Tag Archives: Dallas

Father Of Dallas Shooting Suspect Says Son Reached Breaking Point, Blamed Police For Custody Loss

Dallas – After an attack on Dallas Police Headquarters early Saturday morning that resulted in a standoff between police and a man in an armored vehicle, police claim that the suspect and only fatality identified himself as James Boulware. Boulware’s father said he believes that his son was responsible for the attack, and that he had “reached his breaking point” after he lost custody of his own son, and blamed police.

The New York Times reported that, according to police, “a gunman attacked Police Headquarters at the edge of downtown here from inside an armored van early Saturday, shooting at officers and leaving bags filled with pipe bombs around the building in a brazen assault that led to an hourslong standoff.”

“Every one of us has a breaking point… he hit his,” Jim Boulware told CNN on Sunday, regarding his son James.

“I knew he was angry with the police, he blamed them for taking his son,” Boulware said. “I tried to tell him the police didn’t do it, they were doing their job, to enforce the laws. If you want to get to that, you gotta go back to the liberal people that put these laws in place, to where CPS can grab kids and take them away.”

Although Dallas Police Chief David Brown would not confirm the identity of the suspect, he did confirm that the man who police believed was responsible for the attack was killed by a police sniper after he was shot at 5:07 a.m. on Saturday by a bullet that went through the front windshield of the armored van he was driving.

Jim Boulware said that he believes his son James was the one who was responsible for the attack, and that he did it as a way to “make a statement” and to “get the system to understand he had lost his son, and it cost him his life.”

CNN reported that James Boulware lost custody of his son after he was arrested in 2013, for “multiple assault charges on family members,” which were eventually dropped.

Jeannine Hammond, James Boulware’s mother, told Fox 4 News that her family lost her son to “mental health long before we lost him to death,” and that despite erratic statements and threats in the past, she “never dreamed he’d go after the police.”

Hammond said that Boulware had issues as a teenager, and that although they believed it was paranoid schizophrenia, he was “too young to diagnose.” Hammond also said that she believed if Boulware went after anyone, it would have been her, because she was awarded full custody of his son.

Boulware’s father told the Associated Press that while he “can’t say shooting at a police station is right in any way,” he believes his son James “finally snapped” after he was not able to get a job with “domestic violence” on his record, and he felt like the legal system was letting him down.

Journalist Barrett Brown Sentenced to 63 Months in Federal Prison

After more than two years behind bars, journalist Barrett Brown was given a sentence of 63 months in federal prison.

Brown was also ordered to pay $890,000 in restitution fees to a number of companies that were hacked in 2011. Brown was arrested in September 2012 during an FBI investigation into his role in the hacking of the servers of HB Gary Federal and Stratfor by the decentralized hacker collective Anonymous.

Judge Sam Lindsay also ruled that fifty percent of all gifts or awards will go to Stratfor and Combined Security, two of the companies involved in the hack. Upon release Brown cannot handle credit cards, checks, or bank accounts. He will be on parole for at least 2 years and will only be allowed to use an approved computer which will monitor all of his activity.

All the way until the very end of the hearing prosecutor Candina Heath attempted to persuade the government to enhance the charges. Heath wanted to upgrade the level of offense which would have increased the possible sentence up to 71 months. Judge Lindsay denied this final request from the prosecution.

Much of the mornings proceedings focused, once again, on whether Brown was a journalist performing protected activities or a former journalist who crossed the line into cyber terror. Brown has been an activist, and a journalist. His articles and blogs have been featured in numerous publications including the GuardianVanity Fair, and the Huffington Post.  Judge Lindsay sided with the government in their argument that “Brown’s role was more than merely reporting on the hacked account.” He considered himself a member of the hacker collective Anonymous, collaborated with them, identified targets, and provided advice, the Judge stated. Barrett Brown himself would admit that he crossed a line from journalist into supporter of Anonymous.

Despite Barrett Brown having no direct connection to the Stratfor hack, he was previously  facing a century in prison for sharing a link to the leaked documents with a chat room. Jeremy Hammond would later receive ten years for that leak. 

When Brown signed the plea deal in March 2014 the hyperlink charges were dropped. However, the prosecution was able to bring the dismissed charges to the forefront in an attempt to sway the judges ruling towards the maximum sentence. Brown’s own defense noted that this was a perfectly acceptable and legal practice but felt the government had previously been unable to make its case on the hyperlink charge and was now attempting to recharge him.

These accusations lead to a debate on whether or not Brown had trafficked in stolen data by simply reposting a hyperlink to the hacked documents. Heath at one point referenced a case dealing with child pornography and accused Brown of “furthering the accessibility” to the documents. Brown’s defense would argue that reposting a link to the information is not the same as promoting the stolen information. They stated that the prosecution was conflating the issue and argued that telling someone where a website is that offers child pornography is not the same as trafficking in that porn. Ms. Heath then moved to describing Brown as a drug dealer who knowingly gives others a key to a house full of drugs. You don’t have to actually touch information to have trafficked in it, she would claim. Judge Lindsay agreed and allowed the claims to stand on the record.

