March 4, 2011
BRUCE A. BRENNAN BLOG FROM THE WORLD AND MY MIND
The news as I see it and the views as I want them.
March 4 is … Holy Experiment Day
Slaughter in America by the young; A 12-year-old Colorado boy accused of killing his parents and wounding two younger siblings was "the sweetest kid" and an active volunteer at his family's church, the pastor said. Friends and neighbors expressed shock as news spread of the slayings in Burlington, a town of about 3,700 residents near the Kansas state line.
Police said the 12-year-old called 911 on Tuesday evening and reported that shots had been fired in his home and three people were hit. Officers arrived to find the bodies of Charles Long, 50, and his wife, Marilyn Long, 51. Their two youngest children, Sara, 5, and Ethan, 9, were wounded. They were taken first to a local hospital and then airlifted to the Children's Hospital in Aurora, Colo. The boy was on a ventilator, but both children were expected to survive, family friends told KMGH, the ABC affiliate in Denver.
Police took the 12-year-old, who was not hurt, into custody.
"The case has been referred to the district attorney for the filing of formal charges against the 12-year-old," Steve Johnson of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation told reporters at a Wednesday afternoon news conference. "There are no other suspects at this time." The boy, whose name was being withheld because of his age, made an initial appearance in juvenile court on Wednesday and then was taken to a juvenile detention center. Under Colorado law, he could be charged as an adult. A juvenile court judge would have to rule on the request if prosecutors seek to have his case moved to adult court.
Police took the 12-year-old, who was not hurt, into custody.
"The case has been referred to the district attorney for the filing of formal charges against the 12-year-old," Steve Johnson of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation told reporters at a Wednesday afternoon news conference. "There are no other suspects at this time." The boy, whose name was being withheld because of his age, made an initial appearance in juvenile court on Wednesday and then was taken to a juvenile detention center. Under Colorado law, he could be charged as an adult. A juvenile court judge would have to rule on the request if prosecutors seek to have his case moved to adult court.
Police did not comment on a possible motive in the case. The family's pastor, Ron Lee of the Evangelical Free Church, said he was shocked by the killing and the arrest. He said the boy was very active at the church, handing out church bulletins before services and greeting people as they arrived. "I can't comprehend any of this," Lee told KMGH. He said there was no indication that the 12-year-old was troubled "He's the sweetest kid," Lee told the Denver Post. "He is very helpful; he's got a pleasant personality."
The Longs had seven children, ranging in age from their mid-20s to 5. The older children had moved out. Marilyn Long home-schooled the three youngest children. Her husband, a former sheriff's deputy in Kit Carson County, was a delivery driver for Frito-Lay. Some kids in the neighborhood called him the "Frito-Lay Man" because he would sometimes give out chips, the Denver Post said. "It's shocking," neighbor Josh Schlichenmayer told KMGH. "They're good Christian people. They go to church. As far as I know, they had a happy family. You don't expect this to happen in a small town like this."
California got this right. A California board denied parole Wednesday for Robert F. Kennedy's convicted assassin, Sirhan Sirhan. A panel of two California parole board commissioners concluded after a four hour hearing that Sirhan hadn't shown adequate remorse or understanding of the crime that was mourned by a nation.
Sirhan, now 66, spoke at length and expressed sorrow, but said he doesn't remember shooting Kennedy or five other victims on June 4, 1968, in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel, where Kennedy stood just moments after claiming victory in the California presidential primary. "Every day of my life, I have great remorse and deep regret," he said at the hearing at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga. He pleaded with the panel to give him a date for release, saying he wants to "get lost in the woodwork" and live out his life. It is unlikely this man could be released and merely fade in with the masses. Additionally, unless he has a means of support, he is unemployable, meaning he would be a bigger drain on society than he is now. Leave him where he is, forever.
