Bloody Baltimore: No End Seen to Post-Freddie Gray Spike in Homicides, Shootings

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Baltimore’s bloody summer ended with a barrage of bangs, as the rate of homicides and gun crimes continued to spike in the wake of the racially charged case of Freddie Gray, whose death in police custody left citizens angry and cops demoralized.

For September, homicides were up 39 percent and non-fatal shootings nearly doubled over the same month in 2014, continuing a disturbing trend that has gripped the Charm City since Gray’s death in April and the rioting that followed. For the year, murders are up 52 percent and non-fatal shootings 80 percent over last year . . .

For the year, the 246 homicides recorded through Sept. 26 put Baltimore dangerously close to the record pace of 1993, when 353 people were victims of homicide. The fact that the spike occurred after April 19 bodes even worse: Before the unrest following the Gray arrest, Baltimore had recorded 65 homicides for the year. A four-decade high of 42 homicides in May was topped in July when 45 people were killed in homicides, making Baltimore the second deadliest city in America on a per capita basis, trailing only St. Louis.

Whether due to demoralized cops, emboldened criminals or some combination of the two, the city is scrambling to turn the tide. Twenty-six killings in September represented a welcome drop from the record 43 seen in May, when the city was roiled by protests and police were ordered by the mayor to stand down in the face of riots. In a statistical quirk that may have an ominous explanation, other categories of violent crime, such as rape, robbery and assault, are only up marginally since the death of Gray, a drug suspect whose death in a police van led to criminal charges against six cops.

In the wake of the riots and amid a strong perception Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and other civic leaders did not support cops, union officials openly acknowledged that their members felt abandoned. (Read more from “Bloody Baltimore: No End Seen to Post-Freddie Gray Spike in Homicides, Shootings” HERE)

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Here’s the Ridiculous Thing Hillary Thinks Obama Is ‘Too Strict’ on

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Hillary Clinton took a swing at President Barack Obama for being too strict on illegal immigrants. Clinton said, in an interview with Telemundo, that she would be less strict if she becomes president of the United States.

“I believe in comprehensive immigration reform. And it would include in my plan a path to citizenship, which I think is absolutely essential. That is the goal. But if we still are f– working toward it, fighting for it, then I want to do everything in my power not only to continue– the executive orders that– President Obama has put forth, D.A.P.A., and D.A.C.A., and the kinds of changes that he has made,” Clinton said in response to a question about how much further she’d go on executive action than Obama.

“But I want to do more on an individual basis by putting more resources, more personnel into the system to try to help as many people as possible get a different status. I will not be deporting parents. I will not be breaking up families. I will not be doing what we’ve seen too much of, which is tryin’ to, you know, make immigrants the scapegoat for everything that people are concerned about in the country.

“And the best way to do that is to build on what we have accomplished, keep fightin’ for comprehensive immigration reform, and then use the tools that exist for more individual determinations about how to keep more people who are hard working, contributing people in our country while we still– fight over the comprehensive immigration reform– plan.” (Read more from “Here’s the Ridiculous Thing Hillary Thinks Obama Is ‘Too Strict’ on” HERE)

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Social Media Sites Scrubbed of Oregon Mass Killer Chris Harper-Mercer to Create False Media Narrative [Images]

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On the left is the selfie Christopher Mercer uploaded to his social media. On the right is how CNN presented* the same selfie in broadcast stories about him. Why did CNN need to change the complexion (color) of their broadcast? Why is no-one showing pictures of mom, Laurel Margaret Harper.

AUTHOR’S DISCLAIMER: *Since the original discussion thread was posted [here this morning], the comparative image above has become the matter of some controversy. On Thr/Fri a twitter acct (we did not record who) posted a video vine on showing a CNN broadcast (TV) including that image. Additionally the same source posting a side-by-side as above. We captured the side-by-side image and shared it – as shown. We did not create the image, we copied it from a twitter feed. According to various comments posted: CNN denies attribution. Absent our ability to return to source origination for further inquiry, the comparative side-by-side image should be considered suspect, and quite possibly false.

Why change to hyphenated name? Real name is Christopher Sean Mercer. Media using Christopher Harper-Mercer and Chris Harper-Mercer.

Several months ago we shared the story of Eric Sheppard Jr. a radical “Black Lives Matter”, “F**k The Police” and Islamic radical who used a philosophy of black supremacy similar to the New Black Panthers. Sheppard gained brief notoriety when he held a U.S. Flag Stomping event at Valdosta State University.

After his public exposure, and after the police filed a warrant for his arrest on firearms violations, and after he mailed a racist manifesto to a local Georgia Newspaper – while on the run, he was finally arrested in Tampa Florida by U.S. Marshals.

