't a crazy idea!
ShowNotes
  giveblacksguns.com
  How a Gun Trace Works
    Link to Article
    Archived Version
    Sat, 04 Jul 2020 22:45
    Police struggling to catch Darien Richardson's killer in 2010 got a break when the murder weapon was recovered at the scene of another homicide one month later .
    Tracking down the owner of the .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol might have led police to whomever had the gun when Richardson was shot in her bed in her Portland, Maine, apartment. But investigators hit a dead end : The person who originally purchased the weapon from a dealer had subsequently sold it without jotting down the buyer's information.
    Every year, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives conducts hundreds of thousands of gun traces at the request of law enforcement officials. The purpose of a trace is to identify the custody of a firearm through the supply chain, from manufacturer to dealer to buyer.
    But while requesting a trace is a standard part of police work, the failed investigation into Richardson's killing is an example of a common way they fall short. Because firearms can legally change hands on the secondary market without a paper trail, it is sometimes impossible for police to track a gun to its final handler.
    Loose restrictions on private sales and transfers, along with other challenges '-- including legal restrictions that prevent the ATF from digitally storing records '-- often makes tracing the path of a gun from assembly line to user remarkably difficult. The obstacles have created headaches for the ATF and hampered police investigations around the country.
    Here is how gun traces are supposed to work, and how they often don't.
    Police recover a gun at a crime scene. What comes next? An investigating officer submits a trace request (either by email, fax, or through the ATF's eTrace system) to the National Tracing Center in Martinsburg, West Virginia. A complete request discloses the weapon's identifying details, including its serial number, model, caliber, and manufacturer. The ATF is the only agency allowed to perform gun traces.
    Over the past decade, the number of gun traces requested by law enforcement has exploded. The ATF processed more than 373,000 trace requests in fiscal year 2015, or more than 1,000 a day. That represents an increase of more than 350 percent from 1995, when the agency processed fewer than 80,000.
    Trace requests spiked after the ATF made the process easier by rolling out an online submission program called eTrace, and some federal and local law enforcement agencies started requiring traces with every crime gun. Chicago alone files about 10,000 trace requests a year.
    The average turnaround time for a trace is between four and seven business days.
    What kind of information does a trace yield? A trace documents the life of a gun, up to point of sale from a licensed dealer. It will show which manufacturer made the gun, which wholesaler distributed the gun, which federally licensed firearms dealers sold or transferred the gun, and to whom.
    Here's a completed trace form, which tied a gun recovered in a robbery to a Virginia dealer known for selling crime guns :
    How many traces are successful? The ATF reports that about 70 percent of its traces are successful. But that calculation includes traces where a gun dealer is identified, but is unable to provide the buyer's name, usually because of incomplete records.
    In some regions of the country, the success rate is lower. In Illinois, for instance, traces on guns recovered between 2010 and 2014 were successful between 40 and 60 percent of the time.
    How do traces fall short? Figuring out who bought a gun from a dealer does not always reveal the information police most want. They want to know who ultimately used it, in a shooting or some other type of crime.
    In the majority of states, only licensed dealers are required to track sales. Fifteen states require some form of documentation of private gun sales to be kept by a dealer or sent to the government. That information can then be used by the ATF in a trace.
    Private sales have been particularly troublesome in Chicago, where police solved only about a quarter of its 479 murders last year, a clearance rate much lower than other large cities. ''We see oftentimes with these crime guns that they changed hands multiple times, and sometimes they've crossed the country a couple of times,'' says Special Agent Tom Ahern, the ATF's spokesman in Chicago.
    Read Next Everything You Need to Know About Federal Background ChecksA step-by-step guide to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which vets anyone who attempts to buy a gun through a federally licensed firearms dealer.
    byMiles Kohrman and Jennifer Mascia
    When the ATF traces a gun, it asks a gun dealer to flip through its records and send it a copy of the sale. A big problem comes into play when a store has closed. Dealers who go out of business must submit all their records to the ATF, and this happens so often that about 1.6 million documents and other records flood the agency's offices every month.
    There aren't any rules for how dealers must store records. Some arrive on index cards, old notebooks, and password-protected hard drives, USA Today found .
    NPR quoted one ATF official as saying that particularly rebellious dealers submitted their books on paper towels or toilet paper.
    Making the ATF's task more cumbersome is the fact that the bureau is legally prohibited from creating a database to search the trove of paperwork at its disposal. The National Rifle Association and other pro-gun groups have blocked efforts to create that database, saying such a step would bring the country too close to a national registry. That means the ATF must scan documents and search them manually, slowing down police investigations.
    Some dealers simply don't keep records at all. In 2015, an ATF inspection found that an unnamed firearms dealer in Arkansas neglected to record the sale of thousands of guns. That dealer, the bureau said, was responsible for 98 percent of the state's 2,951 missing guns that year.
    Why are traces helpful? For police, traces spark leads. Even though a trace doesn't always lead directly to a perpetrator, law enforcement can interview a gun's buyer to see whom he or she gave or sold it to and then follow the chain of custody.
    Tracing guns is helpful in other ways, too. Traces help law enforcement figure out where criminals are getting their guns, and crack down on gun trafficking. In Chicago, police found that more than half of the guns used to commit crimes in the city were bought in states with less restrictive laws.
    Traces can also lead law enforcement officers to dealers who unwittingly or intentionally supply straw purchasers or other criminals. One gun shop near Milwaukee in 1999 stopped selling particular types of guns that were popular among criminals after it was linked to more than half of the recoveries in that city, according to a study in the Journal of Urban Health . That change shrunk the flow of newly trafficked guns to Milwaukee by 44 percent, the study found.
    While many of Chicago's guns come from across the Illinois border, the city has also encountered problems with gun stores nearby. Between 2009 and 2013, more than 1,500 crime guns were traced to Chuck's Gun Shop in Riverdale, a 30-minute drive from the city.
    How much trace information is publicly available? Not much. The ATF publishes aggregate data about common makes and calibers of traced guns, and the states in which they were bought. But since the early 2000s, provisions known as the Tiarht Amendments have blocked the ATF from sharing more granular information with anyone but law enforcement. Some journalists have been able to get their hands on trace reports by going through their local police departments, but that is technically not allowed.
    Proponents of the Tiarht Amendments argue that sharing trace information could jeopardize law enforcement investigations. But critics say the prohibitions limit the public's ability to examine trends and expose corrupt dealers.
    [AP Photo/Cliff Owen]
    Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that only eight states keep information on private sales that can be used in a gun trace. The correct number of states is 15.
  Oliver North - Wikipedia
    Link to Article
    Archived Version
    Sat, 04 Jul 2020 21:49
    US Marine Corps lieutenant colonel, claimed partial responsibility for clandestinely selling weapons to Iran and channeling profits to Contras in Nicaragua
    This article is about the American military figure. For the British engineer, see
    Oliver Danson North.
    "Colonel North" redirects here. For the 19th-century English magnate, see
    John Thomas North.
    Oliver Laurence North (born October 7, 1943) is an American political commentator, television host, military historian, author, and retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel.
    A veteran of the Vietnam War, North was a National Security Council staff member during the Iran''Contra affair, a political scandal of the late 1980s. It involved the illegal sale of weapons to the Khomeini government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to encourage the release of American hostages then held in Lebanon. North formulated the second part of the plan, which was to divert proceeds from the arms sales to support the Contra rebel groups in Nicaragua, sales which had been specifically prohibited under the Boland Amendment. North was granted limited immunity from prosecution in exchange for testifying before Congress about the scheme. He was initially convicted on three felony charges, but the convictions were vacated and reversed and all charges against him dismissed in 1991.
    North unsuccessfully challenged for the U.S. Senate seat held by Chuck Robb from Virginia in 1994, receiving 43% of the vote. He then hosted a talk show on Radio America from 1995 to 2003, and hosted War Stories with Oliver North on Fox News from 2001 to 2016. In May 2018, North was elected as president of the National Rifle Association. On April 27, 2019, he resigned amidst a dispute with the organization's chief executive Wayne LaPierre,[1] and was succeeded by Carolyn D. Meadows.[2]
    Early life North was born in San Antonio, Texas, on October 7, 1943, the son of Ann Theresa (n(C)e Clancy) and Oliver Clay North, a U.S. Army major.[3][4] He grew up in Philmont, New York, and graduated from Ockawamick Central High School in 1961. He attended the State University of New York at Brockport for two years.[5]
    While at Brockport, North spent a summer at the United States Marine Corps Platoon Leaders Class at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, and gained an appointment to the United States Naval Academy in 1963. He received his commission as second lieutenant in 1968, having missed a year due to serious back and leg injuries from an auto accident in which a classmate was killed.[6] One of North's classmates at the academy was future secretary of the Navy and U.S. senator Jim Webb, whom he beat in a middleweight championship boxing match at Annapolis.[7] (North had shown films of this match to Marine Medical Corps officials to prove that he had fully recovered from his serious accident and could endure the rigors of midshipman training.[6]) Their graduating class included Dennis C. Blair, Michael Mullen, Charles Bolden and Michael Hagee.
    U.S. Marine Corps career Vietnam North served as a platoon commander during the Vietnam War, where during his combat service, he was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star Medal with Combat V, and two Purple Heart medals.[8] At the time of his being awarded the Silver Star, North was a platoon commander leading his Marines in Operation Virginia Ridge. North led a counter-assault against the People's Army of Vietnam, as his platoon took on heavy machine gun fire and rocket propelled grenades. Throughout the battle, North displayed "courage, dynamic leadership and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of grave personal danger".[9]
    Post-Vietnam In 1970, North returned to South Vietnam to testify as a character witness at the trial of LCpl Randall Herrod, a U.S. Marine formerly under his command who, along with four others, had been charged with the murder of sixteen Vietnamese civilians in the village of Son Thang.[10] North claims Herrod had previously saved his life.[11] Herrod and one other Marine were acquitted.[12]
    North's post-Vietnam career included: instructor at the Marine Basic School from 1969 to 1974; director of the Northern Training Area in Okinawa, Japan (1973''1974); plans and policy analyst with the manpower division at Headquarters Marine Corps from 1975 to 1978; and operations officer (S3) for 3rd Battalion, 8th Regiment, 2nd Marine Division at Camp Lejeune (1978''80).[13] He graduated from the College of Naval Command and Staff at the Navy War College in 1981.[14]
    National Security Council staff In 1981, North began his assignment to the National Security Council (NSC) staff in Washington, D.C., where he served as a lobbyist from 1981 to 1983; and deputy director for political''military affairs[15] from 1983 until his reassignment in 1986. In 1983, North was promoted to lieutenant colonel.[16]
    During his tenure at the NSC, North managed a number of missions. This included leading the hunt for those responsible for the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing that killed 299 American and French military personnel, an effort that saw North arranging a mid-air interception of an EgyptAir jet carrying those responsible for the Achille Lauro hijacking. While also at the NSC, he helped plan the US invasion of Grenada and the 1986 Bombing of Libya.[15]
    During his Iran-Contra trial, North spent his last two years on active duty assigned to Headquarters Marine Corps in Arlington, Virginia. He submitted his request to retire from the Marine Corps effective May 1, 1988, following his indictment for conspiring to defraud the United States by channeling the profits from US arms sales to the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.[17] After his trial and felony convictions, all convictions were reversed on appeal.[18]
    Military awards North received the following military awards and decorations:[8][19][20][21]
    Iran''Contra affair North's mugshot, taken on the day of his arrest
    North came into the public spotlight as a result of his participation in the Iran''Contra affair, a political scandal during the Reagan administration, in which he claimed partial responsibility for the sale of weapons through intermediaries to Iran, with the profits being channeled to the Contras in Nicaragua. It was alleged that he was responsible for the establishment of a covert network which subsequently funneled those funds to the Contras. Congress passed the Boland Amendment (to the House Appropriations Bill of 1982 and following years),[22] which prohibited the appropriation of U.S. funds by intelligence agencies for the support of the Contras.
