Ongoing shooting at Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado.

[The Romulan Republic]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/wor ... e27511611/

A gunman inside a Planned Parenthood center here was exchanging gunfire with the police, the authorities said Friday, wounding at least eight people, including four officers. People in the surrounding buildings, including the clinic, were told to shelter in place.

“This is still very active. We do have the individual inside the building and as of a minute ago ... he was actively shooting at us,” the spokeswoman, Lieutenant Catherine Buckley, told reporters about three hours after the first shots were reported.


Active shooting situation at Planned Parenthood clinic ( Reuters )
She said there were people inside the building and police “have been affecting rescues from that building” as well as a nearby strip mall.

Buckley, whose comments were broadcast by Fox News, said police had “encountered one individual” and did not know anything about his possible motives.Police on Friday swarmed an area around a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Colorado Springs, where a gunman opened fire, injuring three officers and an undetermined number of civilians, police and hospital officials said.

City police said in a Twitter message about two hours after the shooting was first reported that the situation remained unstable.

“This is an active situation,” a police department spokeswoman, Lieutenant Catherine Buckley, told CNN, adding that law enforcement had yet to confirm the gunman’s location.

She said police also were not sure that shooting had any connection to Planned Parenthood and that circumstances surrounding the gunfire remained unclear.

CBS News reported that a gunman fired shots upon entering the clinic, which was guarded by security, and that law enforcement officials were concerned about the possibility explosives being involved.

At the outset of the situation, police said in a Twitter post that a call for assistance referred to a person firing a gun in the city’s northwest side, on Centennial Boulevard, where the Planned Parenthood center is located.

The facility provides abortions, screening for sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy testing and other services, according to its website.

The clinic was open for business on Friday, according to Cathy Alderman, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains.

“At this time, our concern is for the safety of our patients, staff and law enforcement,” Vicki Cowart, president of Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains, said in a statement.

As in much of the rest of the country, abortion is a divisive issue in the politically competitive state of Colorado, figuring prominently in attack ads during last year’s hard-fought Senate race between incumbent Democrat Mark Udall and Republican challenger Cory Gardner, the winner of the election.

The Colorado Springs clinic has been the target of repeated protests and in recent years moved to its current location, which has been derided as a “fortress” by abortion foes.

Hundreds of protesters picketed in front of the clinic in August as part of a push by abortion opponents to cut off public funding for Planned Parenthood, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette.

One man was charged with trespassing in 2012 after flouting as many as 30 warnings to keep of clinic property, the paper said

Early police reports painted a chaotic picture of the situation.

“The area is NOT secure. Media do not stage in the area,” the police department said in its tweet, adding that the area was “not secure” and urging members of the public in a nearby shopping center to “shelter in place.”

Brigette Wolfe, who works across the street from the scene, told CNN she could see law enforcement officers including police SWAT teams deployed in the area.

Colorado Springs, about 70 miles south of Denver, was the scene of a mass shooting on Oct. 31 in which a gunman killed three people near downtown before dying in a shootout with police.

The city is home to the U.S. Air Force Academy and the U.S. Olympic training center.

I don't want to jump to conclusions, but I'll be very much surprised if this isn't an act of terrorism being perpetrated by a Tea Party type.

[Agent Fisher]

Or, you know, a Christian nut job. Tea party type doesn't automatically mean radical anti-abortion

[The Romulan Republic]

The Christian Right, the Tea Party... there's a lot of overlap there, as I'm sure you know.

I never said all Tea Party people are radically anti-abortion, so don't fucking put words in my mouth. But a great many of them are. And any who aren't are at least willing to associate themselves with such people and their beliefs by being part of a movement that is full of them and welcomes them.

But of course it could be something else, like a random psycho or a disgruntled employee from what I've read thus far. So we'll keep that option on the table.

[The Romulan Republic]

Update:

Suspect taken alive, no one confirmed dead. Let's hope the wounded all fully recover.

I'm impressed that the cops managed to resolve this without anyone dying, including the suspect. I probably wouldn't have expected that.

https://nbc41.com/2015/11/27/active-sho ... od/clinic/

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) – NBC News is reporting that a gunman who opened fire at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic on Friday has been captured.

