All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[JCAll]

UPDATE: Parents Of School Shooting Suspect Ethan Crumbley Apprehended

They failed to show up for their arraignment on four charges each of involuntary manslaughter but have since been taken into custody.

I can't believe they did a runner, what the hell were they thinking.
I'd almost feel bad for the kid that his parents bailed on him, but they're all pieces of crap so I just can't.

[worstblogever]

I can't believe they did a runner, what the hell were they thinking.
I'd almost feel bad for the kid that his parents bailed on him, but they're all pieces of crap so I just can't.

The mom should listen to her own advice, "learn to not get caught".

Honestly, I'm blown away the school did EVERYTHING they could to get them to do try to force their hand and get this kid help he needed before the tragedy happened. But all signs were they were only emboldened to give the kid MORE freedom to go on a rampage the more red flags that were waved regarding his behavior. If they survive what they're charged with in a criminal trial, I don't see them managing to avoid civil lawsuits for negligence thereafter.

The only question now is... do they somehow become champions of gun groups on the right, given their prior affinity for Donald Trump and their nonchalant attitude about their son becoming a mass-murderer? Is the right cold-blooded enough to endorse them and help them out with a legal defense team, or is this finally a bridge too far for them to rally behind?

[Gray Lensman]

Lexi Alexander, the director of Punisher War Zone, on the Alec Baldwin mess.

https://twitter.com/Lexialex/status/1466957445306073095



She is better informed than the rest of us on how much responsibility Baldwin bears for this, I suspect, and given the inherent politicization of the matter by people who are still sore over his Trump impression, we need to be careful we don't get sucked into a bad faith conservative pile on.

Her perspective also comes across better for being someone who doesn't like Baldwin. It makes her take seem more fair - as the ancient Vulcan proverb states "Only Nixon could go to China"

[Tami]

Parents of Mich. school-shooting suspect in custody as police investigate possible accomplice

The fugitive parents of a 15-year-old boy accused of fatally shooting four classmates at a Michigan high school were taken into custody overnight, after they were found hiding in a commercial building in Detroit, police said in a news conference early Saturday.

Jennifer and James Crumbley were located after a tip off from the local community, and were taken into custody unarmed and “without incident,” Detroit police chief James White said. It came after an extensive search for the pair involving K-9 units, local law enforcement and the U.S. Marshals Service.

The parents each face four counts of involuntary manslaughter, after being criminally charged in an extraordinarily rare move to hold parents accountable when a minor uses their weapon in a school shooting.

The pair “did not break in” to the building, but “were aided,” White said, adding that police were actively investigating one other person that may have assisted the couple.

[Tendrin]

Her perspective also comes across better for being someone who doesn't like Baldwin. It makes her take seem more fair - as the ancient Vulcan proverb states "Only Nixon could go to China"

She definitely is not a fan.

[Tami]

'She's going to lose': Dems brag redistricting dooms conservative Illinois freshman

Illinois Democrats have GOP Rep. Mary Miller right where they want her.

The freshman Republican — who caused a frenzy during her first week in Congress earlier this year, when she gave a speech in which she said Adolf Hitler "was right about one thing" — doesn’t have a clear path back in 2023.

Miller told POLITICO this week she plans to seek reelection, but Illinois’ new congressional map splits her downstate district in two, leaving her in the undesirable spot of choosing between challenging GOP Reps. Mike Bost or Rodney Davis, two well-funded and popular incumbents who have both declared 2022 bids.

And while she squirms to decide her next move, her Democratic colleagues seem to be basking in her predicament.

“I do not feel sorry for Mary Miller,” said Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), who represents Chicago and also chairs the state Democratic Party.

“I think Mike Bost is a decent human being. I think Rodney Davis is a decent human being. And I don't recall them ever speaking lovingly of Adolf Hitler,” said Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.).

[worstblogever]

'She's going to lose': Dems brag redistricting dooms conservative Illinois freshman

Rep. Miller gave those remarks on the rotunda of the Capitol on Jan. 6th, and her speech and Mo Brooks' were the most eye-opening thing that happened prior to Trump's speech on a day full of red flags. This being said, both she, and her husband (who was also there on 1/6, and is a Illinois state legislator) are kinda bats***.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

The mom should listen to her own advice, "learn to not get caught".

Honestly, I'm blown away the school did EVERYTHING they could to get them to do try to force their hand and get this kid help he needed before the tragedy happened. But all signs were they were only emboldened to give the kid MORE freedom to go on a rampage the more red flags that were waved regarding his behavior. If they survive what they're charged with in a criminal trial, I don't see them managing to avoid civil lawsuits for negligence thereafter.

The only question now is... do they somehow become champions of gun groups on the right, given their prior affinity for Donald Trump and their nonchalant attitude about their son becoming a mass-murderer? Is the right cold-blooded enough to endorse them and help them out with a legal defense team, or is this finally a bridge too far for them to rally behind?