    North solicited $10 million from the Sultan of Brunei to skirt U.S. prohibitions on funding the Contras. However, he gave the wrong number of the Swiss bank account intended to launder the money, and it went instead to a Swiss businessman. A Senate committee investigating the transaction tracked it down so it could be returned to Brunei.[23]
    In an August 23, 1986 e-mail to National Security Advisor John Poindexter, North described a meeting with a representative of Panamanian General Manuel Noriega: "You will recall that over the years Manuel Noriega in Panama and I have developed a fairly good relationship," North writes before explaining Noriega's proposal. If U.S. officials can "help clean up his image" and lift the ban on arms sales to the Panamanian Defense Force, Noriega will "'take care of' the Sandinista leadership for us."[24][25]
    North told Poindexter that General Noriega could assist with sabotage against the ruling party of Nicaragua, the Sandinista National Liberation Front. North supposedly suggested that Noriega be paid $1 million in cash from Project Democracy funds raised from the sale of U.S. arms to Iran for the Panamanian leader's help in destroying Nicaraguan economic installations.[26]
    In November 1986, as the sale of weapons was made public, North was dismissed by President Ronald Reagan. In an interview with Cigar Aficionado magazine, North said that on February 11, 1987, the FBI detected an attack on North's family[27] from the Peoples Committee for Libyan Students, with an order to kill North. Although government officials later expressed skepticism of this claim,[28] and no charges for this alleged plot were brought,[29] his family was moved to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and lived with federal agents until North retired from the Marine Corps the following year.[30][31]
    In July 1987, North was summoned to testify before televised hearings of a joint congressional committee that was formed to investigate the Iran''Contra scandal. During the hearings, North admitted that he had misled Congress,[32] for which, along with other actions, he was later charged. He defended his actions by stating that he believed in the goal of aiding the Contras, whom he saw as freedom fighters against the Sandinistas and said that he viewed the Iran''Contra scheme as a "neat idea."[33] North admitted shredding government documents related to these activities at William Casey's suggestion when the Iran''Contra scandal became public. He also testified that Robert McFarlane had asked him to alter official records to delete references to direct assistance to the Contras and that he had helped.[34]
    North was indicted in March 1988 on 16 felony counts.[35] His trial opened in February 1989,[36][37] and on May 4, 1989, he was initially convicted of three: accepting an illegal gratuity, aiding and abetting in the obstruction of a congressional inquiry, and ordering the destruction of documents through his secretary, Fawn Hall. He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gerhard Gesell on July 5, 1989, to a three-year suspended prison term, two years probation, $150,000 in fines, and 1,200 hours of community service.[38] North performed some of his community service within Potomac Gardens, a public housing project in southeast Washington, DC.[39] However, on July 20, 1990, with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU),[40] North's convictions were vacated, after the appeals court found that witnesses in his trial might have been impermissibly affected by his immunized congressional testimony.[41]
    The individual members of the prosecution team had isolated themselves from news reports and discussion of North's testimony, and while the defense could show no specific instance in which North's congressional testimony was used in his trial, the Court of Appeals ruled that the trial judge had made an insufficient examination of the issue. Consequently, North's convictions were reversed. After further hearings on the immunity issue, Judge Gesell dismissed all charges against North on September 16, 1991.[42]
    Later life Oliver North in April 2002, autographing one of his books for a U.S. Marine Staff Sergeant.
    Politics In the 1994 election, North unsuccessfully ran for the United States Senate as the Republican Party candidate in Virginia. Republican senator John Warner of Virginia endorsed Marshall Coleman, a Republican who ran as an independent, instead of North. North lost, garnering 43 percent of votes, while incumbent Democrat Charles Robb,[43] a son-in-law of President Lyndon B. Johnson, won reelection with 46 percent. Coleman received 11 percent. North's candidacy was documented in the 1996 film A Perfect Candidate.[33]
    Oliver North in 2005, pictured with
    Clinton Township, Franklin County, Ohio Assistant Fire Chief John Harris and Lieutenant Douglas Brown, at a public speaking event.
    In his failed bid to unseat Robb, North raised $20.3 million in a single year through nationwide direct-mail solicitations, telemarketing, fundraising events, and contributions from major donors. About $16 million of that amount was from direct mail alone. This was the biggest accumulation of direct-mail funds for a statewide campaign to that date, and it made North the top direct-mail political fundraiser in the country in 1994.[44]
    Books and media North has written several best-selling books including Under Fire, One More Mission, War Stories'--Operation Iraqi Freedom,[45] Mission Compromised,[46] The Jericho Sanction,[47] and The Assassins.[48]
    His book American Heroes was released nationally in the United States on May 6, 2008. In the book, "North addresses issues of defense against global terrorism, Jihad, and radical Islam from his firsthand perspective as a military officer and national security advisor and current Middle East war correspondent."[49] He writes a nationally syndicated newspaper column through Creators Syndicate.[50]
    Oliver North's interview with Marine Maj. Chris E. Phelps,
    Iraq, 2005
    On November 5, 2013, North's American Heroes on the Homefront, was released. This is a nonfiction book that gives a firsthand account of the Americans who have volunteered to join the United States Army. The book was a collection from the dozen years North and the Fox News Channel have traveled the frontlines of the War on Terror. During those years North and his team have profiled hundreds of soldiers and chronicles what it means to be a hero. In the book he continues the journey by following these soldiers from the battlefield back to the home front.[51]
    In 1991 North appeared on the first season of The Jerry Springer Show. From 1995 to 2003, he was host of his own nationally syndicated radio program on Radio America known as the Oliver North Radio Show or Common Sense Radio. He also served as co-host of Equal Time on MSNBC for a couple of years starting in 1999. North was the host of the television show War Stories with Oliver North from 2001 to 2016, and is a regular commentator on Hannity, both on the Fox News Channel.[52] North appeared as himself on many television shows including the sitcom Wings in 1991, and three episodes of the TV military drama JAG in 1995, 1996, and 2002 as "Ollie", a close friend of the deceased father of Tracey Needham's character Meg Austin.[53]
    In addition, he regularly speaks at both public and private events. North appears in an episode of Auction Kings to have his Marine Corps sword returned after it was lost and presumably stolen in 1980. North was credited as a military consultant in the 2012 video game Call of Duty: Black Ops II and voiced himself in one level of the game.[54] In Season 4, Episode 15 Stanny Slickers II: The Legend of Ollie's Gold of the TV series American Dad! Stan Smith searches under his house for Oliver North's hidden gold. In 2014 he received story credit for an episode of the TV series The Americans where the protagonist Soviet spies infiltrate a Contra training base in the United States.[55]
    Freedom Alliance In 1990, North founded the Freedom Alliance, a 501(c)(3) foundation "to advance the American heritage of freedom by honoring and encouraging military service, defending the sovereignty of the United States, and promoting a strong national defense." The foundation's primary activities include providing support for wounded combat soldiers and providing scholarships for the children of service members killed in action.[56]
    Beginning in 2003, Sean Hannity has raised over $10 million for the Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund through Freedom Concerts and donations from The Sean Hannity Show and its listeners. The charity has been criticized by conservative blogger Debbie Schlussel for distributing too little of its funds for charitable purposes.[57] Hannity, North, and other charity spokespersons say that all of the "net" proceeds from the Freedom Concerts are donated to the fund.[58]
    National Rifle Association On May 7, 2018, the National Rifle Association (NRA) announced that North would become the organization's next president within the following weeks.[59][60] He succeeded Pete Brownell, the incumbent. North is a board member in the NRA and appeared at NRA national conventions in 2007[61] and 2008.[62]
    North began his term as president in September 2018.[63]
    In April 2019, in the midst of a wide-ranging dispute involving the NRA's chief executive Wayne LaPierre, the NRA's advertising agency Ackerman McQueen, and the NRA's law firm Brewer Attorneys & Counselors,[64] North announced that he would not serve a second term as president,[65][66] ostensibly against his wishes.[67] On April 24, 2019, North asked LaPierre to resign.[64][68] On April 16, 2019, North and NRA first vice president Richard Childress wrote to the chairman of the NRA audit committee and the NRA's secretary and general counsel calling for an independent audit of the billing from the NRA's law firm, Brewer Attorneys & Counselors.[69][70][71] In an April 24, 2019 letter to the executive committee of the NRA board, North said that he was forming a committee to investigate alleged financial improprieties, allegations which he said threatened the NRA's non-profit status.[69] In an April 25, 2019 letter to the NRA board, LaPierre said that North was threatening to release damaging information about him.[66] On April 27, 2019, in a letter read on his behalf at the NRA's annual convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, North announced he would not serve a second term.[68] North's term ended on April 29, 2019, when he was replaced by Carolyn D. Meadows.[72] On May 3, 2019, Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, and Bob Menendez of New Jersey, members of the Senate Finance Committee, wrote to North, LaPierre, and the NRA's advertising agency Ackerman McQueen requesting copies of the letters to the NRA board by North and LaPierre, seeking documents related to the allegations, and directing records preservation.[73][74]
    Personal life In 1967, North married Betsy Stuart; they have four children.[75] Although raised in the Roman Catholic faith of his mother, North has long attended Protestant or evangelical services with his wife and children.[76] The Norths live in McLean, Virginia.[77]
    References ^ politico.com: NRA announces North's resignation on-stage as 'crisis' hits gun lobby ^ Sherfinski, David. "Carolyn Meadows to replace Oliver North as new NRA president". The Washington Times . Retrieved April 29, 2019 . ^ North, Oliver; Novak, William (1991). Under fire: an American story '' Oliver North, William Novak. ISBN 978-0060183349 . Retrieved October 16, 2012 . ^ "Obituaries". Los Angeles Times. October 20, 1999. ^ "Oliver North site". Oliver North . Retrieved January 20, 2016 . ^ a b "The Puzzle Of Oliver North". ^ "Top 10 Most Athletic Democrats '' #10 Jim Webb". RealClearSports.com . Retrieved January 20, 2016 . ^ a b Cushman Jr., John H. (July 7, 1987). "Washington Talk; 5 Young Lawyers Who Would Be Heroes... And A Marine Who Wears a Hero's Ribbons". The New York Times . Retrieved June 23, 2011 . ^ "Veteran Tributes". Veterantributes.org . Retrieved January 20, 2016 . ^ "Did Military Justice Fail or Prevail?" Duke University Law Center on Law, Ethics, and National Security reprinted from Michigan Law Review, 1998 ^ "The Man Who Did Too Much '' Vol. 28 No. 2". July 13, 1987. ^ "Book Review: Son Thang: An American War Crime 1". litigation-essentials.lexisnexis.com. ^ Gareffa, Peter M.; Evory, Ann (1988). Newsmakers. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Publishing. pp. 266''267. ^ Gerstenzang, James (November 26, 1986). "The Crisis in the White House: The Key Players; Lt. Col. Oliver L. North, A Passion for the Fight Against Communism". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, CA. ^ a b Greenwald, John; Beckwith, David; Halevy, David (November 17, 1986). "Washington's Cowboys". Time . Retrieved June 23, 2011 . ^ "Oliver North profile". Speaker Line-Up 2002. The Bakersfield Business Conference. Archived from the original on August 6, 2007 . Retrieved December 23, 2008 . ^ "North Quits Marines". The New York Times. March 19, 1988 . Retrieved December 21, 2012 . ^ Johnson, Haynes; Thompson, Tracy (September 17, 1991). "NORTH CHARGES DISMISSED AT REQUEST OF PROSECUTOR". Washington Post . Retrieved January 10, 2020 . ^ Profile, valor.militarytimes.com; accessed January 31, 2016. ^ Profile, biography.com; accessed January 31, 2016. ^ Oliver North honored by American Legion, legion.org; accessed January 31, 2016. ^ Webb, Gary (1999). Dark Alliance. Seven Stories Press. p. 206. ISBN 978-1888363937. CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) ^ Butterfield, Fox (May 13, 1987). "NORTH'S $10 million Mistake: Sultan's gift lost in a mixup". The New York Times . Retrieved May 8, 2018 . ^ Cockburn, Alexander; St. Clair, Jeffrey (1998). Whiteout: the CIA, drugs, and the press. Verso. p. 287. ISBN 1859841392 . Retrieved November 30, 2010 . ^ North American Congress on Latin America (1993). NACLA report on the Americas. 27. California: NACLA. p. 31 . Retrieved November 30, 2010 . ^ "The Oliver North File". National Security Archive . Retrieved June 23, 2011 . ^ "An Exclusive Interview with Oliver North". Archived from the original on July 14, 2014 . Retrieved June 6, 2014 . ^ Murphy, Caryle; Evans, Sandra (July 22, 1988). "D.C. TRAVEL AGENT DENIES HE HAD ROLE IN ALLEGED PLOT TO KILL COL. NORTH". The Washington Post . Retrieved October 30, 2019 . ^ "The Libyan Travel Bureau: Oliver North was its target -- but then maybe not". TIME Magazine. Vol. 132 no. 5. August 1, 1988 . Retrieved October 30, 2019 . ^ North, Oliver. "Hugh Hewitt Show" (Interview). Interviewed by Hugh Hewitt. ^ Shenon, Philip (July 21, 1988). "Eight Men Are Charged With Pro-Libya Actions". The New York Times . Retrieved June 6, 2014 . ^ Rosenberg, Eli (May 8, 2018). " ' Olliemania': The stage-worthy scandal that starred Oliver North as a congressional witness". The Washington Post . Retrieved February 28, 2019 . ^ a b A Perfect Candidate on IMDb. Retrieved June 23, 2011 ^ "Hostile Witnesses". The Washington Post. August 19, 1998. p. 3 . Retrieved June 23, 2011 . ^ Shenon, Philip (March 17, 1988). "North, Poindexter and 2 Others Indicted on Iran''Contra Fraud and Theft Charges". The New York Times (National ed.). p. A00001 . Retrieved December 29, 2018 . ^ Saker, Anne (February 21, 1989). "Oliver North's 'time for judgment' arrived Tuesday with the..." UPI . Retrieved September 28, 2019 . ^ Johnston, David (February 22, 1989). "North Trial Opens After Long Delay". The New York Times . Retrieved September 28, 2019 . ^ "1989: Irangate colonel avoids prison". BBC On This Day. July 5, 1989 . Retrieved July 3, 2020 . ^ Crawford, Craig. "One Avenue, Two Faces: White House, Crack House". Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. ^ Shenon, Philip (July 21, 1988). "Civil Liberties Union Asks Court To Quash Iran-Contra Indictment". The New York Times . Retrieved May 7, 2018 . ^ "Walsh Iran/Contra Report '' Chapter 2 United States v. Oliver L. North". Fas.org . Retrieved June 23, 2011 . ^ "Walsh Iran/Contra Report '' Chapter 2 United States v. Oliver L. North". Fas.org . Retrieved October 21, 2016 . .Quote: "In two days of remand hearings, [Robert C.] McFarlane testified that his trial testimony was 'colored' by, and that he was deeply affected by, North's immunized congressional testimony. Independent Counsel then consented to dismiss the remaining counts of the indictment.... Order, North (D.D.C. Sept. 16, 1991) (dismissing Counts Six, Nine, and Ten of Indictment, with prejudice)." ^ "Statistics Of The Congressional Election Of November 8, 1994". Clerk.house.gov . Retrieved June 23, 2011 . ^ "Ollie, Inc.: how Oliver North raised over $20 million in a losing U.S. Senate race". Archived from the original on May 8, 2018 . Retrieved September 24, 2007 . ^ North, Oliver (2003). War stories: Operation Iraqi Freedom. Washington, DC: Regnery Pub. ISBN 0895260379. ^ North, Oliver; Musser, Joe (2002). Mission compromised: a novel. Nashville, Tenn.: Broadman & Holman. ISBN 0805425500. ^ North, Oliver; Musser, Joe (2003). The Jericho sanction: a novel. Nashville, Tenn.: Broadman & Holman. ISBN 0805425519. ^ North, Oliver; Musser, Joe (2005). The assassins: a novel. Nashville, Tenn.: Broadman & Holman. ISBN 978-0805425529. ^ "About The Book". Americanheroesbook.com. Archived from the original on July 24, 2012 . Retrieved June 23, 2011 . ^ "About Oliver North". Creators.com. September 30, 2011 . Retrieved October 16, 2012 . ^ "OliverNorth". bookrevue.com. Archived from the original on November 9, 2013 . Retrieved January 25, 2014 . ^ "War Stories | Oliver North". Fox News . Retrieved October 16, 2012 . ^ Oliver North on IMDb ^ Totilo, Stephen (May 24, 2012). "Call of Duty Creators Say Oliver North Helped Make Their Game More Authentic". Kotaku. Gizmodo Media Group . Retrieved June 8, 2019 . ^ Itzkoff, Dave (April 15, 2014). "Oliver North, Now in the Service of TV's K.G.B." The New York Times. ^ "About Freedom Alliance". Freedom Alliance . Retrieved June 16, 2016 . ^ Watts Jr., James D. (August 19, 2010). "A concert with an attitude: Sean Hannity's benefit show isn't without controversy". McClatchy '' Tribune Business News. Washington. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on January 10, 2016 . Retrieved November 18, 2009 . CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link) ^ Shesgreen, Deirdre (May 7, 2018). "Oliver North poised to become next National Rifle Association president". USA TODAY. ^ "Lt. Colonel Oliver North Poised to Become NRA President". NRA.org. National Rifle Association . Retrieved May 11, 2018 . ^ "Bolton, Oliver North among speakers at NRA conferences". Showmenews.com. Archived from the original on August 14, 2007 . Retrieved June 23, 2011 . ^ "NRA's Annual Meetings & Exhibits 2008: A Celebration of American Values". NRA Institute for Legislative Action. April 17, 2008. ^ Mak, Tim (April 27, 2019). "Oliver North Says He Will Not Seek A 2nd Term As NRA President". NPR . Retrieved April 27, 2019 . ^ a b Hakim, Danny (April 26, 2019). "Insurgents Seek to Oust Wayne LaPierre in N.R.A. Power Struggle". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved April 27, 2019 . ^ Hakim, Danny; Mele, Christopher (April 27, 2019). "Oliver North Says He Will Not Serve Another Term as N.R.A. President". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved April 27, 2019 . ^ a b "Oliver North will not serve second term as NRA president amid bitter infighting at gun rights group". CNBC. Associated Press. April 27, 2019 . Retrieved May 31, 2019 . ^ Maremont, Mark (April 27, 2019). "Oliver North Won't Return as NRA President". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660 . Retrieved April 27, 2019 . ^ a b Hakim, Danny (April 27, 2019). "N.R.A. President to Step Down as New York Attorney General Investigates". The New York Times . Retrieved May 30, 2019 . ^ a b Maremont, Mark (May 11, 2019). "Leaked Letters Reveal Details of NRA Chief's Alleged Spending". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved June 12, 2019 . ^ Woodruff, Betsy (May 11, 2019). "Leaked Documents: NRA Racked Up $24 Million in Legal Bills". The Daily Beast . Retrieved June 12, 2019 . ^ Gutowski, Stephen (May 14, 2019). "Allen West Calls for Wayne LaPierre Resignation in Wake of Leaked NRA Memos; NRA Leadership Fires Back". The Washington Free Beacon . Retrieved June 12, 2019 . ^ Hakim, Danny (April 29, 2019). "Wayne LaPierre Prevails in Fierce Battle for the N.R.A." The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved April 30, 2019 . ^ Zezima, Katie (May 2, 2019). "Senate Democrats ask NRA execs, PR firm for documents related to alleged self-dealing". The Washington Post . Retrieved May 31, 2019 . ^ Touchberry, Ramsey (May 3, 2019). "Senate Democrats Probe NRA After Ex-President Oliver North Alleged Financial Wrongdoing". Newsweek . Retrieved May 31, 2019 . ^ "Oliver North profile". U-s-history.com . Retrieved October 16, 2012 . ^ "London Review of Books: Robert Fisk writes about Oliver North's contributions to the ordeal of the Middle East". London Review of Books. October 27, 1988. pp. 5''6 . Retrieved June 23, 2011 . ^ Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North Speaking to Reporters from Limousine Pictures | Getty Images Retrieved 2018-05-08. Further reading Ben Bradlee Jr. (1998). Guts and Glory: The Rise and Fall of Oliver North. Donald I. Fine, Inc. ISBN 1556110537. Meyer, Peter (1987). Defiant Patriot: the Life and Exploits of Lt. Colonel Oliver L. North. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0312910916. OCLC 16774532. "The Contras, Cocaine, and U.S. Covert Operations". Nsarchive.gwu.edu . Retrieved January 20, 2016 . External links Official website Oliver North on IMDb list of Oliver North's television appearancesFreedom AllianceOliver North Features at Creators Syndicate"The Oliver North File". The National Security Archive/George Washington University. C-SPAN Sen. Inouye Remarks to Oliver North on Military Ethics and Iran-ContraTranscript, Audio, Video of North's Opening Statement During the Iran Contra Hearings from AmericanRhetoric.comAppearances on C-SPAN
  Shooting of Philando Castile - Wikipedia
    Link to Article
    Archived Version
    Sat, 04 Jul 2020 21:46
    2016 police killing of a black man in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, United States
    On July 6, 2016, Philando Castile,[a] a 32-year-old African American man, was fatally shot during a traffic stop by Jeronimo Yanez, a 28-year-old Hispanic-American police officer from St. Anthony, Minnesota.
    Castile was driving with his partner Diamond Reynolds and her four-year-old daughter when at 9:00 p.m. their vehicle was pulled over by Yanez and another officer in Falcon Heights, a suburb of Saint Paul, Minnesota.[3][4] After being asked for his license and registration, Castile told Officer Yanez that he had a firearm (Castile was licensed to carry) to which Yanez replied, "Don't reach for it then", and Castile said "I'm, I, I was reaching for..." Yanez said "Don't pull it out", Castile replied "I'm not pulling it out", and Reynolds said "He's not..." Yanez repeated "Don't pull it out"[5] and then shot at Castile at close range seven times, hitting him five times.[6] Castile died at 9:37 p.m. at Hennepin County Medical Center, about 20 minutes after being shot.[7]
    Reynolds posted a live stream video on Facebook in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, which prompted the incident to achieve national notoriety.[8][9] There were local and national protests, and five months after the incident, Yanez was charged with second-degree manslaughter and two counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm.[10] After five days of deliberation, he was acquitted of all charges in a jury trial on June 16, 2017,[11][12] and was immediately fired by the City of Saint Anthony.[13] Wrongful death lawsuits against the City brought by Reynolds and Castile's family were settled for $3.8 million.
    Persons involved [ edit ] Philando Castile [ edit ] Philando Divall Castile (July 16, 1983 '' July 6, 2016) was 32 years old at the time of his death.[14][15] He was born in St. Louis, Missouri.[16] He graduated from Saint Paul Central High School in 2001 and worked for the Saint Paul Public School District from 2002 until his death. Castile began as a nutrition services assistant at Chelsea Heights Elementary School and Arlington High School (now Washington Technology Magnet School). He was promoted to nutrition services supervisor at J. J. Hill Montessori Magnet School, in August 2014.[9][14] Prior to the shooting, Castile had been stopped by the police at least 49 times in 13 years for minor traffic and equipment violations, the majority of which were dismissed.[17][18][19][b]
    Jeronimo Yanez [ edit ] Jeronimo Yanez was the officer who shot Castile. The other officer involved in the traffic stop was Joseph Kauser,[21] who was described as Yanez's partner.[22] Both officers had been with the St. Anthony Police Department for four years at the time of the shooting,[22] and were longtime friends who had graduated together from the Minnesota State University, Mankato, police academy in 2010.[23]
    Yanez, of South St. Paul and of Hispanic descent, was 28 years old at the time of the shooting.[23][24]
    The St. Anthony Police Department had 23 officers at the time. Eight officers were funded through policing contracts with the cities of Lauderdale and Falcon Heights.[22] In a press briefing at the scene, St. Anthony's interim police chief Jon Mangseth said that the shooting was the first officer-involved shooting that the department had experienced in at least thirty years.[3][9]
    Incident [ edit ] Shoes and a gun on the ground outside Philando Castile's car as Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) investigators take photographs of the scene
    Castile was pulled over as part of a traffic stop[25] by Yanez and Kauser in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, a suburb of Saint Paul.[26][9][22] Castile and Reynolds were returning from shopping at a grocery store; earlier that evening, Castile had gone for a haircut, eaten dinner with his sister, and picked up his girlfriend from his apartment in St. Paul.[27]
    A St. Anthony police officer patrolling Larpenteur Avenue radioed to a nearby squad that he planned to pull over the car and check the IDs of the driver and passenger, saying, "The two occupants just look like people that were involved in a robbery. The driver looks more like one of our suspects, just because of the wide-set nose. I couldn't get a good look at the passenger."[28][29] At 9:04 p.m. CDT, the officer told a nearby officer that he would wait for him to make the stop.[28]
    The stop took place on Larpenteur Avenue at Fry Street,[3] just outside the Minnesota state fairgrounds,[30] at about 9:05 p.m. CDT.[31] Riding in a [28] white 1997 Oldsmobile Eighty Eight LS[25][32] with Castile were his girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, and her four-year-old daughter.[3][4] Castile was the driver, Reynolds was the front-seat passenger, and the child was in the back seat.[33] "According to investigators, Yanez approached the car from the driver's side, while Kauser approached it from the passenger side."[31]
    The police dashcam video[34] shows that 40 seconds elapsed between when Yanez first started talking to Castile through the car window and when Yanez began shooting at him. According to the dashcam, after Yanez asked for Castile's driver's license and proof of insurance, Castile gave him his proof of insurance card, which Yanez appeared to glance at and tuck in his outer pocket. Castile then calmly informed Yanez: "Sir, I have to tell you that I do have a firearm on me."[35] Quoting the Star Tribune description of the next 13 seconds of the video:
    Before Castile completed the sentence, Yanez interrupted and calmly replied, "OK," and placed his right hand on the holster of his own holstered weapon. Yanez said, "Okay, don't reach for it, then ... don't pull it out." Castile responded, "I'm not pulling it out," and Reynolds also said, "He's not pulling it out." Yanez repeated, raising his voice, "Don't pull it out!" as he quickly pulled his own gun with his right hand and reached inside the driver's window with his left hand. Reynolds screamed, "No!" Yanez removed his left arm from the car and fired seven shots in the direction of Castile in rapid succession. Reynolds yelled, "You just killed my boyfriend!" Castile moaned and said, "I wasn't reaching for it." Reynolds loudly said, "He wasn't reaching for it." Before she completed her sentence, Yanez again screamed, "Don't pull it out!" Reynolds responded, "He wasn't." Yanez yelled, "Don't move! Fuck!"[35]
    Of the seven shots fired by Yanez at point blank range, five hit Castile and two of those hit and pierced his heart.[6] Events immediately after the shooting were streamed live in a 10-minute video by Reynolds via Facebook.[33] The recording appears to begin seconds after Castile was shot, just after 9:00 p.m. CDT.[9] The video depicts Castile slumped over, moaning and moving slightly, with a bloodied left arm and side.[33] In the video, Reynolds is speaking with Yanez and explaining what happened. Reynolds stated on the video that Yanez "asked him for license and registration. He told him that it was in his wallet, but he had a pistol on him because he's licensed to carry." Castile did have a license to carry a gun.[36] Reynolds further narrated that the officer said, "Don't move" and as Castile was putting his hands back up, the officer shot him in the arm four or five times. Reynolds told the officer, "You shot four bullets into him, sir. He was just getting his license and registration, sir."[3][26] Reynolds also said "Please don't tell me he's dead", while Yanez exclaimed: "I told him not to reach for it! I told him to get his hand open!"[28]
    At one point in the video footage, an officer orders Reynolds to get on her knees and the sound of Reynolds being handcuffed can be heard. Reynolds' phone falls onto the ground but continues recording, and an officer periodically yells, "Fuck!"[37] Video from the squad car of Joseph Kauser (where Reynolds and her daughter were put after Reynolds was handcuffed), shows Reynolds' daughter telling her, "Mom, please stop cussing and screaming 'cause I don't want you to get shooted".[38] Reynolds was taken into custody, questioned at a police station, and released the following morning around 5:00 a.m.[39][40]
    According to police and emergency audio of the aftermath obtained by the Star Tribune, at 9:06 p.m., Kauser called in the shooting, reporting: "Shots fired. Larpenteur and Fry." The dispatcher answered: "Copy. You just heard it?" Yanez then screamed: "Code three!" Many officers then rushed to the scene. One officer reports, "One adult female being taken into custody. Driver at gunpoint. Juvenile female, child, is with [another officer]. We need a couple other squads to block off intersections." Another officer called in, "All officers are good. One suspect that needs medics."[28]
    The day following the shooting, Reynolds said that police had "treated me like a criminal ... like it was my fault."[25] She also said that officers had failed to check Castile for a pulse or to see if he was breathing for several minutes after the shooting, and instead comforted the officer who had fired the shots.[25] By that afternoon, her video had been viewed nearly 2.5 million times on Facebook.[41]
    Yanez statements [ edit ] In the dashcam video of the incident, Yanez can be heard being questioned by St. Anthony Police Officer Tressa Sunde within minutes of the shooting, and telling her:
    [Castile] was sitting in the car, seat belted. I told him, 'Can I see your license?' And then, he told me he had a firearm. I told him not to reach for it and (sigh) when he went down to grab, I told him not to reach for it (clears throat) and then he kept it right there, and I told him to take his hands off of it, and then he (sigh) he had his, his grip a lot wider than a wallet .... And I don't know where the gun was, he didn't tell me where the fucking gun was, and then it was just getting hinky, he gave, he was just staring ahead, and then I was getting fucking nervous, and then I told him, I know I fucking told him to get his fucking hand off his gun.[42]
    According to the official Minnesota Department of Public Safety's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) transcript of the interview of Yanez and his attorneys Tom Kelly and Robert Fowler, Yanez stated that his justification for the shooting was based on fear for his own life because he believed that Castile's behavior was abusive toward a young girl passenger (Reynolds' daughter) in the car.[43] Yanez said: "I thought, I was gonna die, and I thought if he's, if he has the, the guts and the audacity to smoke marijuana in front of the five-year-old girl and risk her lungs and risk her life by giving her secondhand smoke and the front seat passenger doing the same thing, then what, what care does he give about me?"[43] The victim's previous marijuana use later became a focus of the defense, with a mason jar containing a small amount having been found in the car.[44]