The man wounded multiple people and engaged in gun battles with police as patients and staff members ducked behind tables to hide and keep away from the crossfire.

At least nine people were taken to hospitals amid the shooting that spanned several hours.

Three officers were injured while responding to the initial report of shots fired at the clinic before noon, authorities said. More than two hours later, the gunman shot and injured a fourth officer in another exchange with police inside the clinic, police Lt. Catherine Buckley said.

Authorities said they don’t know the motive of the gunman or whether the shooter had any connection to Planned Parenthood.

“We don’t have any information on this individual’s mentality, or his ideas or ideology,” Buckley said.

Planned Parenthood released a statement that said it did not know the full circumstances or motives behind the attack, or whether the organization was the target.

The shots sent people inside the clinic racing for cover. Jennifer Motolinia hid behind a table inside the clinic and called her brother, Joan, who said he heard multiple gunshots in the background.

“She was telling me to take care of her babies because she could get killed,” Joan Motolinia said of his sister, the mother of three.

He rushed to the clinic but was frustrated because a police barricade kept him from getting close.

“People were shooting for sure. I heard someone shooting. There was a lot of gunfire. She was calm, she was trying to hide from those people,” he said.

Police cordoned off the clinic, nearby medical offices and a shopping center. Authorities ordered everyone in the area to take shelter where they were.

Denise Speller, manager of a nearby hair salon, said she heard as many as 20 gunshots in less than five minutes.

She told The Gazette newspaper that she saw a police cruiser and two officers near a Chase Bank branch, not far from the Planned Parenthood facility.

One of the officers appeared to fall to the ground and the other officer knelt down to help and then tried to get the officer to safety behind the car, she said. Another officer told Speller to seek shelter inside the building.

“We’re still pretty freaked out,” Speller said by phone. “We can’t stop shaking.”

Ambulances and police vehicles lined up at a nearby intersection and police told people via Twitter to stay away from the shooting scene because it was not secure.

Mike Pelosi, who works at a deli at a nearby King Sooper grocery store, said he heard over the store’s loudspeaker just before noon that nobody could leave the store.

Pelosi said customers and store employees were confused about what was going on but not panicked. He said a couple dozen customers were standing near the store entrance waiting for instructions.

The location of the shooting is less than 6 miles from the street where a man shot and killed two of three people before dying in a gun battle with police on Halloween day.

Authorities said 33-year-old Noah Jacob Harpham first shot a bicyclist near his home, then walked less than a mile and shot two women on the porch of a sobriety house.

Stephanie Kight, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio made the following statement.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families who have been affected by this tragedy. We condemn this heinous act of violence, regardless of the motive behind it.

“This situation is still developing, and at this moment we don’t yet know the full circumstances and motives behind this tragic event, or if Planned Parenthood was in fact the target of this attack.

“Planned Parenthood’s main concern now is the safety and ongoing security of our patients and staff, in Colorado and around the country. No one deserves to be a victim of senseless violence, whether it is based on their gender, skin color, profession, or decision to access essential medical services.

“We are grateful to law enforcement and first responders who work to keep our communities safe and we will continue to work closely with them to keep our patients, staff and health centers safe. Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio has strong security measures in place, works closely with law enforcement agencies, and has a very strong safety record.

“As we have for the last 87 years in Ohio, Planned Parenthood will continue to provide the compassionate, respectful care our patients deserve. We will never back away from providing care in safe and supportive environment for millions that rely on us in Ohio and across the nation.”

[RogueIce]

I don't know, but to me it just seems odd that if this was a directed attack against the clinic, why are nearly half the wounded police officers, and not those inside the clinic? If he wanted to kill people inside the clinic, why get in a shootout with the police? Unless this shooter was stupidly unlucky and there was a cop right there when he went in to shoot up the place, it seems odd for there to be relatively few casualties inside the clinic before he got in a gunfight with the cops.

I mean, it could well be what it first appears. But I'd like to wait for more information before coming to a conclusion. Given that the suspect is alive, we should be able to find out a motive.

[The Romulan Republic]

CBC is reporting that one of the officers involved has died.

[The Romulan Republic]

Now its one police officer and two civilians dead.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world-planned-pa ... -1.3340467

One officer and two civilians have died after an hours-long standoff at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colo., police and city officials said at a news conference late Friday.

