The 'Americans Getting Shot' Thread

[harrybarracuda]

its quite clear the problem was use of guns, now if the police had been properly equipped with RPGs then i think the score would have been reversed.

Had they dropped a precision guided missile on the home, the gunman would be dead and these officers would still be alive.

[S Landreth]

While our resident spammer is frantically C&P'ing about a largely irrelevant court case. Irrelevant in that it won't stop mass murders,.

Jury was out Monday for Presidents day

[S Landreth]

While our resident spammer is frantically C&P'ing about a largely irrelevant court case.

No verdict today

[S Landreth]

While our resident spammer is frantically C&P'ing about a largely irrelevant court case.

Erik Uebelacker - Three days in, and still no verdict in the NRA trial.

But the most recent jury note today dealt with Question 9(a) and 9(b).

That’s on Page 15 of 17 on the verdict sheet. Of course, the jury could be skipping around, but it’s a good sign that we’re nearing the end. https://twitter.com/Uebey/status/1760427481884971038

[S Landreth]

While our resident spammer is frantically C&P'ing about a largely irrelevant court case. Irrelevant in that it won't stop mass murders,

Erik Uebelacker - No verdict today, FOLKS. The jury just asked for testimony transcripts from:

Charles Cotton
David Coy
Sonya Rowling

"Is it possible that this could be ready in the morning?"

(The lawyers need to compile/comb through transcripts before they give them to the jury.): https://twitter.com/Uebey/status/1760777871033844157

[S Landreth]

• Attorney General James Wins Trial Against NRA and Wayne LaPierre

New York Attorney General Letitia James today announced that the jury in her case against the National Rifle Association (NRA) and three current and former senior leaders has found the defendants liable for violating the law. The jury found that Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre and former Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Wilson “Woody” Phillips were liable for financial misconduct and corruption in managing the organization. The jury concluded that LaPierre abused his position for his personal benefit and steered lucrative contracts to friends and relatives, including spending millions of organization dollars on lavish travel, private planes, expensive clothing, and more. LaPierre was found to have caused the NRA $5.4 million in damages and must pay $4.35 million. The jury also determined that Attorney General James has shown cause for removal of LaPierre from the NRA based upon his violations.

The jury also found that the NRA failed to properly administer charitable funds and violated state laws that protect whistleblowers. Phillips and the current General Counsel and Corporate Secretary John Frazer were found liable for failing to uphold their duties as nonprofit executives. Phillips was ordered to pay $2 million in damages. Frazer and the NRA were also found liable for making false statements on the NRA’s regulatory filings.

“This verdict is a major victory for the people of New York and our efforts to stop the corruption and greed at the NRA,” said Attorney General James. “For years, Wayne LaPierre used charitable dollars to fund his lavish lifestyle, spending millions on luxury travel, expensive clothes, insider contracts, and other perks for himself and his family. LaPierre and senior leaders at the NRA blatantly abused their positions and broke the law. But today, after years of rampant corruption and self-dealing, Wayne LaPierre and the NRA are finally being held accountable. We will not hesitate to pursue justice against any individual or organization that violates our laws or our trust, no matter how powerful they are.”

Over the course of a six-week trial, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) presented evidence revealing the extent of the NRA and its senior leaders’ violations of the law and misuse of NRA funds. The evidence presented included:

• Invoices of repeated private flight trips to the Bahamas taken by Wayne LaPierre with friends and family and paid for by the NRA, including some invoices which concealed passengers and destinations;
• Invoices of helicopter trips to NASCAR races to avoid being stuck in traffic;
• Expense reports submitted by Wayne LaPierre and paid by the NRA for reimbursement of outdoor mosquito treatment at his house, landscaping for his house, and gifts for friends and family;
• A no-show post-employment contract between the NRA and Woody Phillips to pay him $360,000 annually in addition to $3,500 in monthly office rent;
• Invoices worth more than $4 million dollars from the NRA’s then-largest vendor, Ackerman McQueen, for “out-of-pocket” expenses that had no detail and were used as a pass through for other expenses incurred by NRA Executives, including high end travel expenses for Wayne LaPierre and hair and makeup expenses for LaPierre’s wife; and
• Testimony from whistleblowers detailing harassment, intimidation, or other forms of retaliation by the NRA for raising concerns about the misuse of funds.

Following the jury determination of liability against the NRA and the individual defendants, a separate court proceeding before Justice Cohen, sitting without a jury, will be held to determine whether to award non-monetary relief, including:

• Whether an independent compliance monitor, which would report to the Court, should be appointed to ensure the proper administration of the NRA’s charitable assets.
• Whether an independent governance expert should be appointed to advise the Court on reforms necessary to the NRA’s governance to ensure the proper administration of the NRA’s charitable assets.
• Whether Wayne LaPierre and Woody Phillips should be permanently barred from re-election or appointment as an NRA officer or director, or from any other New York state not-for-profit corporation.
• Whether the NRA and John Frazer should be barred from soliciting or collecting funds on behalf of any charitable organization operating in New York.

Attorney General James thanks the jury for their time and service.

New York jury finds Wayne LaPierre misappropriated NRA funds, cost group $5.4 million

Now, a second bench trial under Cohen will determine injunctive relief, which could ban LaPierre from returning as CEO.

[harrybarracuda]

This bloke is many, many years late to the party.

The dumb shits are already in full on numb mode.

LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — The head of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says he fears that a drumbeat of mass shootings and other gun violence across the United States could make Americans numb to the bloodshed, fostering apathy to finding solutions rather than galvanizing communities to act.
Director Steve Dettelbach’s comments to The Associated Press came after he met this past week with family members of some of the 18 people killed in October at a bowling alley and a bar in Lewiston, Maine by a U.S. Army reservist who later took his own life.
He said people must not accept that gun violence is a prevalent part of American life.
“It seems to me that things that we used to sort of consider memorable, life-altering, shocking events that you might think about and talk about for months or years to come now are happening with seeming frequency that makes it so that we sort of think, “That’s just the one that happened this week,’” he said. “If we come to sort of accept that, that’s a huge hurdle in addressing the problem.”

Chief enforcer of US gun laws fears Americans may become numb to violence with each mass shooting | AP News

[helge]

FOREIGN COUNTRY


American couple found guilty of murder committed by their son


The parents are convicted of not responding to obvious warning signs from their son, as well as giving him a gun.







James Crumbley received his sentence yesterday. His wife Jennifer was also found guilty of involuntary manslaughter last month. (Photo: © Bill Pugliano, Ritzau Scanpix)

OF

Laura Kirkebæk-Johansson

Amerikansk foraeldrepar kendt skyldige i drab, som deres son har begaet | Udland | DR



In November 2021, then-15-year-old Ethan Crumbley shot and killed four students and wounded seven more at Oxford High School in the US state of Michigan.

Yesterday, his father, James Crumbley, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for his son's actions. Last month, Ethan's mother, Jennifer Crumbley, was found guilty of the same.

This is the first time in the United States that a couple of parents have been convicted of a school shooting by their child.







16-year-old Tate Myre, 14-year-old Hana St Juliana, 17-year-old Madisyn Baldwin and 17-year-old Justin Shilling were killed in the shooting. Seven others were injured. (Photo: © NIC ANTAYA, Ritzau Scanpix)
And that's a surprising verdict, says Ruben Toft Sindahl, legal analyst at the online media Kongressen.com.

"In the case of manslaughter, you must either have acted with gross negligence or had a duty that you have not fulfilled," he said.

"With this ruling, you are trying to say that parents have a duty and a responsibility to know what is going on in their children's lives.

The couple's sentence has not yet been meted out, but they could face 15 years in prison.

Their son, Ethan Crumbley, has pleaded guilty to 24 charges, including murder, and was sentenced last year to life in prison without the possibility of parole.







Jennifer Crumbley was found guilty in early February of four counts of involuntary manslaughter. (Photo: © Bill Pugliano, Ritzau Scanpix)
Ignored clear warnings


Prosecutor Karen McDonald argued during the trial that the parents had ignored several warning signs from their son.

She has called the attack on the school "avoidable and predictable" and believes parents have not done enough to address their son's poor mental health.

"James Crumbley was confronted with the easiest, most conspicuous options to prevent the deaths of these four students. And he did nothing," McDonald said in his closing remarks.

Among other things, the parents had given their son the semi-automatic pistol he used to kill four students as a gift a few days before the shooting.

Prosecutors argued that the parents had not ensured that the weapon was safely stored.







Ethan Crumbley was sentenced in December to life in prison for the school shooting at Oxford High School. (Photo: © CARLOS OSORIO, Associated Press)

Was at a meeting with concerned teachers the same day


On the morning of the shooting, parents were summoned to a meeting at the school after a teacher saw a disturbing drawing their son had made.

The drawing showed among a gun and phrases such as "thoughts will not stop", "help me", "my life a useless" and "blood everywhere".





It was this drawing that Ethan Crumbley made during school hours that prompted teachers to call parents to a meeting. The school has subsequently also been criticized for not doing enough to prevent the tragedy. (Photo: © Clarence Tabb Jr., Associated Press)
But the parents cut short the meeting to go to work and refused to take their son home, as school staff suggested.

The employees then sent the son back to class without checking his backpack, in which he had brought the new gun.

James Crumbley's defence lawyer, Mariell Lehman, has claimed he "had no idea his son was struggling".

James Crumbley did not testify at his own trial. Jennifer Crumbley, on the other hand, tried during her trial to blame her husband for the tragedy.

More cases where parents have been convicted


In the past few months, several parents in other states have been convicted in cases where their children injured or killed people with firearms.

But unlike the case of the Crumbleys, they have not been convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

In November, Robert Crimo Jr. pleaded guilty to seven counts of "reckless conduct" for helping his son own firearms, including a high-powered rifle, which authorities said was used in an attack on a parade in a Chicago suburb on July 4 in 2022.







The alleged perpetrator began shooting at a parade in connection with US Independence Day on July 4, 2022. (Photo: © MAX HERMAN, Scanpix Denmark)

Seven people were killed in the attack, and the alleged perpetrator's father was sentenced to 60 days in jail. The son, who was 21 at the time of the crime, has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.

In December, Deja Taylor was sentenced to two years in prison for child neglect after her 6-year-old son shot his teacher in a classroom. The teacher was seriously injured by the bullet that went through her hand and hit her chest.

A special case


According to Ruben Toft Sindahl, the case of the parents is special because there were so many direct signs that the parents could have responded to.

That's likely why the court found there were grounds for convicting the parents of involuntary manslaughter — a conviction never before linked to parents of school shooters.

But one cannot generally assume from this judgment that parents can be judged in the future for their children's actions.

"What makes this case special is that there is such a direct correlation between what the parents have done or have not done and what has happened. And that's probably what will often be missing in other cases where parents have obtained a weapon, for example, he says.

The parents are scheduled to have their sentences meted out on April 9.