    According to the local publication City Pages' description of the BCA conversation, Yanez "could never state definitively ... that he saw a firearm that day". Yanez uses "various terms to suggest the presence of a firearm". Yanez states, "it appeared to me that he was wrapping something around his fingers and almost like if I were to put my hand around my gun. It was dark inside the vehicle ..." At another point "it seemed like he was pulling out a gun and the barrel just kept coming." "I know he had an object and it was dark. And he was pulling it out with his right hand." He added: "It was, to me, it just looked big and apparent that he's gonna shoot you, he's gonna kill you."[42]
    In his court testimony almost a year later, Yanez was more definitive, testifying "I was able to see the firearm in Mr. Castile's hand, and that's when I engaged him." The gun was found to be in Castile's pocket when paramedics were prepared to load his fatally wounded body into an ambulance.[42][45][46]
    Death and funeral [ edit ] The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's office ruled Castile's death a homicide and said that he had sustained multiple gunshot wounds.[33] The office reported that Castile died at 9:37 p.m. CDT in the emergency department of the Hennepin County Medical Center, about 20 minutes after being shot.[3][33] On July 14, a funeral service for Castile took place at the Cathedral of Saint Paul, attended by thousands of mourners.[47]
    [ edit ] Statements of attorneys for Yanez and Castile family [ edit ] The reasonableness of the initial traffic stop, and the facts of what occurred in the 103 seconds of the stop (between the end of the pre-stop police dispatcher radio and the beginning of Reynolds' recording) were "hotly disputed" almost immediately after the shooting occurred.[28] On July 9, Yanez's attorney, Thomas Kelly of Minneapolis, said his client "reacted to the presence of that gun and the display of that gun" and that the shooting "had nothing to do with race. This had everything to do with the presence of a gun."[48]
    In the video recorded shortly after the shooting, Reynolds said that the car was pulled over for a broken taillight.[3] Yanez's attorney Kelly stated following the shooting that his client stopped Castile in part because he resembled a suspect in an armed robbery that had taken place nearby four days earlier, and in part because of a broken taillight. A Castile family attorney, Albert Goins, questioned this account, said that if Yanez actually thought Castile was a robbery suspect, the police would have made a "felony traffic stop" (involving "bringing the suspect out at gunpoint while officers are in a position of cover and having them lie on the ground until they can identify who that individual is") rather than an ordinary traffic stop (in which officers stop the car and ask the driver to produce documents). Goins said, "Either [Castile] was a robbery suspect and [Yanez] didn't follow the procedures for a felony stop, or [Castile] was not a robbery suspect and [Yanez] shot a man because he stood at his window getting his information."[49]
    Kelly confirmed the authenticity of the pre-stop police audio, in which one officer reports that the driver resembled a recent robbery suspect due to his "wide-set nose." Goins said, "I can't imagine that it's reasonable suspicion to make a stop because somebody had a broad nose."[28] The particular robbery to which the officer referred was identified as a July 2 armed robbery at a local convenience store,[50] in which the two suspects were "described as black men with shoulder-length or longer dreadlocks" with no information about estimated height, weight or ages.[28] Yanez was one of the police officers who had responded to the robbery.[20] Subsequent investigations ruled out Castile as being one of the armed robbers.[51]
    Castile's mother Valerie Castile and her lawyer Glenda Hatchett called for the case to be referred to a special prosecutor and called for the U.S. Department of Justice to conduct a federal investigation.[27]
    Protests and civil unrest [ edit ] Diamond Reynolds speaking at a rally in memory of her boyfriend on the day after his death
    By 12:30 a.m. on July 7, about three hours after the shooting, protesters gathered at the scene, "peaceful but visibly angry".[3] More than 200 people were present.[52] After news of Castile's death spread, crowds of protestors gathered outside the Minnesota Governor's Residence in St. Paul, chanting Castile's name and demanding that then-Governor Mark Dayton make a statement.[9][52] That night, demonstrations in St. Paul continued, remaining "peaceful but forceful".[53]
    Nekima Levy-Pounds, president of the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP, said that her group would request a federal investigation. She also called for an independent body to investigate the shooting, expressing skepticism with the state agency that is leading the investigation of the incident, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, a division of the Department of Public Safety.[3][25] NAACP president Cornell William Brooks said, "I'm waiting to hear the human outcry from Second Amendment defenders over [this incident]..."[54] Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson said, "Philando Castile should be alive today".[9] On July 8, over 1,000 demonstrators shut down Interstate 880 in Oakland, California, for several hours to protest Castile's shooting death and that of Alton Sterling the day before.[55]
    After two days of peaceful protests and vigils, violence between protesters and police in St. Paul broke out on July 9 and 10. Some 102 people were arrested and 21 officers (15 police officers and six Minnesota State Patrol officers) had been injured, one of them seriously. A group threw rocks, bottles, and Molotov cocktails at police and police used pepper spray and tear gas to disperse the crowd.[24][56] The protesters caused Interstate 94 in between Minnesota State Highway 280 and downtown St. Paul to be closed. After they were dispersed from the highway, another group of protests took place at Dale and Grand Avenue.[56] The violence was condemned by President Obama, Governor Dayton, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, and Police Chief Todd Axtell, who called for calm.[24][56]
    After the shooting, a number of activists established an encampment outside of the Governor's Residence. On July 18, demonstrators cleared the encampment and moved off the road after police directed them to move, saying that they could continue to protest "as long as it was done on the sidewalk" and did not impede vehicle or pedestrian traffic. The interactions between police and demonstrators were peaceful, and no arrests were made.[57]
    On July 19, 21 protesters'--mostly members of the St. Paul and Minneapolis teachers' federations'--were arrested willingly at a protest in Minneapolis after blocking a street in Minneapolis and refusing orders to disperse. The teachers marched from the Minneapolis Convention Center (where an American Federation of Teachers convention was being held) to the Nicollet Mall area; they were cited for misdemeanor public nuisance and released.[58][59]
    Government officials [ edit ] Minnesota Governor
    Mark Dayton speaking outside his residence in Saint Paul
    Later in the morning of July 7, Governor Dayton appeared outside his residence and said:[3][25]
    My deepest condolences go out to the family and friends. On behalf of all decent-minded Minnesotans, we are shocked and horrified by what occurred last night. This kind of behavior is unacceptable. It is not the norm in Minnesota. I promise ... to see that this matter is brought to justice and all avenues are pursued and do a complete investigation. Justice will be served in Minnesota.
    Dayton said he had requested an independent U.S. Department of Justice investigation and had spoken to White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough about the matter.[9] Dayton also commented, "Would this have happened if those passengers would have been white? I don't think it would have."[60] He promised to "do everything in my power to help protect the integrity" of the ongoing parallel state investigation "to ensure a proper and just outcome for all involved."[61]
    U.S. Representative Betty McCollum, Democrat of Minnesota, whose district includes the place where Castile was shot, also called for a Justice Department investigation,[62] and U.S. Senator Al Franken, Democrat of Minnesota, also called for a federal investigation, saying in a statement: "I am horrified that we are forced to confront yet another death of a young African-American man at the hands of law enforcement. And I am heartbroken for Philando's family and loved ones, whose son, brother, boyfriend, and nephew was taken from them last night."[63] U.S. Representative Keith Ellison, Democrat of Minnesota, denounced the "systematic targeting of African Americans and a systematic lack of accountability."[9]
    Speaking shortly after the shootings of Castile and Alton Sterling, President Barack Obama did not comment on the specific incidents, but called on the U.S. to "do better" and said that controversial incidents arising from the police use of force were "not isolated incidents" but rather were "symptomatic of a broader set of racial disparities that exist in our criminal justice system". Obama expressed "extraordinary appreciation and respect for the vast majority of police officers" and noted the difficult nature of the job.[64] He stated, "When incidents like this occur, there's a big chunk of our citizenry that feels as if, because of the color of their skin, they are not being treated the same, and that hurts, and that should trouble all of us. This is not just a black issue, not just a Hispanic issue. This is an American issue that we all should care about."[33] Obama telephoned Castile's mother to offer his condolences.[27]
    International response [ edit ] Following the shooting of Castile, Sterling, and police officers in Dallas, the Bahamian government, a Caribbean island nation with an over 90% citizenry of Afro-Bahamian origin, issued a travel advisory to its citizens in the United States, stating "[i]n particular young [Bahamian] males are asked to exercise extreme caution in affected cities in their interactions with the police. Do not be confrontational and cooperate".[65][66][67] Travel advisories were also issued by the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain,[68][69] warning for caution in the United States due to ongoing violence and the U.S. "gun culture", and to avoid crowded areas, protests, and demonstrations as "civil disorder can result".[65]
    National Rifle Association vs. The Second Amendment Foundation [ edit ] The NRA, which lobbies for the rights of gun owners, issued a statement two days[70] after the shooting saying: "The reports from Minnesota are troubling and must be thoroughly investigated. In the meantime, it is important for the NRA not to comment while the investigation is ongoing."[71][72] By contrast, the NRA has issued a statement within hours of the 2016 shooting of Dallas police officers; many saw this as a double standard.[70] On July 9, 2017, responding to allegations of racism, NRA spokesperson Dana Loesch said the death of Castile is "absolutely awful".[73] On August 10, 2017, Loesch explained NRA's reluctance to defend Castile by arguing he was not legally carrying his handgun at the time of the shooting due to his marijuana possession.[74] She added that his "Permit should've been out & hands not moving", and that the law enforcement officer should have asked Castile where his firearm was kept.[75] Many NRA members believed that the NRA did not do enough to defend Castile's right to own a gun.[70]
    The Second Amendment Foundation in contrast immediately issued a strong statement for an independent investigation after the shooting, with founder Alan Gottlieb stating, "Exercising our right to bear arms should not translate to a death sentence over something so trivial as a traffic stop for a broken tail light, and we are going to watch this case with a magnifying glass." [76]
    Investigation and prosecution [ edit ] Official investigation [ edit ] The day after the fatal shooting, the St. Anthony Police Department identified the officer who fired the fatal shots as Yanez. He and his partner Kauser were placed on paid administrative leave.[77]
    The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) was the lead agency in charge of the investigation.[25] Two days following the shooting, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi called for a "prompt and thorough" investigation into the shooting.[77] He said that he had not determined whether he would use a grand jury, but stated that if either a grand jury or prosecutors in his office determined that charges were appropriate, he would "prosecute this case to the fullest extent of the law."[78]
    The BCA said that squad-car video and "several" other videos had been collected as evidence. St. Anthony police do not wear body cameras.[79] On September 28, 2016, the BCA announced that it had completed its investigation and turned over its findings to Ramsey County Attorney John Choi. Prosecutors in the Ramsey County Attorney's Office would decide whether to file charges in the shooting or bring the case to a grand jury.[80]
    Charges and prosecution [ edit ] Choi reviewed the evidence with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Attorney's office,[81] a retired deputy chief of police in Irvine, California,[82] and a former federal prosecutor.[83] Seven weeks after receiving the BCA report, Choi announced that Yanez was being charged with second degree manslaughter and two counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm. Choi stated:
    To justify the use of deadly force, it is not enough, however, for the police officer to merely express a subjective fear of death or great bodily harm. Unreasonable fear cannot justify the use of deadly force. The use of deadly force must be objectively reasonable and necessary, given the totality of the circumstances. Based upon our thorough and exhaustive review of the facts of this case, it is my conclusion that the use of deadly force by Officer Yanez was not justified, and that sufficient facts exist to prove that to be true. Accordingly, we filed a criminal complaint this morning in Ramsey County.[84]
    In his press conference announcing his decision to prosecute Yanez, Choi noted facts not consistent with a justified fear of Castile, namely that Yanez's partner, Officer Kauser, who was standing at the car's passenger window during the shooting, "did not touch or remove his gun from its holster", and that in his answers to questioning by Saint Anthony Police Officer Tressa Sunde immediately after the shooting, Yanez "stated he did not know where [Castile's] gun was".[83] Choi also noted that:
    "Philando Castile was not resisting or fleeing.""There was absolutely no criminal intent exhibited by him throughout this encounter.""He was respectful and compliant based upon the instructions and orders he was given.""He volunteered in good faith that he had a firearm '' beyond what the law requires.""He emphatically stated that he wasn't pulling it out.""His movement was restricted by his own seat belt.""He was accompanied, in his vehicle, by a woman and a young child.""Philando Castile did not exhibit any intent, nor did he have any reason, to shoot Officer Yanez.""In fact, his dying words were in protest that he wasn't reaching for his gun."[83]According to author and former FBI agent Larry Brubaker, who has written two books on officer-involved shootings, "this is the first time an officer has been charged for a fatal shooting in Minnesota in more than 200 cases that spanned over three decades".[85]
    Trial and verdict [ edit ] Philando's mother, Valerie Castile, speaking at a press conference shortly after the verdict was announced
    The trial of Yanez began May 30, 2017, under Judge William H. Leary III.[86] Yanez would have faced up to 10 years under Minnesota law if he had been convicted.