Earlier, police had said at least 11 people, including five officers, were taken to nearby hospitals as a result of the incident, which involved at least two exchanges of gunfire.

The standoff ended about five hours after it began when the gunman was taken into police custody.

"Officers were able to shout to suspect and make communication with him, and at that point they were able to get him to surrender and take him into custody," said police spokeswoman Lt. Catherine Buckley.

He was apprehended at 4:52 p.m. MT.

At a news conference shortly after the shooter's arrest Friday evening, police said they were dealing with a "huge crime scene" that would take hours, if not days, to comb through.

Planned Parenthood building evacuated
Two women are escorted out the Planned Parenthood building where a shooter opened fire on Friday. (Rick Wilking/Reuters)

"At this point, I have as many questions as you do," Colorado Springs police Chief Peter Carey told reporters.

Buckley also said authorities were going through the building to determine whether there were still people inside.

The incident began shortly before noon after authorities received a call about shots being fired near the Planned Parenthood clinic.

Media placeholderPlay Media
Colorado gunman in custody after standoff4:51

Three officers were injured while responding to the initial report of shots fired. More than two hours later, the gunman shot and injured a fourth officer in another exchange with police inside the clinic, Buckley said.

Authorities said they don't know the motive of the gunman or whether the shooter had any connection to Planned Parenthood. The name of the suspect was not released.

"We don't have any information on this individual's mentality, or his ideas or ideology," Buckley said.

Planned Parenthood released a statement saying it did not know the full circumstances or motives behind the attack, or whether the organization was the target.

"We will never back away from providing care in a safe, supportive environment that millions of people rely on and trust," Vicki Cowart, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains, said.

'There was a lot of gunfire'

The shots sent people inside the clinic racing for cover. Jennifer Motolinia hid behind a table inside the clinic and called her brother, Joan, who said he heard multiple gunshots in the background.

"She was telling me to take care of her babies because she could get killed," Motolinia said of the mother of three.

He rushed to the clinic but was frustrated because a police barricade kept him from getting close.

Planned Parenthood Shooting
Police confer at an intersection near the shooting scene. The gunman was taken into custody at 4:52 p.m. MT, according to officials. (David Zalubowski/Associated Press)

"People were shooting for sure. I heard someone shooting. There was a lot of gunfire. She was calm. She was trying to hide from those people," he said.

Police cordoned off the clinic, nearby medical offices and a shopping centre and told people to shelter in place.

Denise Speller, the manager of a nearby haircut salon, said she heard as many as 20 gunshots in the span of less than five minutes.

"We're still pretty freaked out," Speller said by phone. "We can't stop shaking."

She told the Gazette of Colorado Springs that she saw a police cruiser and two officers near a Chase Bank branch, not far from the Planned Parenthood facility.

One of the officers appeared to fall to the ground. The other office knelt down to render aid and then tried to get the officer to safety behind the car, she said. Another officer told Speller to seek shelter inside the building.

"We're still pretty freaked out," Speller said by phone. "We can't stop shaking. For now we're stuck back here not knowing."

Ambulances and police vehicles lined up at a nearby intersection and police told people via Twitter to stay away from the shooting scene because it was not secure.

Shelley Satulla said she saw five or six people put on stretchers and placed in ambulances lined up next to King Soopers shopping centre near the clinic.

Later in the afternoon, other people were able to walk out of the shopping centre area accompanied by police officers toward a line of ambulances.

Mike Pelosi, who works at a deli at a nearby King Sooper grocery store, said he heard over the store's loudspeaker just before noon that nobody could leave the store.

Pelosi said customers and store employees were confused about what was going on but not panicked. He said a couple dozen customers were standing near the store entrance waiting for instructions.

Planned Parenthood Shooting
A person is transported to an ambulance in Colorado Springs, Colo., after a shooting that injured at least 11. (Daniel Owen/The Gazette via AP)

The Planned Parenthood clinic is located next to a building that houses several medical offices. The facility provides abortions, screening for sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy testing and other services, according to its website.

Recent Planned Parenthood controversy

Planned Parenthood has been a political flashpoint in recent weeks as several Republican-controlled states tried to cut the group's funding. The move came months after an anti-abortion group released video it alleged featured discussions about the illegal sale of fetal tissue.

