By Roger Simon. [After hearing about the explosion], something popped into my head almost immediately, the proximity to the so-called Batman Building (for its resemblance to the original), the tallest building in Tennessee and currently the regional headquarters of AT&T.
What I hadn’t realized was that a shorter reddish building—almost determinedly anonymous, without signage and largely windowless—also belonged to AT&T and was described as filled with “computer and switching equipment” by the not terrifically technically informed newscasters.
That building was literally at ground zero for the blast zone. The large RV with the obviously copious load of explosives apparently had been parked directly in front of it, a huge hole blown in the building’s side. . .
Anthony Cuthbertson wrote in Newsweek under the title “AT&T Spying Program is ‘Worse Than Snowden Revelations’”: “A for-profit surveillance program carried out by telecommunications giant AT&T was more serious than the 2013 NSA spying revelations, [with AT&T] secretly selling customer data to law enforcement agencies for the purpose of investigating everything from murder to medical fraud. [AT&T] making customer data available to local police departments without a warrant goes beyond the government-level surveillance revealed by former NSA contract worker Edward Snowden.”
At this point anyway, the message [of the bombing] appears to be that we live in a surveillance state from the likes of AT&T and our government and that that must end for the survival of our republic as it was conceived. (Read more from this story HERE).
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AT&T Outages Widespread
By Nashville Tennessean. An AT&T outage caused by a Christmas Day explosion in Nashville continued on Saturday to affect 911 operations and residential services.
By Saturday evening, social media reports from Nashville residents indicated some users started to see service return around 8 p.m., although some reported reception was still going in and out.
The company did not immediately release details on any restoration of service in the area.
Repairs were ongoing as the company attempted to restore power and assess damage to equipment at their downtown facility. (Read more from this story HERE)
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FAA restricts flights over site of Nashville bombing, classifying it as “National Defense Airspace”
By 10News Staff. The Federal Aviation Administration is restricting flights over the site of Friday morning’s bombing in downtown Nashville.
An alert issued by the FAA classified the airspace around where the explosion happened as “National Defense Airspace,” saying “deadly force” could be used against pilots who appear to pose a security threat. The temporary restriction applies to one nautical mile around the site.
Pilots not adhering to the restrictions “may be intercepted, detained and interviewed by law enforcement/security personnel,” according to the alert. (Read more from this story HERE)
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Human Remains Found, Likely Suicide Bombing
By BBC. The camper van blast in Nashville on Christmas Day was probably a suicide bombing, law enforcement officials are quoted as saying by US media.
Investigators are conducting DNA tests after human remains were found near the site of the powerful blast.
The home of a possible person of interest was searched on Saturday in Nashville’s suburb of Antioch.
The blast injured three people and disrupted communications systems in Tennessee and four other states. (Read more from this story HERE)
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Videos of Nashville Explosion, Designed to limit casualties
By Breitbart. The explosion that rocked a mostly empty street in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, early on Christmas Day seems to be both intentional and meant to limit casualties, officials say.
The bomb went off at around 6:30 a.m. on Friday in what FBI and local officials confirmed was an “intentional act,” Fox News reported.
According to authorities, gunfire was heard ahead of the bomb blast outside an AT&T building in Nashville’s downtown area between First and Second Avenues. The shots fired call came in about an hour before the blast.
Once police arrived on the scene, officers heard a loudspeaker blasting a message from a van warning, “If you can hear this, evacuate now.”
Surveillance video of the explosion seems to reveal the pre-recorded message warning people to evacuate the area:
(Read more from “Terrifying Explosion Rocks Nashville: ‘Intentional’ but Meant To Limit Casualties” HERE)
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Nashville Cops Who ‘Ran To Danger’ in Christmas Explosion Hailed as Heroes
By New York Post. Nashville’s mayor praised the police officers at Friday morning’s explosion as “incredible heroes” who rushed toward danger to save lives.
Mayor John Cooper said the six local cops took “swift action” to evacuate people in the city’s downtown area as a parked RV blared a warning that a bomb would detonate in 15 minutes.
“These incredible heroes who ran to danger with uncertain outcomes ahead of them were responsible for so many injuries being saved,” Cooper said in an evening press conference.
The brave cops “took swift action and directed people away to save lives — even at the time when their own lives would have been in peril.”
“They are heroes and I am grateful to them.”
The officers had been responding to reports of “shots fired” in Nashville’s downtown when they came upon the RV and heard the chilling recording. (Read more from “Nashville Cops Who ‘Ran To Danger’ in Christmas Explosion Hailed as Heroes” HERE)
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