    After five days and more than 25 hours of deliberation, the 12-member jury decided that the state had not met its burden for a conviction. The vote was initially 10''2 in favor of acquitting Yanez; after further deliberation the two remaining jurors were also swayed to acquit.[87] The jury consisted of seven men and five women. Two jurors were black.[87] Following the acquittal, a jury member told the press that the specific wording of the law regarding culpable negligence was the main factor among many leading to the verdict.[88] One juror who later spoke anonymously said:
    What we were looking at was some pretty obscure things to a lot of people, like culpable negligence. You think you might know what it means: It's negligent, but maybe pretty bad negligence. Well, it's gross negligence with an element of recklessness ... We had the law in front of us so we could break it down.
    It just came down to us not being able to see what was going on in the car. Some of us were saying that there was some recklessness there, but that didn't stick because we didn't know what escalated the situation: was he really seeing a gun? We felt [Yanez] was an honest guy ... and in the end, we had to go on his word, and that's what it came down to.[89]
    Aftermath of verdict [ edit ] Memorial at the shooting site in July 2016
    The day the verdict was announced, the city of St. Anthony announced that "the public will be best served if Officer Yanez is no longer a police officer in our city", and that he would not be returning to the police department from leave after the trial.[8] As revealed by the Associated Press a few weeks later, Yanez received $48,500 as part of his separation agreement with the city, in addition to payment for unused compensatory time.[90]
    Some 2,000 protesters marched in the streets, eventually blocking Interstate 94, where 18 people were arrested, including at least one reporter.[91][92][93]
    Members of the Castile family, who had worked closely with authorities throughout the trial, expressed shock and outrage at the verdict, and a loss of faith in the system. Although they had earlier discussed a federal civil rights lawsuit, on June 26, 2017, the family released a joint statement with the city of St. Anthony announcing a settlement worth $2.995 million.[1]
    On June 20, 2017, dashcam footage seen by investigators and members of the courtroom during the trial was released to public.[94] On June 21, 2017, Ramsey County released additional evidence, including footage taken inside Yanez's squad car which shows Diamond Reynolds' daughter comforting her mother after the shooting.[95]
    In mid-2017, the Saint Anthony city council adjusted the city's police contract so that financial liability falls to its served communities, rather than Saint Anthony itself. With this increase in cost, Falcon Heights voted to end the contract and find a new police provider.[96] The Ramsey County Sheriff was to police Falcon Heights in 2018.[97] The 2017 Falcon Heights city council election centered on how the city should be policed.[98]
    Legacy [ edit ] In honor of Castile, the Philando Castile Memorial Scholarship has been started at St. Paul Central High School. The inaugural $5,000 award was given to Marques Watson in 2017.[99]
    Castile, a school cafeteria worker, frequently paid for lunches for students who owed money or could not afford to pay. Inspired by this example, the Philando Castile Relief Foundation was created. The charity focuses on paying school lunch debts and addressing gun violence in the Minneapolis area. The charity's money comes in part from a civil settlement between Castile's family and the city of St. Anthony. In April, 2019 the foundation gave $8,000 to wipe out the accumulated lunch debt of all seniors at Robbinsdale Cooper High School in New Hope, Minn. The debt was threatening the ability of students to graduate. The foundation earlier gave $10,000 for school lunches to the J.J. Hill Montessori Magnet School where Philando Castile worked.[100][101][102] Valerie Castile spoke at U.S. House Representative Ilhan Omar's press conference on a bill ending the shaming of students who pay meal debt.[103]
    In 2017 New Zealand-born artist Luke Willis Thompson filmed Reynolds for an artwork titled Autoportrait. He intended the work as a 'sister-image' to her filmed footage.[104] The work was first presented at Chisenhale Gallery in London in 2017.[105]
    See also [ edit ] List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United StatesWeapons effectShooting of Justine DamondShooting of Walter ScottShooting of Michael BrownShooting of Tamir RiceKilling of Eric GarnerMurder of Laquan McDonaldDeath of George FloydKilling of Rayshard BrooksBlack Lives MatterNotes [ edit ] ^ Pronounced fi- LAHN -doh ka- STEEL . ^ After a 2011 traffic stop when Castile was arrested for driving with a revoked license, he had in fact been transported to jail by Officer Yanez,[20] although it is unclear whether the two men recognized each other at the time of the fatal shooting. References [ edit ] ^ a b Smith, Mitch (June 26, 2017). "Philando Castile Family Reaches $3 Million Settlement". The New York Times . Retrieved June 29, 2017 . ^ Berman, Mark (November 29, 2017). "Diamond Reynolds agrees to $800,000 settlement stemming from Philando Castile's death". Washington Post . Retrieved February 23, 2018 . ^ a b c d e f g h i j Pheifer, Pat; Peck, Claude (July 7, 2016). "Aftermath of fatal Falcon Heights officer-involved shooting captured on video". Star Tribune . Retrieved July 7, 2016 . ^ a b Chappell, Bill (July 7, 2016). "Police Stop Ends in Black Man's Death; Aftermath Is Live-Streamed on Facebook". NPR . Retrieved July 7, 2016 . ^ "Traffic Stop Transcript" (PDF) . Ramsey County. ^ a b "The Latest: Expert: No reason to think motorist a threat". Star Tribune. Associated Press. June 7, 2017. Archived from the original on June 7, 2017 . Retrieved June 21, 2017 . ^ "Press Release Report" (PDF) (Press release). Hennepin County Medical Examiner. June 7, 2016 . Retrieved June 9, 2016 . ^ a b Berman, Mark (June 17, 2017). "Minn. officer acquitted in shooting of Philando Castile during traffic stop, dismissed from police force". Washington Post . Retrieved June 21, 2017 . ^ a b c d e f g h i Miller, Michael E.; Lowery, Wesley; Bever, Lindsey (June 7, 2016). "Minn. cop fatally shoots black man during traffic stop, aftermath broadcast on Facebook". Washington Post . Retrieved July 7, 2016 . ^ McCarthy, Ciara (November 16, 2016). "Philando Castile: police officer charged with manslaughter over shooting death". The Guardian . Retrieved November 16, 2016 . ^ Smith, Mitch (June 16, 2017). "Minnesota Officer Acquitted in Killing of Philando Castile". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved June 16, 2017 . ^ Etehad, Melissa (June 16, 2017). "Minnesota police officer found not guilty in shooting death of Philando Castile". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035 . Retrieved June 16, 2017 . ^ Joles, David (June 16, 2017). "City of St. Anthony fires officer Jeronimo Yanez". Star Tribune. Star Tribune Media . Retrieved June 16, 2017 . ^ a b "What we know about Philando Castile". Star Tribune. July 7, 2016 . Retrieved July 7, 2016 . ^ Oliveira, Jill (July 7, 2016). "Update: BCA Investigating Officer Involved Shooting in Falcon Heights" (Press release). Minnesota Department of Public Safety . Retrieved July 11, 2016 . ^ "Philando Castile was born in St. Louis". KMOV. Associated Press. July 7, 2016 . Retrieved July 13, 2016 . ^ LaFraniere, Sharon; Smith, Mitch (July 16, 2016). "Philando Castile Was Pulled Over 49 Times in 13 Years, Often for Minor Infractions". The New York Times . Retrieved June 3, 2020 . ^ McShane, Larry (July 9, 2016). "Philando Castile stopped by cops 52 times in past 14 years". New York Daily News . Retrieved July 24, 2016 . ^ "Philando Castile Had Been Stopped 52 Times By Police". WCCO 4 News. July 9, 2016 . Retrieved July 24, 2016 . ^ a b "Officer Who Killed Philando Castile Once Took Him To Jail". CBS Minnesota. July 21, 2016. ^ Gottfried, Mara H.; Horner, Sarah (July 7, 2016). "BCA identifies officers involved in Philando Castile shooting". St. Paul Pioneer Press . Retrieved July 8, 2016 . ^ a b c d Chanen, David (July 7, 2016). "Officers involved in Falcon Heights shooting are identified". Star Tribune . Retrieved July 8, 2016 . ^ a b Stahl, Brandon; Chanen, David (July 9, 2016). "St. Anthony officers who made traffic stop are longtime friends, former classmates". Star Tribune . Retrieved July 13, 2016 . ^ a b c Belkin, Douglas; Strum, Beckie (July 10, 2016). "Protests Turn Violent in St. Paul; More Than 100 Arrested". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved July 10, 2016 . ^ a b c d e f g Star Tribune staff writers (July 7, 2016). "Dayton 'shocked and horrified' by police shooting in Falcon Heights, caught on video". Star Tribune . Retrieved July 7, 2016 . ^ a b "Philando Castile death: Aftermath of police shooting streamed live". BBC News. July 7, 2016 . Retrieved July 7, 2016 . ^ a b c Smith, Mitch (July 12, 2016). "Philando Castile's Last Night: Tacos and Laughs, Then a Drive". The New York Times . Retrieved July 13, 2016 . ^ a b c d e f g h Mannix, Andy (July 12, 2016). "Police audio: Officer stopped Philando Castile on robbery suspicion: Police recording doesn't cover shooting itself". Star Tribune . Retrieved July 13, 2016 . ^ Jacobo, Julia; Francis, Enjoli (July 11, 2016). "Cops May Have Thought Philando Castile Was a Robbery Suspect, Noting 'Wide-Set Nose,' Dispatch Audio Indicates". ABC News . Retrieved July 13, 2016 . ^ MPR News staff writers (July 7, 2016). "Officer shoots, kills man at Falcon Heights traffic stop". Minnesota Public Radio . Retrieved July 8, 2016 . ^ a b Johnson, Alex (July 7, 2016). "Minnesota Officers in Fatal Shooting of Philando Castile Identified". NBC News . Retrieved July 29, 2016 . ^ Washington, Robin (July 11, 2016). "Is Philando Castile the Ultimate Casualty of Driving While Black?". The Marshall Project . Retrieved July 11, 2016 . ^ a b c d e f Furber, Matt; P(C)rez-Pe±a, Richard (July 7, 2016). "After Philando Castile's Killing, Obama Calls Police Shootings 'an American Issue ' ". The New York Times . Retrieved July 7, 2016 . ^ Xiong, Chao; Mannix, Andy (June 21, 2017). "Case file in Philando Castile shooting released, dashcam video shows shooting". Star Tribune . Retrieved June 21, 2017 . ^ a b "Breaking down the dashcam video: The Philando Castile shooting timeline". Star Tribune. June 21, 2017 . Retrieved June 21, 2017 . ^ Williams, Brandt (July 13, 2016). "Police shooting victim Castile was issued permit to carry gun in 2015". Minnesota Public Radio. ^ Ockerman, Emma (July 7, 2016). "Read the Transcript of the Video Taken During Philando Castile Shooting". Time . Retrieved July 8, 2016 . ^ Xiong, Chao (June 22, 2017). "Video: 'I don't want you to get shooted,' daughter pleads to mother moments after Castile shooting". Star Tribune . Retrieved June 22, 2017 . ^ Bosman, Julie (July 7, 2016). "After Poised Live-Streaming, Tears and Fury Find Diamond Reynolds". The New York Times . Retrieved July 8, 2016 . ^ Patterson, Brandon Ellington (July 7, 2016). "President Obama Speaks Out About the Police Shooting Deaths of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling". Mother Jones . Retrieved July 8, 2016 . ^ Peterson, Andrea (July 7, 2016). "Why the Philando Castile police-shooting video disappeared from Facebook '-- then came back". The Washington Post . Retrieved July 8, 2016 . ^ a b c Du, Susan (June 20, 2017). "Interviews contradict Jeronimo Yanez trial testimony he saw Philando Castile's gun | City Pages". City Pages . Retrieved June 22, 2017 . ^ a b "Minnesota Department of Public Safety's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension transcript of the interview of Yanez and his attorneys Tom Kelly and Robert Fowler" (PDF) . July 7, 2016. ^ "BCA releases dashcam video, other evidence from Yanez probe: Day 7: Prosecution's police expert rips Yanez for deadly force in confronting Castile". MPR News. June 7, 2017 . Retrieved July 2, 2017 . ^ "The Latest: Responding officer found gun in Castile's pocket". Star Tribune. Associated Press. June 6, 2017 . Retrieved June 22, 2017 . ^ Berman, Mark (June 21, 2017). "What the police officer who shot Philando Castile said about the shooting". Washington Post . Retrieved June 24, 2017 . ^ Louwagie, Pam; Van Berkel, Jessie (July 15, 2016). "Thousands pay tribute to Castile: 'His death is not in vain ' ". Star Tribune . Retrieved July 15, 2016 . ^ Gurman, Sadie; Foreman, Skip (July 9, 2016). "Cop's lawyer blames driver's gun, not his race". Associated Press . Retrieved July 10, 2016 . ^ Stahl, Brandon (July 11, 2016). "Lawyer: Castile pulled over because he matched robbery suspect". Star Tribune . Retrieved July 11, 2016 . ^ Song, Kayla (May 29, 2017). "Philando Castile case: Officer found not guilty. A timeline". Twin Cities. ^ Pelissero, Sara (November 16, 2016). "Complaint details charges against St. Anthony officer". KARE 11. ^ a b KARE 11 staff (July 7, 2016). "Man shot by St. Anthony officer dies". KARE . Retrieved July 7, 2016 . ^ Smith, Mitch; Furber, Matt (July 8, 2016). "Details Emerge of Philando Castile Shooting, and Minnesota Protests Carry Into Morning". New York Times . Retrieved July 8, 2016 . ^ Eversley, Melanie (July 7, 2016). "Minn. police shooting reignites debate over Second Amendment, race". USA Today. Gannett . Retrieved July 9, 2016 . ^ Grad, Shelby; Hamilton, Matt (July 8, 2016). "Oakland freeway reopens after protesters shouting 'No racist police' shut it down for hours". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved July 8, 2016 . ^ a b c Walsh, Paul (July 10, 2016). "Police chief 'disgusted' by violence at I-94 protest; 21 officers hurt". Star Tribune . Retrieved July 10, 2016 . ^ Walsh, Paul (July 18, 2016). "Police order protesters off Summit in front of governor's residence; traffic moving again". Star Tribune . Retrieved July 18, 2016 . ^ Sawyer, Liz (July 20, 2016). "Arrests follow in Minneapolis as teachers, activists protest Philando Castile's death". Star Tribune . Retrieved July 20, 2016 . ^ Delage, Jaime (July 19, 2016). "Teachers arrested in Minneapolis Philando Castile protest". Twin Cities Pioneer Press . Retrieved July 19, 2016 . ^ Chan, Melissa (July 7, 2016). "Minnesota Governor Doesn't Think Philando Castile Would Have Been Killed If He Were White". Time . Retrieved July 8, 2016 . The governor said he was 'forced to confront' the fact that 'this kind of racism exists,' before suggesting that a white passenger would have been treated differently by police. ^ "Governor: 'Justice will be served in Minnesota' in shooting of Philando Castile". Fox 9 News. KMSP. July 7, 2016 . Retrieved July 10, 2016 . ^ Melo, Frederick; Gottfried, Mara H. (July 6, 2016). "Woman live-streams aftermath of boyfriend's fatal shooting by police in Falcon Heights". St. Paul Pioneer Press . Retrieved July 7, 2016 . ^ Lopez, Ricardo (July 7, 2016). "Dayton says race likely a factor in fatal shooting of Philando Castile". Star Tribune . Retrieved July 10, 2016 . ^ Wang, Christine (July 7, 2016). "Obama: All Americans should be troubled by recent police shootings". CNN . Retrieved July 7, 2016 . ^ a b O'Neill, Marnie (July 11, 2016). "Several countries issue travel alerts for United States amid growing racial tensions". News.com.au . Retrieved July 11, 2016 . ^ Davis, Aaron C. (July 9, 2016). "The Bahamas' new U.S. travel advisory: Use 'extreme caution' around police". Washington Post . Retrieved July 9, 2016 . ^ "Bahamas Issues Travel Advisory to the US Following Shootings". Associated Press. July 9, 2016 . Retrieved July 9, 2016 . ^ "UAE, Bahrain warn citizens heading to US amid protests". Al Jazeera. July 10, 2016 . Retrieved July 10, 2016 . ^ Lange, Jason; Hirsch, Lauren (July 10, 2016). "Three countries urge caution traveling to U.S. amid protests, violence". Reuters. Reuters . Retrieved July 10, 2016 . ^ a b c "The NRA's internal split over Philando Castile". Washington Post. ^ Selk, Avi (June 21, 2017). "Gun owners are outraged by the Philando Castile case. The NRA is silent". Washington Post . Retrieved June 24, 2017 . ^ Cobb, Jelani (June 22, 2017). "Old Questions But No New Answers in the Philando Castile Verdict". The New Yorker . Retrieved June 24, 2017 . ^ Vagianos, Alanna (July 10, 2017). "NRA Spokeswoman Was Forced To Discuss Philando Castile During Heated Debate". Huffington Post . Retrieved October 5, 2017 . ^ "Dana Loesch explains why the NRA didn't defend Philando Castile". Washington Examiner. ^ Wing, Nick (August 11, 2017). "NRA Spokeswoman Blames Philando Castile For Getting Killed". Huffington Post . Retrieved October 5, 2017 . ^ "SAF, CCRKBA call for independent probe if fatak shooting of legally armed citizen" (Press release). ^ a b Van Berkel, Jessie (July 8, 2016). "Ramsey County Attorney says he needs time to determine whether to use grand jury in Castile shooting". Star Tribune . Retrieved July 8, 2016 . ^ Aeikens, Dave (July 8, 2016). "Ramsey Co. Attorney: Decision on Grand Jury in Castile Shooting Comes Later". KTSP . Retrieved July 10, 2016 . ^ Alexander, Bryan (July 9, 2016). "Lawyer: Officer who shot Philando Castile reacted to gun, not race". USA Today . Retrieved July 10, 2016 . ^ Yuen, Laura; Feshir, Riham (September 28, 2016). "Philando Castile police shooting probe complete, sent to prosecutors". Minnesota Public Radio. ^ Vezner, Tad, Charges in Philando Castile shooting death stun experts, activist, Pioneer Press, November 17, 2016. ^ Melo, Frederick, How hard is a guilty verdict in Philando Castile shooting? We ask experts, Pioneer Press, November 17, 2016. ^ a b c Choi, John J., Remarks as prepared for delivery regarding the hiring of a Special Prosecutor in the Philando Castile case, Office of the Ramsey County Attorney, July 29, 2016. ^ Olson, Michael, The latest: The shooting death of Philando Castile Minnesota Public Radio, November 16, 2016. ^ Collins, Jon, Officer charged in Castile shooting, Minnesota Public Radio, November 16, 2016. ^ Yanez trial begins at a time when charges against officers are rare, Minnesota Public Radio, May 30, 2017. ^ a b "Two holdouts on Yanez jury changed minds on Friday, juror says". ^ "74 Seconds: The trial of officer Jeronimo Yanez". ^ Weber, Tom (June 23, 2017). "Yanez juror: 'Nobody was OK with it ' ". MPR News. ^ "Latest: Officer who killed Castile gets $48,500 in agreement". AP NEWS. July 11, 2017 . Retrieved June 6, 2020 . ^ "18 arrests made in I-94 protest; highway reopens after 3 hours following Yanez acquittal". Pioneer Press. Twin Cities. June 16, 2017. ^ Mary Lynn Smith, Miguel Otrola and Liz Sawyer (June 17, 2017). "After rally by Philando Castile supporters in St. Paul, marchers hit I-94 and arrests follow". Star Tribune. ^ Goldstein, Jessica (June 17, 2017). "Thousands take to the streets to protest Philando Castile shooting verdict". ThinkProgress . Retrieved June 29, 2017 . ^ Garcia, Michelle (June 20, 2017). "The dash-cam footage the jury saw before clearing the cop who shot Philando Castile was released". Vox. ^ "More Evidence Released in Yanez Case: 'I Don't Want You to Get Shooted ' ". KSTP. St. Paul, Minnesota. June 21, 2017 . Retrieved June 22, 2017 . ^ Woltman, Nick (April 6, 2017). "Falcon Heights moves to end St. Anthony policing contract". Twin Cities . Retrieved November 8, 2017 . ^ "Falcon Heights has new contract for police services". Minnesota Public Radio. Associated Press . Retrieved November 8, 2017 . ^ "Falcon Heights City Council shake-up, plus other east metro municipal races". Twin Cities. Saint Paul Pioneer Press. November 8, 2017 . Retrieved November 8, 2017 . ^ Cathy Wurzer (July 6, 2017). "Classmates of Philando Castile award first scholarship in his honor". MPR News . Retrieved July 11, 2017 . ^ Hassanzadeh, Erin (April 25, 2019). "Philando Castile's Mom Presents $8,000 Donation To Help Clear Student Lunch Debts". WCCO TV . Retrieved May 8, 2019 . ^ Van Sant, Shannon (May 7, 2019). "Philando Castile's Mother Wipes Out School Lunch Debt, Continuing Son's Legacy". NPR News . Retrieved May 8, 2019 . ^ Stevens, Heidi (May 2, 2019). "Philando Castile's mother just wiped out hundreds of students' lunch debt". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved May 8, 2019 . ^ Thomas, Elizabeth (June 19, 2019). "Rep. Ilhan Omar announces bill to end student lunch debt shaming". ABC News . Retrieved June 25, 2019 . ^ Judah, Hettie (June 26, 2017). "Diamond Reynolds: the woman who streamed a police shooting becomes a Renaissance Madonna". The Guardian . Retrieved February 25, 2018 . ^ "Luke Willis Thompson". chisenhale.org.uk. Chisenhale Gallery . Retrieved February 25, 2018 . External links [ edit ] Complaint [ edit ] Copy of criminal complaint against Jeronimo Yanez from the website of the Ramsey County AttorneyFile-stamped copy of criminal complaint against Jeronimo Yanez from the website of the St. Paul Pioneer Press Diamond Reynolds' video [ edit ] NPR article containing full embedded Facebook video of immediate aftermath of shootingTranscript of the full video '' provided by Minnesota Public RadioDashcam Video [ edit ] Squad dashcam video '' Yanez caseOther links [ edit ] President Obama on the fatal shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile '' video provided by the White HouseNews and Updates from the office of the Ramsey County AttorneyCentral Honors Philando website, with information about the Philando Castile Memorial Scholarship
  Colion Noir - Wikipedia
    Link to Article
    Archived Version
    Sat, 04 Jul 2020 21:45
    American gun rights activist
    Collins Iyare Idehen Jr.[3] (born 1983), better known as Colion Noir, is an American gun rights activist, lawyer, and host of the web series NOIR. He has over 121 million views[4] and over 1,000,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel as of September 2019.[5]
    In 2013, the National Rifle Association (NRA) recruited him to appear in NRA News videos in subsequent months.[4] Later that year, he appeared at its convention in Houston.[2][6] Since then, he has become the NRA's "most prominent black commentator," as The Guardian described him in 2017.[7] As of July 2019, Noir is no longer associated with the NRA since they changed to a different advertising agency.[8]
    Early life [ edit ] Noir was born Collins Iyare Idehen Jr. An only child, his parents were an executive chef and a registered nurse, both of whom immigrated to the United States from Nigeria.[3] He spent his formative years in Houston, Texas.[2]
    Education [ edit ] Noir graduated from high school in Houston. He went on to earn a political science degree from the University of Houston and a J.D. degree from the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University, also in Houston.[2] He first became interested in firearms while a student at the Thurgood Marshall School of Law.[7]
    Business [ edit ] Noir founded a website which blogs about second amendment issues, and sells merchandise.[9]
    Politics [ edit ] [ edit ] In 2018, Noir said, of teenagers set to speak at a Capitol Mall demonstration against gun violence after the killings of 17 students and staff at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, that:
    I wish a hero like Blaine Gaskill had been at Marjory Douglas High School last month because your classmates would still be alive and no one would know your names, because the media would have completely and utterly ignored your story, the way they ignored his.[10]
    References [ edit ] ^ Colion Noir (April 9, 2020). Why I Fell In Love w/ This Rifle After Only 35 Rounds. YouTube. ^ a b c d Hennessy-Fiske, Molly (23 July 2013). "NRA's black commentator becomes Web sensation". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 19 March 2016 . ^ a b Grove, Lloyd (2018-03-29). "For NRA TV'S Colion Noir, Happiness Is a Warm Gun". The Daily Beast . Retrieved 2018-03-30 . ^ a b Fox, Lauren (4 March 2013). "NRA Recruits YouTube Gun Enthusiast for Minority Ad Campaign". US News & World Report . Retrieved 19 March 2016 . ^ Weiss, Joanna (25 June 2015). "The gun owners' argument". Boston Globe . Retrieved 19 March 2016 . ^ Fuller, Jaime (15 May 2014). "Which NRA member are you?". Washington Post . Retrieved 19 March 2016 . ^ a b Beckett, Lois (2017-06-20). "Prominent black NRA defender criticizes ruling in Philando Castile case". The Guardian . Retrieved 2018-03-30 . ^ "Colion Noir Speaks Out On His Status With NRATV". ^ Colion Noir , retrieved November 8, 2019 ^ Wootson Jr., Cleve R. (24 March 2018). "NRA host taunts Parkland teens: 'No one would know your names' if classmates were still alive". The Washington Post . Retrieved 26 March 2018 . External links [ edit ] YouTube ChannelMain Website
  How It Started - NAAGA
    Link to Article
    Archived Version
    Sat, 04 Jul 2020 21:33
    The founder and President of the National African American Gun Association is Philip Smith, a graduate of the University of California at Davis. He is an African-American Gun enthusiast and community organizer. He founded and started NAAGA with the primary goal to expose, educate, and motivate as many African American men and women to go out and purchase a firearm for self defense and to take training on proper gun use. NAAGA was officially started and launched on February 28, 2015, in honor of Black History Month.