U.S. Congress has launched an investigation into the footage, which was first released in July and prompted a campaign by Republicans in Congress to try and defund the organization, which gets about $500 million US in federal funding per year.

The Colorado Springs clinic has been the target of repeated protests and in recent years moved to its current location, which has been derided as a "fortress" by anti-abortion advocates.

Hundreds of protesters picketed in front of the clinic in August as part of the push to cut off public funding, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette.

Colorado Springs is located about 110 kilometres south of Denver.

[Joun_Lord]

I don't know, but to me it just seems odd that if this was a directed attack against the clinic, why are nearly half the wounded police officers, and not those inside the clinic? If he wanted to kill people inside the clinic, why get in a shootout with the police? Unless this shooter was stupidly unlucky and there was a cop right there when he went in to shoot up the place, it seems odd for there to be relatively few casualties inside the clinic before he got in a gunfight with the cops.

Pure speculation but possibly its like you said and he was unlucky enough to run into a copper during his effort to save lives by ending lives. Could possibly have been a totally crazy person (as in more crazy then is required to shoot up an abortion clinic) and shot at the cops because he perceived they are protecting the "murder industry" doctors.

My best guess is it was impotent rage. Guy goes in to kill some abortion providers but finds few targets being right after a holiday so he tries to take it out on cops. Could have possibly also been a try at some suicide by cop or trying (and thankfully failing) to become a martyr for his fucked up movement.

Anyway I'm just waiting for a Presidential candidate to say something insensitive and fucked-up about this. It would honestly surprise me if one of the Republican knob-jobs didn't do dat. And also waiting for Democrats to say something stupid about guns. Ahh so lovely tragedies are. People get hurt and the only thing our political leaders can think of is jacking off all over the still warm corpses. And this one is going to be a doozy I bet with its guns, cop killing, and abortion. If somehow a black kid got killed, a muslim was involved, and had something to do with college racism it would hit nearly every big current newsworthy thing.

[Guardsman Bass]

That actually was a sore point on Twitter. Folks were pointing out that apparently when it's a white gunman, the police can take him alive - but when it's a black kid with a knife, well, better put sixteen bullets into him to be sure!

In any case, this is just looking like yet another domestic terrorist attack against Planned Parenthood, and by no means the first this year. There's been the vandalism against clinics, the hatchet attack on a Planned Parenthood in New Hampshire, the attempted arson on a clinic in Washington, and so forth. And that's an escalation from the already escalated conditions of threats of violence and harm against clinics ever since Republicans swept into widespread power after 2010 and started slamming down TRAP laws.

The sad thing, too, is that this partially worked for him as well. The clinic will probably be closed for weeks while the investigation is on-going.

Anti-choice groups (some of which have been linked to domestic terrorism in the past) are in full froth, and while most of them will never escalate to violence, it only takes some of them.

[The Romulan Republic]

Well, as yet I've seen no confirmation of the motive, but its a pretty solid guess that its a Right wing terrorist.

Still, I'd hate to jump to conclusions.

[Wild Zontargs]

It appears that events started at the Chase Bank near the Planned Parenthood, and the shooter ran into the Planned Parenthood to get away from the police.

TL;DR: Probably not a terrorist. Sounds like a botched bank robbery, and the PP was just the most convenient place to hole up.

[Channel72]

The article you posted doesn't really indicate that - just that police were initially positioned at a nearby Chase.

[Wild Zontargs]

The police originally reported that "The shooting situation remains active and the shooter is not contained. Colorado Springs police says there is no connection to Planned Parenthood and shooting victims are getting treatment." PP became involved when PP staff holed up in the PP bathroom and called 911.

