Tag Archives: shootings

Featured, International

Breaking, Developing: Paris Under Attack; Dozens Killed, Hundreds Held Hostage

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Update, November 13, 5:47 p.m.: The death toll has climbed to 60, according to CNN affiliate BFMTV.

Update, November 13, 6:31 p.m.: 5 more explosions and reports of automatic gunfire at theater with 100 hostages. Hostages possibly being killed one by one.

Update, November 13, 8:19 p.m.: France Declares State of Emergency, Military Enacts Full Control

Paris- Paris is under attack in at least three simultaneous attacks. As of this posting (and that number continues to change), at least 35 people are dead and possibly another 100 hostages are being held after three separate violent attacks.

paris hostage shooting map

Police say the gunmen—as many as six—were armed with kalashnikovs and grenades. They are all currently on the loose.

At least one of the gunman opened fire at a restaurant near a soccer stadium.  The soccer game between France and Germany was taking place at the time.  Early reports indicate that a Kalishnikov rifle and grenades were used in at least one attack.

Paris’s deputy mayor says it is too early to say if the attacks were coordinated acts of terror, but that it looks that way. US officials state the attacks were coordinated.

Truth in Media will provide updates as the story is developing.

Government Accountability, Police Accountability, Police State

DOJ Report: Philadelphia Police Shot 400 People in 7 Years

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On Monday a new report was released by the US Department of Justice which condemned the Philadelphia Police Department for “poor training”, and for the shooting of approximately 400 civilians over the last 7 years. The report came at the request of Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey.

The Justice department found a lack of “guidelines, objectives, or lesson plans that detail PPD officer training on the department’s use of force policies.” The DOJ is calling on the PPD to create a specific unit that looks into every case where an officer uses deadly force. They also requested that an independent outside agency investigate shootings of unarmed individuals and hold a press conference within three days to reveal details.

The report found a lack of accountability when it comes to officer-involved shootings, or OIS.  “All PPD should be required to report any misconduct, including but not limited to excessive use of force.”  The report also concluded that “all across OIS  investigations, we found a general lack of consistency in quality.”

Philadelphia Mayor Nutter said the city must heed the warnings of the DOJ. “We will examine fully this report and work on a realistic approach for implementation of the recommendations as quickly as possible,” he stated.

Despite a lack of “official” statistics on the number of police officer shootings of civilians, independent estimates have found that over 1,000 individuals were killed by police in 2014.  The Washington Post drew the following comparison:

“In New York, for example, there were 30 police shootings in 2012 (16 of the people shot were killed, while the rest were injured) and 25 such shootings in 2013 (eight of those people were killed), according to the police. The Dallas Police Department, responsible for a city closer in size to Philadelphia, said it had 23 shootings in 2012 and 22 in 2013. Meanwhile, police in Philadelphia had 58 shootings in 2012 and 44 shootings in 2013.”

The DOJ report comes after another study done last month by the ACLU of Pennsylvania and the law firm of Kairys, Rudovsky, Messing & Feinberg, LLP. The two groups found that the PPD illegally stops and frisks tens of thousands of individuals.

Politics, US

Arkansas Public Schoolteachers Armed With Handguns

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The tragic shooting in Newtown, Connecticut last year sparked a heated, nation-wide debate surrounding gun control. Many on the left vehemently demand more gun control while many on the right demand less of it.

In the aftermath of the devastating shooting, some schools have decided to take action.

Clarksville High, a public school in Arkansas, concluded that the best way to keep its staff and students safe is to arm teachers with 9mm handguns.

9mm Gun

It is one of the only public schools to arm its teachers as a result of the Newtown massacre.

Although Clarksville has a relatively low crime rate, Superintendent David Hopkins got countless calls from concerned parents after the Sandy Hook incident. Most of them said they would feel safer if the students’ teachers were armed. Hopkins think teachers should be able to protect their students — even if it comes to using a gun.

Hopkins said, “We’re not tying our money up in a guard 24/7 that we won’t have to have unless something happens. We’ve got these people who are already hired and using them in other areas. Hopefully we’ll never have to use them as a security guard.”

Each armed teacher will be given a stipend to purchase their firearm. They will then receive training through the Nighthawk Custom Training Academy.

Not surprisingly, the school’s decision has been met with a great amount of opposition. Tom Kimbrell, the Arkansas Education Commissioner, said possessing a hand gun is too much responsibility for a teacher.

Nonsense.

Teachers should be able to defend their students through any means necessary.

Simply pronouncing a school a “gun free zone” does not work. This only leaves teachers with few ways to defend students against armed criminals, who do not follow laws to begin with.

Do you think arming teachers is an effective way to keep our students safe? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.