Eric Sheppard’s story disappeared from the headlines and never resurfaced.

Yesterday, while reviewing the social footprint of Oregon shooter Chris Harper-Mercer, (aka Chris Sean Mercer) an almost identical world-view to Eric Sheppard Jr. was evident in Mercer’s social media history.

Chris Harper-Mercer, a mixed-race angry 26-year-old, was essentially the mirror image on social media as Eric Sheppard Jr.

Mercer held sympathetic words and thoughts for the Virginia shooter Vester Flanagan, and similarly raged against white people, and expressed sympathy toward the Black Lives Matter movement. (Example Below):

However, today almost all of that social media history is GONE -> Example Here. It is either removed entirely, and/or edited for content. How it could be edited is a mystery unless there is some other issue at hand.

In addition, as several researchers have noted, anyone who held attachment to Mercer appears to be deleting the content of their association. Including Umpqua Community College itself.

As D-Man was pointing out Mercer was part of a production class going to present a play at Umpqua Community College named “BLITHE SPIRIT“. The play was scheduled to run later this month:

From the cache Centerstage Theatre at UCC

Please join me in congratulating the team for our Fall show! This is going to be an awesome comedy to start out the year. This British comedy comes with witty language and spooky effects. We are especially delighted to feature our local star who is now based out of NYC, Josh Carlton!

BLITHE SPIRIT, by Noel Coward

Presented by UCC Theatre Arts Oct 30-Nov 8

CHARLES: Josh Carlton

RUTH: Rebecca Miles

EDITH: Abby Dooley

DR. BRADMAN: Devin Barnett

MRS. BRADMAN: Alexandra Duvall

MADAME ARCATI: Rachel Fitzhugh

ELVIRA, the Blithe Spirit: Chloe Quinn

Understudy for DR. BRADMAN: Benjamin Jacobsen

Directed by Stephanie Newman

Assistant Director: Aaron Carter

Stage Manager: Anna Mae Whatley

Production Assistants: Alex Frier, Joel Macha, Mary Chitwood, Chris Harper-Mercer, Isaac Guerrero, Ashley Jakubos

Lighting Assistant: Devin Barnett

Special Effects: Jim Smith, Keith Weikum

Program/Ads: Fred Brenchley

Marketing: Travis Newman

Other Volunteers: YOU! Get involved and have some fun!

However, everything to do with that production has been scrubbed and deleted. Including the FaceBook page (since deleted) But visible on Cache HERE and more HERE.

Being part of an Umpqua college production class and performance etc. would run counter to the seemingly preferred media narrative of Chris Harper-Mercer being a loner, no?

Indeed if you were to look for information about Chris Harper-Mercer even being enrolled as a student at Umpqua you might even find contradictions and obfuscations about it. It seems rather odd that only foreign publications even make note of this fact:

“But he was listed as a “production assistant” in a Facebook post promoting a performance of a Noel Coward play by the school’s drama group” (link) ~ British

“Police think Mercer may have been a student at Umpqua because he was found with a receipt from the campus bookstore showing he had purchased textbooks.” (link) ~ Canadian

While generally there will always be a “fog” about events, as something happens and people rush around trying to identify the full story, one would think it would be really easy to determine if Mercer was a student, and what classes he was specifically enrolled for.

Then there’s this little snippet which might clear all of this up:

Stacy Boylan said his daughter told him the man “gave somebody a box, somebody who lived, and said, ‘You gotta deliver this.’ Somebody has a box. I don’t know what that’s about.”

Law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation told CNN that the gunman handed his writings to a survivor, telling that person to give it to police, but the sources could not confirm the writings were inside the box. (link)

So apparently Mercer has given a “manifesto” (another similarity to E. Sheppard Jr) to a surviving student of the shooting.

Summary: The immediate on-line web history of Chris Harper-Mercer showed him to be a mixed-race, angry young man in general alignment with various radical racially aligned groups such as Black Lives Matter, Fuck The Police and Fuck Yo Flag – all of which carry a sentiment of favorability and ideological alignment with Islam which was similarly evident in the Ferguson protest movement.

[Against this backdrop shooting “White” “Christians” makes sense.]

However, in the course of several hours (one media cycle) – the media narrative is selling a profile of a loner, mentally disturbed individual without any mention of his previous writings (deleted/changed), behaviors (hidden) and social tendencies (ignored).

Why?

Perhaps the answer lies within the response to the shooting from the White House where President Obama took quickly to the microphones to decry another school shooting without fully understanding the motive and intent.