  Saturday night special - Wikipedia
    Link to Article
    Archived Version
    Sat, 04 Jul 2020 21:01
    The
    R¶hm RG-14 is commonly considered a Saturday night special.
    Saturday night special is a colloquial term in the United States and Canada for inexpensive, compact, small-caliber handguns of perceived low quality.[1] Some states define these junk guns by means of composition or material strength. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, they were commonly referred to as suicide specials.[2]
    Legal definition [ edit ] A Saturday night special is an inexpensive gun of perceived lesser quality due to poor workmanship or use of inexpensive metals such as zamac[3] or, for reasons relating to gun politics.[2] Although the term implies such a gun is for use in crime, studies show that criminals prefer high-quality guns, in the largest caliber they can easily conceal.[4]
    The legal definition of a "junk gun" usually specifies the materials used in its manufacture, targeting zinc castings, low melting points (usually 800 degrees Fahrenheit/427 °C), powder metallurgy, and other low-cost manufacturing techniques. Nearly all guns made this way are chambered for low-pressure cartridges, such as .22 Long Rifle, .25 ACP, and .32 ACP, which allows these techniques to provide sufficient strength and desirable weight while still keeping a low cost. The low-strength materials and cheap construction result in poor durability and marginal accuracy at longer ranges, but as most of these guns are designed for use in self-defense, accuracy and durability are not primary design goals.
    Origin of the term [ edit ] The
    MP-25 was made by
    Raven Arms, which has been referred to as the first of the "Ring of Fire" companies, those known for producing inexpensive handguns.
    The earliest known use of the term "Saturday night special" in print is in the August 17, 1968 issue of The New York Times. In a front-page article titled Handgun Imports Held Up by U.S, author Fred Graham wrote, "... cheap, small-caliber 'Saturday night specials' that are a favorite of holdup men..."[5]
    The term "Saturday night special" came into wider use with the passing of the Gun Control Act of 1968 because the act banned the importation and manufacture of many inexpensive firearms, including a large number of revolvers made by R¶hm Gesellschaft. With importation banned, R¶hm opened a factory in Miami, Florida, and a number of companies in the United States began production of inexpensive handguns, including Raven Arms, Jennings Firearms (later Bryco Arms, now Jimenez Arms), Phoenix Arms, Lorcin Engineering Company, Davis Industries, and Sundance Industries, which collectively came to be known as the "Ring of Fire companies".[6]
    Gun ownership advocates describe the term as racist in origin[7] arguing that many of the guns banned were typically purchased and owned by low-income black people.[2][8] In his book Restricting Handguns: The Liberal Skeptics Speak Out, gun rights advocate Don Kates found racial overtones in the focus on the Saturday night special.[9]
    Issues [ edit ] Criminal use statistics [ edit ] While Saturday night specials are commonly perceived as inexpensive, and therefore disposable after the commission of a crime, criminal behavior does not always conform to this expectation. A 1985 study of 1,800 incarcerated felons showed that criminals at the time preferred revolvers and other non-semi-automatic firearms over semi-automatic firearms.[10] A change in preferences towards semi-automatic pistols occurred in the early 1990s, coinciding with the arrival of crack cocaine and rise of violent youth gangs.[11]
    Nonetheless, three of the top ten types of guns involved in crime (as represented by police trace requests[4]) in the US are widely considered to be Saturday night specials; as reported by the ATF in 1993, these included the Raven Arms .25 caliber, Davis P-380 .380 caliber, and Lorcin L 380 .380 caliber.[12] However, the same study showed the most common firearm used in homicides was a large caliber revolver, and no revolvers of any kind appear on the top ten list of traced firearms.[4]
    Availability [ edit ] In 2003, the NAACP filed suit against 45 gun manufacturers for creating what it called a "public nuisance" through the "negligent marketing" of handguns, which included models commonly described as Saturday night specials. The suit alleged that handgun manufacturers and distributors were guilty of marketing guns in a way that encouraged violence in black and Hispanic neighborhoods.[13] The suit was dismissed by US District Judge Jack B. Weinstein, who ruled that members of the NAACP were not "uniquely harmed" by illegal use of firearms and therefore had no standing to sue.[14]
    Proponents of gun ownership argue the elimination of inexpensive firearms limits constitutionally protected gun rights for those of lesser means. Roy Innis, former President of Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and a member of the National Rifle Association's governing board,[15][16] said "to make inexpensive guns impossible to get is to say that you're putting a money test on getting a gun. It's racism in its worst form." CORE filed as an amicus curiae in a 1985 suit challenging Maryland's Saturday night special/low-caliber handgun ban.[17]
    Peter Rossi and James D. Wright authored a study for the National Institute of Justice which suggested the ban on Saturday night specials was ineffective or counterproductive.[18] A Cato Institute Policy analysis by Dave Kopel went further: "The people most likely to be deterred from acquiring a handgun by exceptionally high prices or by the nonavailability of certain kinds of handguns are not felons intent on arming themselves for criminal purposes, who are more likely to use stolen weapons, but rather poor people who have decided they need a gun to protect themselves against the felons but who find that the cheapest gun in the market costs more than they can afford to pay."[17]
    Regulation [ edit ] United States [ edit ] Colt Navy (foreground) and
    Colt Army (background). 19th century laws restricting handguns to the Army and Navy pistol were the first "Saturday night special" bans.
    A cast
    zinc alloy Jennings Model J-22 pistol with .22LR bullets.
    The earliest law prohibiting inexpensive handguns was enacted in Tennessee, in the form of the "Army and Navy Law", passed in 1879, shortly after the 14th amendment and Civil Rights Act of 1875; previous laws invalidated by the constitutional amendment had stated that black freedmen could not own or carry any manner of firearm. The Army and Navy Law prohibited the sale of "belt or pocket pistols, or revolvers, or any other kind of pistols, except army or navy pistols", which were prohibitively expensive for black freedmen and poor whites to purchase.[19] These were large pistols in .36 caliber ("navy") or .44 caliber ("army"), and were the military issue cap and ball black-powder revolvers used during the Civil War by both Union and Confederate ground troops. The effect of the law was to restrict handgun possession to the upper economic classes.[20]
    The next major attempt to regulate inexpensive firearms was the Gun Control Act of 1968, which used the "sporting purposes" test and a points system to exclude many small, inexpensive handguns which had been imported from European makers such as R¶hm.
    Most manufacturers in the US were not directly impacted by the Gun Control Act, as they were not subject to the import restrictions, and for the most part they did not manufacture compact, inexpensive handguns that competed with the banned imports.[21] However, demand for inexpensive handguns still existed and a number of new companies were formed to fill that gap. In an effort to cut costs, many of these guns were made with cast components made of the zinc alloy zamak rather than the more typical machined or cast steel. As a result, legislation against "junk guns" subsequently targeted the zinc frames used in construction by specifying a melting point. The development of polymer-framed guns, which will burn at temperatures much lower than the commonly specified 800 °F (427 °C) led to this becoming ineffective. Subsequent legislation regulated size (such as barrel lengths under 3 inches (7.6 cm)), materials (such as zinc), or low-cost manufacturing techniques (e.g., density requirements that specifically ban inexpensive powder cast metals),[22] Some of these legal restrictions are based on product liability law.
    Canada [ edit ] In Canada, the 1995 Firearms Act (known as Bill C-68 before passage) classified handguns with a calibre of .25 or .32, or having a barrel length of 105 mm or shorter, as "prohibited" weapons. This provision appears to have been specifically aimed at "Saturday night specials".[23] Exceptions are made for target pistols in these calibres used in international shooting competitions.[24]
    References [ edit ] ^ NRA definition of SNS ^ a b c Carter, Gregg Lee (May 4, 2012). Guns in American Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, Culture, and the Law (2nd ed.). ABC-CLIO. pp. 516''519. ISBN 978-0313386701. ^ "Saturday night special" . Retrieved August 28, 2014 . ^ a b c Guns Used in Crime: Firearms, Crime, and Criminal Justice'--Selected Findings July 1995, NCJ-148201, abstract, article Archived May 2, 2006, at the Wayback Machine ^ "Handgun Imports Held Up by U.S.; ARMS UNIT BLOCKS HANDGUN IMPORTS". timesmachine.nytimes.com . Retrieved January 11, 2020 . ^ "Hot Guns: Ring of Fire". Frontline. PBS . Retrieved January 13, 2015 . ^ Cook, Philip. "The Saturday Night Special: An Assessment of Alternative Definitions From a Policy Perspective". Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology. 72 (4): 1735''1745. ISSN 0091-4169. OCLC 803836960. ^ Funk, Markus. "Gun Control and Economic Discrimination: The Melting-Point Case-in-Point". Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology. 85 (3). ISSN 0091-4169. OCLC 803836960. ^ Don B. Kates Jr., ed. (1979). "1". Restricting Handguns: The Liberal Skeptics Speak Out (1st ed.). US: North River Press. pp. 7''30. ISBN 0-88427-034-3. ^ James D. Wright & Peter H. Rossi (1986). ARMED AND CONSIDERED DANGEROUS: A Survey of Felons and their Firearms . Aldine De Gruyter. ^ Cohen, Jacqueline, Wilpen Gorr, Piyusha Singh (December 2002). "Guns and Youth Violence: An Examination of Crime Guns in One City". Final report. National Institute of Justice / Carnegie Mellon University. Archived from the original on March 25, 2007 . Retrieved November 17, 2006 . CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) ^ LaPierre, Wayne (1994). Guns, Crime, and Freedom . Regnery Publishing, Inc., Washington, DC. pp. 58. ^ Editors (September''October 1999). "NAACP causes furor by suing gun manufacturers". The New Crisis. The Crisis Publishing Company. 106 (5). CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link) ^ "Judge dismisses suit against gun makers". The Washington Times. July 21, 2003 . Retrieved November 20, 2017 . ^ " ' Ricochet' Goes Behind Scenes of Gun Lobby". National Public Radio. November 15, 2007 . Retrieved November 15, 2007 . ^ "Roy Innis". The Winning Team (NRAWinningTeam.com). Archived from the original on October 13, 2007. ^ a b Kopel, David B. (1988). "Trust the People: The Case Against Gun Control". Cato Policy Analysis No. 109. CATO Institute. ^ https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=97099 ^ SAF Law Review Archived August 16, 2000, at the Wayback Machine ^ Don B. Kates. Jr., Restricting Handguns: The Liberal Skeptics Speak Out, North River Press, 1979, ISBN 0-88427-033-5. See Section I: Toward a History of Handgun Prohibition in the United States, pages 12''15, subsection "Development of Handgun Ownership Restrictions in the Post-Civil War South". ^ Don B. Kates. Jr., Restricting Handguns: The Liberal Skeptics Speak Out, North River Press, 1979, ISBN 0-88427-033-5. Section I: Toward a History of Handgun Prohibition in the United. States. ^ "PBS Frontline: Hot Guns: State Legislation". ^ Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46, s 84, "prohibited firearm". ^ RCMP List of Restricted and Prohibited Firearm Archived February 11, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  Side grip - Wikipedia
    Link to Article
    Archived Version
    Sat, 04 Jul 2020 20:35
    Holding a handgun sideways to shoot it
    A pistol in the side grip
    A pistol in a recommended one-handed technique
    The side grip is a technique for shooting a handgun in which the weapon is rotated about ninety degrees and held horizontally instead of vertically (as is normally done). Shooting a gun in this way has no practical benefit under most circumstances and makes proper aiming very difficult, but the style has become somewhat popular in hip hop culture and among street criminals (who do not often use the gun sight)[1] due to its portrayal in American film and television since the early 1990s.[2]
    History [ edit ] A police officer demonstrates the use of the side grip with a handgun and
    ballistic shield.