[The Romulan Republic]

http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/what-s-know ... -1.2678563

BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. — Robert Lewis Dear, the suspect in the deadly Planned Parenthood attack in Colorado Springs, frightened neighbors, had several run-ins with police and lived in different remote cabins and trailers in North and South Carolina and Colorado.
Police have not disclosed a motive for the attack, but here is what we know about the 57-year-old suspect:
WHY DO POLICE BELIEVE HE OPENED FIRE?
RELATED STORIES
Planned Parenthood shooting suspect called loner who left few clues
3 dead in attack at Planned Parenthood clinic; suspect in custody
It's still unclear, but Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers said people can make inferences about the motive "from where it took place." Authorities have said little else about a motive. Dear's North Carolina neighbors said they never heard him talk about abortion.
HAS HE BEEN IN TROUBLE WITH THE LAW BEFORE?
Dear has had several run-ins with police. In 1997, his then-wife said he hit her and pushed her out a window after locking her out of their home. A neighbor accused him of peering into her home, but a Peeping Tom charge against Dear was dismissed a month after it was filed. Police were also called to his home after his neighbor's dog was shot with a pellet gun.
WHERE WAS HE FROM?
Dear lived for years in a cabin that had no electricity or running water in the North Carolina mountains, about 15 miles west of Asheville. There were "no trespassing" signs at the property and at a trailer in the nearby town of Swannanoa. He had also lived in a double-wide trailer in South Carolina.
WHAT DO PEOPLE WHO KNOW HIM THINK ABOUT HIM?
His North Carolina neighbors said the only companion they saw with Dear was a mangy dog that looked to be in such bad shape they called animal control because they worried he was beating it.
Dear kept mostly to himself, according to the neighbors, most of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared Dear would retaliate. When he did talk, he rambled about topics that didn't make sense together and he tended to avoid eye contact, neighbor James Russell said.
His South Carolina neighbors say he hid food in the woods and liked to skinny dip.
John Hood said Dear once recommended that Hood put a metal roof on his home so the U.S. government couldn't spy on him.
Dear made money by selling prints of his uncle Bill Stroud's paintings, Hood said.
WHERE WAS HE LIVING RIGHT BEFORE THE ATTACK?
Dear had an address in the town of Hartsel, about 60 miles west of Colorado Springs. Jamie Heffelman, owner of the Highline Cafe in Hartsel, said residents would occasionally see Dear at the post office to get his mail but he never said much. "Nobody really knows him, he stays to himself," she said.

Not clear that he was a terrorist, but he seems to fit the "nut living in a cabin" cliche.

Edited to fix the link.

[Flagg]

He was a terrorist. He fits the very definition of a terrorist. The only reason there's a question in anyone's mind about it is due to his race and religion.

[The Romulan Republic]

He was a terrorist. He fits the very definition of a terrorist. The only reason there's a question in anyone's mind about it is due to his race and religion.

Since you have implicitly called me a racist and religious bigot for suggesting their is ambiguity over weather he is a terrorist, my inclination is to simply tell you to go fuck yourself.

However, that's not a particularly convincing rebuttal, so here's a different dictionary definition of terrorism (I know this is not a legal definition, which will vary from one jurisdiction to another, but its more than you offered).

www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/terrorism

"the use of violent acts to frighten the people in an area as a way of trying to achieve a political goal"

Now, their are other definitions, but terrorism generally requires not merely an act of violence (if that was enough, every violent crime would be terrorism, which is obviously absurd), but particular motives. Of course, I will be the first to say that those motives are plausible for an attack on a Planned Parenthood clinic, but their are other conceivable possibilities. Coincidences happen. So until they confirm the necessary motivations for the attack, I will not say that it is definitively terrorism.

Some people would be quick to assume terrorism if the guy was Muslim, though not every shooting by a non-white or non-Christian person (is it even confirmed this guy was Christian?) is assumed to be terrorism. And of course they'd be wrong to assume it. However, the answer to knee jerk assumptions from one group is not knee-jerk assumptions from another group.

[Flagg]

He was a terrorist. He fits the very definition of a terrorist. The only reason there's a question in anyone's mind about it is due to his race and religion.

Since you have implicitly called me a racist and religious bigot for suggesting their is ambiguity over weather he is a terrorist, my inclination is to simply tell you to go fuck yourself.

However, that's not a particularly convincing rebuttal, so here's a different dictionary definition of terrorism (I know this is not a legal definition, which will vary from one jurisdiction to another, but its more than you offered).

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/terrorism

"the use of violent acts to frighten the people in an area as a way of trying to achieve a political goal"

Now, their are other definitions, but terrorism generally requires not merely an act of violence (if that was enough, every violent crime would be terrorism, which is obviously absurd), but particular motives. Of course, I will be the first to say that those motives are plausible for an attack on a Planned Parenthood clinic, but their are other conceivable possibilities. Coincidences happen. So until they confirm the necessary motivations for the attack, I will not say that it is definitively terrorism.