Mercer’s possible motive and intent would now represent a political embarrassment against the backdrop of Obama’s speech if it aligns with something other than needed. (For more from the author of “CNN Alters Photo of Oregon Mass Killer Chris Harper-Mercer to Make Him Look White” please click HERE)

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‘Apocalyptic’ Flash Floods and Massive Mudslides – Just Some of the Horrific Weather Changes Being Endured Internationally

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Photo Credit: Voice of America By The Associated Press. In a matter of minutes, torrential rains transformed the postcard-perfect French Riviera into a terrifying flood zone, leaving at least 16 dead, trapping hundreds of ailing pilgrims and halting car and train traffic Sunday along the mud-drenched Mediterranean coast.

Victims were found dead in a retirement home, campsites, and cars submerged in a tunnel. Residents, stunned by the ferocity of the brief downpour Saturday night, described it as the worst flooding they’d ever seen — so dramatic that President Francois Hollande paid an emergency visit Sunday to promise government aid for victims.

Helicopters patrolled the area and 27,000 homes were without electricity Sunday after rivers and streams overflowed their banks and fierce thunderstorms poured more than 18 centimeters (6.7 inches) of rain in Cannes and some other areas, according to the Interior Ministry. The Cannes region saw the equivalent of two months of rainfall in less than two hours, local radio France Bleu-Azur reported. (Read more from “‘Apocalyptic’ Flash Floods and Massive Mudslides – Just Some of the Horrific Weather Changes Being Endured Internationally” HERE)

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Guatemala Mudslide Death Toll Rises to 86

By VOA News. Hope is all but gone Sunday that any survivors will be found from the massive landslide on the outskirts of Guatemala’s capital.

The death toll has risen to 86 and is expected to continue to rise as emergency crews dig through tons of earth for an estimated 350 missing people.

Distraught relatives of the victims shoveled alongside diggers through the mounds of earth that destroyed homes in Santa Catarina Pinula on the southeastern flank of Guatemala City after Thursday night’s collapse of a hillside.

Every batch of earth turned up by the diggers held more personal belongings, from mattresses and books to toys and Christmas decorations.

Clutching photos of loved ones, family members stood in line outside a makeshift morgue near the excavation site, some of them crying, to see if they recognized any corpses. (Read more from this story HERE)

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South Carolina Flooding: 5 Dead, Curfews Ordered, Hundreds Rescued, Several Interstates Closed

By The Weather Channel. Curfews have been ordered, many are without drinking water, several interstates are closed and five people are dead in some of the worst flooding South Carolina has ever seen.

Emergency managers sent out a statewide alert telling people to remain indoors.

“Stay home. Stay off the roadways,” Thom Berry, South Carolina Emergency Management spokesperson, told The Weather Channel on Sunday. “Don’t get on the roadways because you very likely can become part of the problem.”

Officials are worried life-threatening impacts will only worsen as the 1-in-1,000-year rain event continues. Authorities said hundreds of people were in need of rescue Sunday as the floodwaters kept rising all over the Palmetto State. Columbia, the state capital, was the hardest hit. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Investigation: US Bombed Doctors Without Borders in Afghanistan

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U.S. officials have launched an investigation after 12 local staff members of Doctors Without Borders and at least seven patients, three of them children, were killed after an explosion near their hospital in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz that may have been caused by a nearby airstrike.

In a statement, the international charity said the “sustained bombing” took place Saturday at 2:10 a.m local time. Afghan forces backed by U.S. airstrikes have been fighting to dislodge Taliban insurgents who overran Kunduz on Monday.

At least 37 other people were seriously injured–19 staff members and 18 patients and caretakers, the organization said. Dozens were missing, raising concerns the death toll could rise.

A senior defense official told Fox News on Saturday that the Taliban have been in control of the area around the hospital since Monday, guarding the building and drawing U.S. special operations forces into a firefight in the area. U.S. forces called in the airstrike because they were under fire and needed cover, the official said . . .

While defense officials told Fox News they “regret the loss” of innocent life, they say the incident could have been avoided if the Taliban had not used the hospital as a base, and the civilians there as human shields. (Read more from “Investigation: US Bombed Doctors Without Borders in Afghanistan” HERE)

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Watch: Vatican Sacks Gay Priest as Pope Opens Synod

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Pope Francis defended marriage as “an indissoluble bond between a man and a woman” on Sunday as he opened a landmark Catholic synod on the family just hours after the Vatican fired a senior priest who came out as gay.

In a solemn mass held in St. Peter’s Basilica, the Pope set a largely merciful tone by urging religious leaders to do more to “seek out and care for” marginalised believers, but reaffirmed Catholic opposition to gay marriage.

The opening of the synod has been overshadowed by Saturday’s announcement by Polish-born priest and Vatican theologian Krzystof Charamsa that he was in a gay relationship and was prepared to become an advocate “for all sexual minorities and their families who have suffered in silence.”