    Holding a weapon sideways has long been equated with risky and indiscriminate shooting. For instance, in the 1894 American novel John March, Southerner, by George Washington Cable,[1] a character orates, "No man shall come around here aiming his gun sideways; endangering the throngs of casual bystanders!"
    The side grip found some use with early 20th century submachineguns, such as the Thompson M1 or the M3 "grease gun". Because their heavy recoil made them tend to climb when fired in full automatic mode, soldiers would hold them sideways so that the bullets would spread in a horizontal rather than vertical arc, hitting more targets.[1]
    Law enforcement officers will sometimes use the side grip to shoot while holding a riot shield or ballistic shield with their other hand. Because the shield limits the field of view, lifting and tilting the gun may make the sights more visible under these circumstances.[1] Some shooters with issues of ocular dominance will tilt the gun at a 15 to 45 degree angle in order to take advantage of their better eye; the gun held in the left hand and the sights aligned to the right eye, for example.[3]
    Although holding a gun sideways makes it hard to control and aim, it does not, as is sometimes believed, make the weapon any more prone to jamming. Because self-loading weapons eject spent cases with a force that is much stronger than gravity, the case will not normally remain stuck in the chamber even if it is ejected upwards.[1]
    In popular culture [ edit ] The side grip has been portrayed in movies since at least the 1960s, notably in the westerns One-Eyed Jacks (1961) and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966).[1] The style's cinematic benefit is that it makes it easier to see both the weapon and the actor's face in a tight camera shot.[1]
    The side grip was highly popularized with the 1993 American hood film, Menace II Society, where this technique is shown in the film's opening scene during the armed robbery of a Los Angeles, California convenience store.[4][1] According to the directors, they witnessed the technique themselves in a 1987 robbery in Detroit, Michigan and used it on film because it struck them as "sloppy, edgy and realistic".[4] Other filmmakers were fast to pick up the gesture, and it soon came to represent "arrogance and cool power" in Hollywood's visual shorthand,[4] being used in a great number of 1990s action and gangster movies including Desperado, Payback, Seven, The Usual Suspects and Copycat.[4]
    As a result of its numerous portrayals in American film and television, the side grip is emulated in segments of African-American popular culture that value coolness and aggressiveness, such as hip hop music and the criminal subculture. As a result, the side grip has been increasingly used in violent armed crime in the United States.[4][1] The style has become a clich(C) in rap culture to such an extent that a 2009 New York police statement could describe a criminal as flipping his "gun on its side like a character out of a rap video".[5]
    [ edit ] References [ edit ]
  Spenser: For Hire - Wikipedia
    Link to Article
    Archived Version
    Sat, 04 Jul 2020 20:30
    American crime drama television series (1985-1987)
    Spenser: For Hire is an American crime drama series based on Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels. The series, developed for TV by John Wilder and starring Robert Urich, was broadcast on ABC from September 20, 1985 until May 7, 1988.
    Production [ edit ] The series ran on ABC from September 20, 1985, to May 7, 1988. Despite frequent time slot changes and occasional pre-emptions, the show garnered decent ratings. Location shooting ultimately led to the show's demise, with costs being cited as one of the main reasons why ABC cancelled it. Filmed largely in Boston, which was considered one of the show's strong points, it featured shots from many locations, even showing the harsh winters there (notably in the pilot). The show's music was produced by Steve Dorff and Larry Herbstritt.
    The series was estimated to have generated $50 million for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.[1]
    Characters [ edit ] Spenser [ edit ] Spenser is the only name used for this character throughout the show. While it is clear in the novel that Spenser is the character's last name, this is not made clear in the TV series until episode 03x01: "Homecoming" ("Silverman's back and Spenser's got her" quote scene). According to a popular rumor, Parker was going to name the character David, after one of his sons, but changed his mind out of consideration for his other son, Daniel.[2] In "An Eye For An Eye," Spenser quotes 16th-century poet Edmund Spenser, who may be the inspiration for the name since the spelling is identical. When introducing himself, he often says "Spenser with an 'S', like the poet." Spenser is surprisingly sophisticated for a private eye and former boxer. In "The Choice", it is revealed that Spenser fared poorly in a professional fight 12 years ago, which might have contributed to him leaving the profession. However, he still boxes and exercises at Henry Cimoli's Gym. He is well-read, often quoting poetry in everyday conversation. He is also an excellent cook, often making recipes he picks up from watching Julia Child on his kitchen counter television.
    Spenser lives in Boston and drives distinctive cars. His first is a mildly-worn out, ivy green '66 Ford Mustang (possibly a nod to Steve McQueen's Mustang in Bullitt) which is destroyed at the beginning of the second season. It is succeeded by a new 1987 Mustang 5.0 GT which, five episodes later, is traded for a perfectly restored 1966 Mustang GT which gets banged up over the remaining run of the show.
    In the show Spenser carries a Beretta 9mm pistol, whereas in the books his weapon of choice is a Browning Hi-Power 9mm pistol along with a 38 cal. snubnosed revolver for casual carry.
    In the novels, Spenser had served as an infantryman in the 1st Infantry Division during the Korean War. However, the television version of the character was younger than his literary counterpart, and acknowledged being a veteran of the Vietnam War in the series' pilot episode. Spenser was also a former member of the Boston police force and occasionally cooperates with the BPD in the series.
    In "Children of the Tempest Storm", Ms. Silverman reveals that she is pregnant with Spenser's child. The word abortion comes up when talking with her doctor, and is discussed throughout the episode, though often not using the word. Susan and Spenser discuss the issue and are at odds over the moral dilemma before them. Spenser, a Catholic, does not know if he can stay with Susan, though he loves her deeply, if she aborts. He believes it is only for her convenience that she would choose abortion. In the end, she has the abortion, and he brings her flowers. They silently affirm that the relationship will continue. After Susan leaves the show, ADA Rita Fiore becomes Spenser's love interest during the second season, but they do not seem to develop the personal bond that was apparent with Silverman.
    After his apartment goes up in flames, Spenser moves into a "firehouse", given to him by grateful local firefighters for saving the life of a firefighter at his apartment building. It is situated on the corner of River Street, near Mt. Vernon Square and Beacon Hill. In the second season, we find that the Fire Department took the station back as they needed it and Spenser finds himself in a small top floor apartment in Charlestown, near the old Boston Navy Yard which he now uses as his office.
    Hawk [ edit ] Hawk (Avery Brooks) is the street-wise black kid who grew up to become a smartly dressed enforcer. Though he is for hire, he has a code of ethics and generally works on the side of good. In the pilot episode ("Promised Land"), he and Spenser obviously have respect for each other, and he switches over from King Powers' (Chuck Connors) side to Spenser's side when he does not like the way Powers is doing things. Hawk carries a Colt Python .357 Magnum as his weapon of choice.
    Lt. Quirk [ edit ] Lt. Quirk and Spenser have an uneasy relationship but often work together. In the episode "Heart of the Matter", Quirk suffers an angina attack and reluctantly accepts the fact that he must retire after 35 years on the force.
    Episodes [ edit ] The series consisted of three seasons (1985''1988) with a total of 66 episodes, and was followed by a series of four made-for-TV movies (1993''1995).
    Home media [ edit ] On June 28, 2005, Rykodisc released the four TV movies on DVD that were made following the cancellation of the weekly series.[3] In 2007, Rykodisc re-released each of them separately.[4]
    DVD NameEp #Additional InformationSpenser: The Movie Collection4Spenser: CeremonySpenser: Pale Kings And PrincesSpenser: The Judas GoatSpenser: A Savage PlaceOn August 26, 2014, Warner Bros. released the first season on DVD via their Warner Archive Collection. This is a manufacture-on-demand (MOD) release, available through Warner's online store and Amazon.com. Warner's website explains that the initial disc run was pressed traditionally "to meet expected high consumer demand".[5] The second season was released on May 12, 2015.[6] The third and last season was released on September 1, 2015.
    DVD NameEp #Release DateThe Complete First Season22August 26, 2014.The Complete Second Season22May 12, 2015.The Complete Third Season21September 1, 2015.Spin-offs and remakes [ edit ] In 1989, after the show ended, Brooks starred in his own spin-off series, A Man Called Hawk.
    In an April 23, 2009, blog entry Robert Parker stated that he was in talks with TNT to produce a remake of the series.[7] However, Parker died in 2010 before these plans could take place.
    In 2020, Netflix released Spenser Confidential, an original movie loosely based on the TV series. Directed by Peter Berg, the film stars Mark Wahlberg in the title role.
    References [ edit ] External links [ edit ] Spenser: For Hire on IMDb
Clips
  19. BTN11 Why is the NRA silent on Philando Castile 1.mp3
  20. BTN11 Why is the NRA silent on Philando Castile 2.mp3
  21. BTN11 Why is the NRA silent on Philando Castile 3.mp3
  22. Open Carry Texas - Inside The Debate NBC News 1.mp3
  23. Open Carry Texas - Inside The Debate NBC News 2 ( Austin Police Chief - Art Acevedo).mp3
  24. Z- Mike Murdock - I love new money! (DONATION).mp3
  25. Flashback Otis McDonald beats the city of Chicago in fight for 2nd Amendment 1.mp3
  26. Flashback Otis McDonald beats the city of Chicago in fight for 2nd Amendment 2.mp3
  27. Chicago's top cop wants new gun law 1.mp3
  28. Chicago's top cop wants new gun law 2.mp3
  29. Suburban Chicago cache of guns connected to alleged cross-border crime conspiracy 1.mp3
  30. Switch that turns Glock pistol into mini-machine gun popping up in Chicago 1.mp3
  31. Ex Chicago Gang Member Says They Are Dropping Guns In The Hood 1.mp3
  32. Charlamagne Tha God Urges Blacks To Buy Guns For Use Against 'Vanilla ISIS' 1.mp3
  33. Charlamagne Tha God Urges Blacks To Buy Guns For Use Against 'Vanilla ISIS' 2.mp3
  34. Charlamagne Tha God Urges Blacks To Buy Guns For Use Against 'Vanilla ISIS' 3.mp3
  98. Best of Gun Control Bits 1.mp3
  01. Show Topic Iso.mp3
  02. Black Gun Ownership On The Rise In The Age Of Donald Trump NBC News 1.mp3
  03. Black Gun Ownership On The Rise In The Age Of Donald Trump NBC News 2.mp3
  04. Black Gun Ownership On The Rise In The Age Of Donald Trump NBC News 3.mp3
  05. Black Gun Ownership On The Rise In The Age Of Donald Trump NBC News 4.mp3
  06. A Stigma of Black Gun Ownership The New York Times 1.mp3
  07. A Stigma of Black Gun Ownership The New York Times 2.mp3
  08. A Stigma of Black Gun Ownership The New York Times 3.mp3
  09. A Stigma of Black Gun Ownership The New York Times 4.mp3
  10. Al Jazeera English - The racist history of gun control in the US explained 1.mp3
  11. Al Jazeera English - The racist history of gun control in the US explained 2.mp3
  12. Malcolm X on Self-Defense and Gun Rights 1.mp3
  13. Malcolm X on Self-Defense and Gun Rights 2.mp3
  13a. Boycott - Rustin and MLK.mp3
  13b. The real story of Rosa Parks -- and why we need to confront myths about black history David Ikard 1.mp3
  14. TBC0041 - The Mulford Act, NRA, & the Black Panthers 1.mp3
  15. TBC0041 - The Mulford Act, NRA, & the Black Panthers 2.mp3
  16. The NRA For Black People Wants to Get Political 1.mp3
  17. The NRA For Black People Wants to Get Political 2.mp3
  18. The double standards of gun ownership 1.mp3
Music in the Episode
  Intro: Nas - Got Ur Self A.. Instrumental
  Outro: Nancy Sinatra - Bang Bang (My Baby Show Me Down)
ShowNotes Archive
Donate to the show at moefundme.com
Search for us in your podcast directory or use this link to subscribe to the feed
Podcast Feed
For more information: MoeFactz.com