It is this “relevant conduct” that has many journalists and advocacy groups fearing the ruling. Despite fears that allowing this to stand could “chill journalists to the bone”, Judge Lindsay stated that “the totality of the conduct” must be considered. He attempted to reassure the defense and nervous onlookers from the press that “what took place is not going to chill any 1st amendment expression by journalists”. Judge Sam Lindsay may feel confident from his viewpoint but exactly how courts in the future will interpret this ruling remains to be seen.

The exact charges Barrett Brown plead guilty to include  (1) transmitting a threat in interstate commerce (2) accessory after the fact in the unauthorized access to a protected computer and (3) interference with the execution of a search warrant and aid and abet. Brown apologized for the threats he made in a YouTube video, however Judge Lindsay noted that it was this charge that carried the heaviest punishment.

The second charge comes from Brown offering to be a mediator for hacker Jeremy Hammond following the hack of Strafor. During his allocution statement to the judge, Brown offered some background on why he made the decision to mediate for Hammond.

And with regard to the accessory after the fact charge relating to my efforts to redact sensitive emails after the Stratfor hack, I’ve explained to Your Honor that I do not want to be a hypocrite. If I criticize the government for breaking the law but then break the law myself in an effort to reveal their wrongdoing, I should expect to be punished just as I’ve called for the criminals at government-linked firms, like HBGary and Palantir, to be punished. When we start fighting crime by any means necessary, we become guilty of the same hypocrisy as law enforcement agencies throughout history that break the rules to get the villains, and so become villains themselves.”

Brown also discussed how contributors to his think tank, Project PM, have been declared criminals by the government.

” So now the dozens of people who have given their time and expertise to what has been hailed by journalists and advocacy groups as a crucial journalistic enterprise are now at risk of being indicted under the same sort of spurious charges that I was facing not long ago, when the government exposed me to decades of prison time for copying and pasting a link to a publicly available file that other journalists were also linking to without being prosecuted. “

On his decision to reject an earlier plea deal that included fraud charges:

 Last year, when the government offered me a plea bargain whereby I would plead to just one of the eleven fraud charges related to the linking, and told me it was final, I turned it down. To have accepted that plea, with a two-year sentence, would have been convenient—Your Honor will note that I actually did eventually plead to an accessory charge carrying potentially more prison time—but it would have been wrong. Even aside from the obvious fact that I did not commit fraud, and thus couldn’t sign to any such thing, to do so would have also constituted a dangerous precedent, and it would have endangered my colleagues, each of whom could now have been depicted as a former associate of a convicted fraudster. And it would have given the government, and particularly the FBI, one more tool by which to persecute journalists and activists whose views they find to be dangerous or undesirable.

Brown also challenged the governments assertion that he is a member of Anonymous and not a journalist.

“There you have it. Deny being a spokesperson for Anonymous hundreds of times, and you’re still a spokesperson for Anonymous. Deny being a journalist once or twice, and you’re not a journalist. What conclusion can one draw from this sort of reasoning other than that you are whatever the FBI finds it convenient for you to be at any given moment. This is not the rule of law, Your Honor, it is the rule of Law Enforcement, and it is very dangerous.”

Again, the danger of government sanctioning who and what exactly a journalist is was up for debate.

 The government asserts that I am not a journalist and thus unable to claim the First Amendment protections guaranteed to those engaged in information-gathering activities. Your Honor, I’ve been employed as a journalist for much of my adult life, I’ve written for dozens of magazines and newspapers, and I’m the author of two published and critically-acclaimed books of expository non-fiction. Your Honor has received letters from editors who have published my journalistic work, as well as from award-winning journalists such as Glenn Greenwald, who note that they have used that work in their own articles. If I am not a journalist, then there are many, many people out there who are also not journalists, without being aware of it, and who are thus as much at risk as I am.”

Before the judge handed down the verdict, prosecutor Heath argued that Barrett was still displaying a lack of respect for the rule of law. She claimed Brown had little respect for the law, or abiding by the law. She said he believed in retaliation against corporations who commit crimes and was a “vigilante” attempting to find justice outside the law. She argued that the sentence must show “that an individual must respect the law”.

We have to ask ourselves if “following the law”, or “just following orders” automatically makes an action moral or just. Throughout history individuals who have recognized the failures and corruption of government have done what they could to call attention to these crimes. Time and time again the state demonizes and imprisons those who dare question the authenticity and relevance of laws that allow criminals in the corporate world and governments to continue to walk free while journalists working to expose the crimes lose days, months, and years from their lives. What will it take for the people of the world to actively stand against injustice?

Following the sentencing Brown released the following statement full of his usual panache.