“I’m out of the closet and I’m very happy about that,” said the 43-year-old priest, wearing his clerical collar and flanked by his boyfriend.

The Vatican reacted furiously, calling the Polish priest’s announcement a “serious and irresponsible” decision timed to put undue media pressure and tension on the Synod assembly. (Read more from “Watch: Vatican Sacks Gay Priest as Pope Opens Synod” HERE)

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The Band of Brothers Who Voluntarily Patrol the US-Mexico Border

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Dressed in camouflage gear and wielding heavy machine guns, these men look like they are off to war.

But while the pictures appear to show this band of brothers patrolling a conflict zone, they are actually guarding the border between the US and Mexico.

The ‘watchmen’ of The Arizona Border Recon – led by the group’s chief ‘Nailer’ – protect the border near the Mexican town of Nogales, with three goals; stop illegal immigration, stop drug smuggling, and stop human trafficking . . .

They look like soldiers – and some of them are veterans – but many are or were private security experts, Mr Milano told Feature Shoot . . .

Mr Milano said: ‘To them this is most certainly an invasion. In some respects I believe the US/Mexico border is the nearest domestic geographic place where many of the vets can compare to their tours in Afghanistan or Iraq, or elsewhere, so in some way it is the easiest way to get back into “protecting the country” from what they believe is the most imminent threat and performing their civic duty.’ (Read more from “The Band of Brothers Who Voluntarily Patrol the US-Mexico Border” HERE)

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Medical Miracle: Doctors Reattach Toddler’s Decapitated HEAD After Horrific Car Crash

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This child has made a miracle recovery after his HEAD was internally decapitated in a car crash . . .

The 16-month-old toddler was with his mum and nine-year-old sister Shayne when they collided head on with another vehicle at 70mph on September 15.

The child was airlifted from the site of the crash to a hospital in Brisbane.

The force from the collision was so intense that Jaxon’s head pulled apart from his neck in an internal decapitation, according to spinal surgeon Dr Geoff Askin.

Incredibly , the medics now have been able to reattach his head, reported 7NewsMelbourne. (Read more from “Medical Miracle: Doctors Reattach Toddler’s Decapitated HEAD After Horrific Car Crash” HERE)

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This Person From Hillary Clinton’s Past Has Vowed to ‘Haunt’ Her Through Campaign

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Kathleen Willey, one of the women caught in the crossfire of alleged sexual harassment by former President Bill Clinton and what she characterizes as acts of intimidation to silence her, announced new plans to “haunt” Hillary Clinton throughout the 2016 presidential race and beyond.

During a radio interview Sunday, Willey delivered a message to Clinton: “I am going to be shadowing you every single place you go to remind people, especially young people, young women, college-aged students who don’t remember any of this. I want them to know all about this. Because once they do they are not going to be real proud of supporting her as the first women president.”

“I am going to haunt her everywhere she goes,” Willey stated of Clinton. “So she’s not going to get rid of me ever until she disappears.”

“And I have plans already for New Hampshire,” she said, referring to the Democratic Party presidential primaries . . .

The Clinton sex accuser used the interview to tease the October 13 publication of a new book by bestselling author Roger Stone entitled, “The Clintons’ War on Women,” for which Willey wrote the forward. (Read more from “This Person From Hillary Clinton’s Past Has Vowed to ‘Haunt’ Her Through Campaign” HERE)

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Watchdog Blasts BBC Coverage of Jerusalem Stabbing Spree, Forces Corrections

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A media watchdog group slammed the BBC for its reportage of Saturday night’s bloody terror attack in Jerusalem, in which a knife-wielding Palestinian killed two Israelis and left the wife and baby of one of them seriously wounded, and the British outlet was forced to change its headline – three times.

BBC Watch, an affiliate of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, exposed the headline – “Palestinian shot dead after Jerusalem attack kills two” – for failing to reflect what actually happened during the murderous rampage, making it sound as though the perpetrator had been a victim of Israeli security forces.

“[This] is not only a prime example of the ‘last-first reporting’ regularly employed by the BBC, but of course fails to clarify to audiences that the dead Palestinian was the terrorist who killed two people (later named as father of seven Rabbi Nechemia Lavi and father of two Rabbi Aharon Benita) and wounded a mother and her two-year-old son,” wrote BBC Watch in a dispatch on the coverage.

“Predictably, that headline prompted considerable protest on social media,” the dispatch went on. “And shortly after its publication, the title was changed to one displaying yet another regular feature of BBC reporting; the use of superfluous punctuation.”

The changed headline read as follows: “Jerusalem attack: Israelis killed in Old City ‘by Palestinian.’” (Read more from “Watchdog Blasts BBC Coverage of Jerusalem Stabbing Spree, Forces Corrections” HERE)

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