Some people would be quick to assume terrorism if the guy was Muslim, though not every shooting by a non-white or non-Christian person (is it even confirmed this guy was Christian?) is assumed to be terrorism. And of course they'd be wrong to assume it. However, the answer to knee jerk assumptions from one group is not knee-jerk assumptions from another group.

No, I didn't specifically call you a racist or a religious bigot. And the political goal this twat is trying to achieve is to end the practice of legal abortion. Are you done with your tantrum now?

[The Romulan Republic]

If that was what you consider a tantrum, you have a very thin skin, although I'm sorry if I misinterpreted you.

And while your theory as to his goal is certainly plausible, it has not been confirmed to my knowledge, and you have provided no source confirming that it has. So you've back up an assertion with another assertion.

Look, I'd be lying if I said that I hadn't thought, reading about this case, that it was probably terrorism. I've posted extensively on this board and elsewhere about Right wing terrorism, so its not as if this is something I turn a blind eye to. I just don't want to state that it definitively is without confirmation of the motive. Their's far too much making of knee-jerk assumptions about such cases as it is and terrorism is a label that's tossed around too quickly at times.

Edit: It should go without saying, therefore, that if we get confirmation that the motive was to terrorize abortion providers, I will without reservation agree that this guy is a terrorist.

[Joun_Lord]

I don't know if this guy is a terrorist but he certainly sounds like a total fucking wacko.

I do think calling every single little shooting by some right wing wacknut as terrorism is foolish and diminishes the term just the same as shitbags like Nanny Bloomberg's anti-rights groups trying to imply every gun incident on schools is a mass school shooting.

Terrorism is something terrible (who'd thunk it?), far more terrible then some mentally unbalanced idiot shooting some people because some dude in the sky or CIA micromachinenanobots told him to. Calling every evil White Christian or evil Brown Muslim who shoots some people a terrorist plays up what is a unbalanced moron with a gun and maybe diminishes actual terrorist attacks. A person can be religious and kill someone without being religiously motivated.

Now all that mumbo jumbo said (typed) this could well be a act of terrorism if this was indeed a directed attack against PP in attempt to scare people but right now its too early to tell. We should wait a teensy tiny wee bit longer before shouting "OMG terrorism, gotta drone strike someone!"

[The Romulan Republic]

Well, here's a political motive confirmation (its a long article so I'm only posting part of it):

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/pos ... hree-dead/

The gunman suspected of storming a Planned Parenthood clinic and killing a police officer and two others told the officers who arrested him “no more baby parts,’’ after being taken into custody, according to a law enforcement official.

The attack on the clinic was “definitely politically motivated,’’ the official — who has been briefed on the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity because it is still unfolding — told The Washington Post. NBC News, which first reported the comment attributed to suspect Robert Lewis Dear, said Dear also mentioned President Obama in a range of statements to investigators that left unclear his precise motivation in targeting the clinic.

Yet even as authorities worked to determine the exact motive and released few details about Friday’s shootings, the politics of the highly charged abortion issue seemed to outstrip their efforts to be methodical. While anti-abortion activists denied any knowledge of Dear and said he is not affiliated with their movement, pro-choice activists countered that rhetoric by conservatives against Planned Parenthood had precipitated the nation’s latest mass shooting.

Dear is accused of killing two civilians in addition to University of Colorado police officer Garrett Swasey, as well as injuring at least four other officers and five more civilians. He is being held without bond and is scheduled to make his first appearance in court on Monday, where he is expected to be receive state murder charges. A law enforcement official said federal charges are also being considered.

The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs said Swasey, 44, had been with the campus police department for six years and responded to the initial reports of an active shooter.

[Slain officer was a co-pastor, skating champion]

Authorities say Dear was armed with a long gun and also brought into the building several “items” that could have been explosive devices.

Police first received a call reporting an “active shooter” from inside the Planned Parenthood at 11:38 a.m. local time on Friday, prompting response from both Colorado Springs police was well as Swasey. By 12:11 a.m., a county SWAT team was en route.