It wouldn’t surprise me if right wingers and/or the NRA pony up cash for a defense team. Now, if the Crumbleys were black, they’d be let to twist in the wind, we all know that. Will the GQP endorse such a move, being they’re the party of law and order? I suspect they won’t make anything in the way of a public endorsement, that potato is way too hot, but, behind the scenes, they’ll be all for it.

[Gray Lensman]

It wouldn’t surprise me if right wingers and/or the NRA pony up cash for a defense team. Now, if the Crumbleys were black, they’d be let to twist in the wind, we all know that. Will the GQP endorse such a move, being they’re the party of law and order? I suspect they won’t make anything in the way of a public endorsement, that potato is way too hot, but, behind the scenes, they’ll be all for it.

That depends on how much money the NRA currently has - the NYS lawsuit is seeking the equivalent of the death penalty for the organization. Don't get your hopes up too much though. Even if successful, New York law requires the remaining assets to be auctioned of like minded groups.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

That depends on how much money the NRA currently has - the NYS lawsuit is seeking the equivalent of the death penalty for the organization. Don't get your hopes up too much though. Even if successful, New York law requires the remaining assets to be auctioned of like minded groups.

Well, if that doesn’t work, there’s always GoFundMe. In any event, the Crumbleys are in a shitload of trouble.

[achilles]

Her perspective also comes across better for being someone who doesn't like Baldwin. It makes her take seem more fair - as the ancient Vulcan proverb states "Only Nixon could go to China"

Her perspective comes across as irrelevant. As does that director's. What is interesting is what exact gun was used. Was it in fact either a Colt SAA or one of it's clones, or was it a Ruger Vaquero, which has a patented safety system built in that in theory would prevent an accidental shooting. But Baldwin apparently didn't even know how to load a real Colt, (one for the first cylinder, skip the next, load the next four, cock and bring the hammer down onto the empty cylinder. Then, when you draw it, (and the movies use special quick draw holsters that didn't exist before they invented them), you thumb the hammer back and pull the trigger. You don't fan the gun like in the movie unless you want to hit everything but what you're aiming at, and like to replace your gun quite often. Someone should have taught Baldwin the special features of guns like that.

In the meantime, the gun is at an FBI crime lab, and they probably already know if it could have malfunctioned. And...as they refuse to rule out criminally liable anyone on set or who handled the guns...I'd say Baldwin might have been just a bit premature about saying he had no guilt. It sort of speaks that the gun likely worked as intended, meaning Baldwin did something, (he said he let the hammer down without pulling the trigger----which might well have fired the gun. Something he should have known by studying the weapon.

Of course, this all should have been a moot point, since non-functioning weapons should be the only ones allowed on set. Add the pyro in post. And take the actors out well ahead of time to a shooting range to give them instruction in safely handling the gun, and to feel the recoil, so they know how much to act when using a fake gun.

[babyblob]

Well, if that doesn’t work, there’s always GoFundMe. In any event, the Crumbleys are in a shitload of trouble.

I wonder if anyone is buying their lawyer's story that they always planned to turn themselves in. Kind of hard to make that sell when they took 4 grand from their bank account and were hiding in a building in Detroit.

[JB]

She is better informed than the rest of us on how much responsibility Baldwin bears for this, I suspect, and given the inherent politicization of the matter by people who are still sore over his Trump impression, we need to be careful we don't get sucked into a bad faith conservative pile on.

It seems the Santa Fe District Attorney made a response to his recent interview.

Alec Baldwin TV Sit-Down On ‘Rust’ Shooting Prompts D.A. To Warn “Criminally Culpable” Option Still Possible
https://deadline.com/2021/12/alec-ba...ns-1234884549/

In a pretty direct response to the actor/producer’s numerous and highly emotional assertions last night on ABC to George Stephanopoulos, First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said Friday that “certain individuals may be criminally culpable for his/her actions and/or inactions on the set of Rust.”

Noting that she plans to “exercise my prosecutorial discretion to its fullest, including filing charges that are supported by probable cause,” Carmack-Altwies also said today that her office is “exploring various legal theories at the time.”

[babyblob]

Her perspective comes across as irrelevant.

To be honest everyone but the investigators perspective is irrelevant. We can all talk all we like on what we think and the actors and directors is Hollywood can say what they think but at the end of the day only what the Police and DA thinks is all that matters.

[Gray Lensman]

To be honest everyone but the investigators perspective is irrelevant. We can all talk all we like on what we think and the actors and directors is Hollywood can say what they think but at the end of the day only what the Police and DA thinks is all that matters.

True, but I'll take the perspective of a professional in the field over an angry person on the internet who dismisses all things that don't agree with him any day of the week and twice on Sundays. (Not directed at you btw) None of our opinions are informed - and how things should be aren't how things are.