“Good news! — The U.S. government decided today that because I did such a good job investigating the cyber-industrial complex, they’re now going to send me to investigate the prison-industrial complex. For the next 35 months, I’ll be provided with free food, clothes, and housing as I seek to expose wrondgoing by Bureau of Prisons officials and staff and otherwise report on news and culture in the world’s greatest prison system. I want to thank the Department of Justice for having put so much time and energy into advocating on my behalf; rather than holding a grudge against me for the two years of work I put into in bringing attention to a DOJ-linked campaign to harass and discredit journalists like Glenn Greenwald, the agency instead labored tirelessly to ensure that I received this very prestigious assignment. — Wish me luck!”

For a full rundown of the proceedings leading up to today please check here.

A Texas paramilitary style group is organized in response to police brutality

Police brutality has been in the majority of headlines over the past few months, but an organization in Dallas, Texas is responding with their own citizen patrols.

The Huey P. Newton Gun Club is a group which has united five Dallas paramilitary groups, all of which consist of black and Hispanic members, and their goal is to speak out on issues of police brutality in minority communities.

Charles Goodson, a 31-year-old Dallas local, and Darren X, a 48-year-old national field marshal for the New Black Panther Party, founded the group together after they performed an armed rally in the Texas town of Hemphill, where they protested what they believed to be a failed police investigation into the murder of Alfred Wright, a black man in the community.

“We accept all oppressed people of color with weapons,” said Darren X, according to VICE. “The complete agenda involves going into our communities and educating our people on federal, state, and local gun laws. We want to stop fratricide, genocide—all the ‘cides.” 

Two weeks after the death of Michael Brown in August, the gun club held a demonstration in Dixon Circle, a predominantly black neighborhood.

Dozens of gun club members stood at attention, holding AR-15’s and other rifles, while one of their leading members shouted, “No longer will we let the pigs slaughter our brothers and sisters and not say a damn thing about it.” The members of the club then responded with shouts of, “Black power!”

Russell Wilson, the Dallas County District Attorney’s Bureau Chief, has said, according to the Free Thought Project, he supports what the club is doing.  “They have an absolute right to do what they do,” said Wilson. He also said he believes the club is restoring some people’s confidence in their communities by saying they won’t be pushed around any longer.

Goodson, according to Reason, has stated he hopes the gun club can grow to become a “black alternative to the NRA.”

VIDEO: Bystanders in airport take down a bully assaulting a man for being gay

DALLAS, October 27, 2014 – Last Thursday, a group of bystanders rushed to the defense of a gay man being attacked over his sexual orientation by a stranger at the DFW airport. A cellphone video was taken by an onlooker and captured the encounter that quickly escalated from a verbal confrontation to a physical one.

The initial cause of the incident between the two men is unknown. In the video a male in a sweatshirt type jacket approaches a man in a pink shirt at an airport counter and physically grabs him.

The actions of the man in the sweatshirt quickly caught the attention of several bystanders who can be seen gathering behind him as he shouts indistinguishably at the man in the pink shirt.

One bystander from the group of onlookers approaches the aggressor first in an apparent attempt to mediate the situation and asks at one point, “What are you upset about?” The man in the sweatshirt gestures towards the man in the pink shirt and replies, “He’s queer, is what I’m upset about. This faggot right here.”

In the video the other bystanders continue to look on hesitantly at the dispute until the point the man who started the fight kicks at the other man. At that point a horde of the onlookers physically rush to the defense of the gay man, tackling the bully to the ground and holding him there.

Once the onlookers stepped in to prevent the attack on the gay man police rushed to the scene and quickly arrested the initiator of the confrontation.

Funny to note how long it took airport security and the TSA to even realize the behavior around them.

You can watch the full video here.

 

 

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First Ebola related death in the US confirmed

The first Ebola patient in the US has died at 7:51 a.m. on Wednesday, reports say.

Thomas Duncan, 42, was a Liberian man who had recently traveled to Africa, and was the first US citizen to have contracted the deadly virus.  Duncan died while in isolation care at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital.

“It is with profound sadness and heartfelt disappointment that we must inform you of the death of Thomas Eric Duncan this morning at 7:51 am,” said a spokesman from the hospital in Dallas, according to the BBC.

In recent days, the New York Times reports Duncan’s condition had worsened from serious to critical condition.  Medical staff were on hand to support Duncan after this with fluids and electrolytes to replenish the lose of fluids which occurs when one is infected with Ebola.  Duncan was also being treated with an experimental drug, called brincidofovir, to help combat the virus.

Upon returning from his trip to Africa, Duncan went to the hospital complaining of a stomach ache and fever, but hospital staff failed to test for Ebola on this visit and sent Duncan home.  It was only days later when Duncan returned to the hospital that the virus was found to be in Duncan’s system.

According to CNN, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Thomas Frieden, offered his condolences to the Duncan family after this death.  “He is a face that we associate now with Ebola,” said Frieden.

According to the same report, in order to help prevent the spread of Ebola, the body of Duncan will be cremated.

As of now, Duncan’s family members and close to 50 other Dallas residents are being monitored after having come into either first or second degree contact with Duncan after he returned from Africa.