Sirhan, now 66, spoke at length and expressed sorrow, but said he doesn't remember shooting Kennedy or five other victims on June 4, 1968, in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel, where Kennedy stood just moments after claiming victory in the California presidential primary. "Every day of my life, I have great remorse and deep regret," he said at the hearing at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga. He pleaded with the panel to give him a date for release, saying he wants to "get lost in the woodwork" and live out his life. It is unlikely this man could be released and merely fade in with the masses. Additionally, unless he has a means of support, he is unemployable, meaning he would be a bigger drain on society than he is now. Leave him where he is, forever.
Sirhan said he understood that he might be deported to his native Jordan if released and was willing to accept that. He said no one in his family is involved in politics and suggested he wouldn't be either if he was released. The panel chairman, Mike Prizmich, and the deputy commissioner, Randy Kevorkian, told Sirhan he must seek further self-help courses, come to terms with the crime and show evidence of his improvement when he gets his next parole hearing, which will be in five years. Sirhan, his hair graying and missing one tooth in the front of his mouth, appeared cheerful as he entered the hearing room. He bid the commissioners "good afternoon" and was talkative during the hearing, telling commissioners he is a practicing Christian who attends services every Sunday.
Sirhan said he was put in solitary confinement after he became a target of hatred in the prison following the Sept. 11 attacks. Fellow inmates thought he was a Muslim, he said. Sirhan was originally sentenced to death over objections by Kennedy family members who said they wanted no more killing. The sentence was commuted to life in prison when the U.S. Supreme Court briefly outlawed the death penalty in 1972. Sirhan and the Manson Family are alive today because of that failed social experiment the ultra-liberal Supreme Court tried to force feed America.
Sirhan said he was put in solitary confinement after he became a target of hatred in the prison following the Sept. 11 attacks. Fellow inmates thought he was a Muslim, he said. Sirhan was originally sentenced to death over objections by Kennedy family members who said they wanted no more killing. The sentence was commuted to life in prison when the U.S. Supreme Court briefly outlawed the death penalty in 1972. Sirhan and the Manson Family are alive today because of that failed social experiment the ultra-liberal Supreme Court tried to force feed America.
I am not sure how I come down on this issue but I do have some thoughts. In a showdown over the privacy rights of gun owners, the Illinois State Police are refusing to release a list identifying all firearm permit holders in the state after Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan determined that the information "must” be made public.
The dispute, which soon could come before a judge, has been building since last fall when a reporter for The Associated Press made a Freedom of Information Act request to the police for the names of cardholders as well as information about the weapons each permit holder is authorized to carry. But the state police, who safeguard that information, resisted as lawmakers and others raised privacy concerns. Critics questioned what public interest it would serve to let neighbors look up each other's potential weapons cache -- further, they warned that publicizing the information could put both gun owners and those who don't own guns at risk. If the state publishes a list of gun owners, Republican Rep. Ron Stephens said, "You are by design also publishing a list of everyone who doesn't" carry a firearm. That could be comparable to publishing a list of everyone who has, or doesn't have, a car alarm or home-security system, at least in the eyes of those who want to keep the records private.
Does the State of Illinois release the names of all licensed drivers to anyone who asks for it? No it does not. Will the State of Illinois release a list of vehicles every licensed driver owns? No it will not.
This would seem to me to put nongun owners at risk. If you are a criminal deciding which house to rob, would you pick the one where a gun owner who owns ten guns lives or his neighbor’s house where no legal gun owners live? If you make it public where gun owners live and what type of guns they own, doesn’t it seem obvious a criminal looking for guns would target the gun owner’s house?
The Attorney General has not thought this through thoroughly. It would increase the number of home shootings because some gun owners will load the weapons they legally own just to make sure the criminal element Lisa Madigan is helping decides to rob his/her house. Many gun owners have guns but are kept locked away, unloaded. Not all of us though.
BRUCE A. BRENNAN
DEKALB, IL 60115
COPYRIGHT 2011
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