But the incident turned into a standoff and a search, with the shooter holed up in the Planned Parenthood building, at times exchanging gun fire with officers searching for both him and potential victims. Police say officers used a “Bearcat” — which is a large tactical vehicle — to enter the Planned Parenthood building, and evacuated 24 people. An additional 300 people were sheltered in place in the surrounding buildings.

Dear was taken into custody at 4:52 p.m., a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation said he immediately began discussing his motivations with investigators.

Looks like it was, in fact, terrorism, going by the shooter himself said. Their's a claim of a political motivation by the shooter, and its hard to imagine someone doing this without causing fear being at least part of their intent. Its certainly an inevitable result.

So yeah, I'm going to say this is terrorism.

[The Romulan Republic]

I do think one of the premier failures of the Obama administration is its failure to take a harder line against Right wing terrorism. No doubt they don't want to escalate the situation, but by doing so they've turned a blind eye and sent the message that such things will be tolerated, as well as feeding a double standard many hold when it comes to Muslim vs. non-Muslim terrorists.

[Gandalf]

I don't know if this guy is a terrorist but he certainly sounds like a total fucking wacko.

I do think calling every single little shooting by some right wing wacknut as terrorism is foolish and diminishes the term just the same as shitbags like Nanny Bloomberg's anti-rights groups trying to imply every gun incident on schools is a mass school shooting.

Terrorism is something terrible (who'd thunk it?), far more terrible then some mentally unbalanced idiot shooting some people because some dude in the sky or CIA micromachinenanobots told him to. Calling every evil White Christian or evil Brown Muslim who shoots some people a terrorist plays up what is a unbalanced moron with a gun and maybe diminishes actual terrorist attacks. A person can be religious and kill someone without being religiously motivated.

Now all that mumbo jumbo said (typed) this could well be a act of terrorism if this was indeed a directed attack against PP in attempt to scare people but right now its too early to tell. We should wait a teensy tiny wee bit longer before shouting "OMG terrorism, gotta drone strike someone!"

Why does terrorism need a threshold? You can just have larger terrorist attacks (11/9, Paris, etc) and smaller ones (PP attacks and drone strikes).

[The Romulan Republic]

I wouldn't automatically label drone strikes terrorism. I don't know if that was your intent, but it reads that way. Now, don't mistake that as support for America's recent approach to drones, because I've got major problems with it. But I would say that weather a strike is terrorism depends on the target and the reasons for it. Air strikes on civilians designed to panic/demoralize civilians (see strategic bombing in WWIII) I would call state terrorism. Strikes on legitimate military targets, of course, would not be. So weather a drone strike constitutes terrorism would depend on the target and the reasons for hitting it, rather than the fact that a drone was used.

[Joun_Lord]

Why does terrorism need a threshold? You can just have larger terrorist attacks (11/9, Paris, etc) and smaller ones (PP attacks and drone strikes).

Because terrorism is extra special evil compared to just straight up murder, its like the difference between sexual assault and rape. Labeling any political killing (or any killing at all) as terrorism diminishes the true horror and impact of actual terrorism just the same as calling it rape anytime some caveman grabs a boob (and I guess when some cavewoman grabs an arse) diminishes the true horror and impact of actual rape. Both are pretty fucked up but ones considerably more fucked up.

And while I don't agree with drone striking (if nothing else then because of the collateral damage, not even getting into the border violations and their usage to execute people we are not a war with without trial or even positive identification) I would not call it terrorism. The aim (and quite often misaim) of drones firing hellfires isn't to create terror but to remove a singular target or targets that have been rightfully or wrongly identified as bad people.

When some Chairforce operator operating on bad intel, too much Red Bull or shitty visuals on account of the limits of cameras at thousands of feet in the air hits a civilian they did so on accident, they are not actively trying to hit civilians but what could possibly be considered legitimate military targets where sometimes non-combatants are hit as collateral damage or because of bad intel/visuals. Thats considerably different from some douchebag with a bomb bombing a market just to hurt civilians both in intention and aim.

[The Romulan Republic]

I don't think that their should be some standard where it has to have such and such a death toll before it counts as terrorism or something like that, if that's what you're suggesting. Weather something is terrorism is not about the scale of the act so much as the motivations behind it.