For those times when the Tea Party feels just too--what's the word I'm looking for?--liberal. Now comes word former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke may be pondering a bid for the Republican nomination for president. Duke, who served in the Louisiana House of Representatives in the 1990s, is reportedly ready to begin a 25-state tour designed to test the waters. Could racial politics be the key in defeating the country's first black president? As Eve Conant writes on The Daily Beast, "Duke has a significant following online. His videos go viral...he hasn’t considered running for serious office since the early '90s, when he won nearly 40 percent of the vote in his bid for Louisiana governor. But like many 'white civil rights advocates,' as he describes himself to The Daily Beast, 2012 is already shaping up to be a pivotal year."...
- 7/5/2011
- by Mark Joyella
- Mediaite - TV
The latest 2012 contender has vacuumed up donations from energy companies that environmental groups say are the some of the worst polluters in the country-as he wages war on the Epa. Eve Conant on where the money is coming from and what's at stake.
Nixon created it, Newt wants to scrap it.
Related story on The Daily Beast: Should We Hit Gaddafi Next?
The newest Republican contender for the White House says the Environmental Protection Agency should be replaced with a more business-oriented model. And it just so happens that Newt Gingrich has drawn big-time financial support from huge energy companies that would love to be liberated from Epa regulation.
The subject has been something of a crusade for the former House speaker, who told a conservative conference in February that "what you have from Obama administration is a war against American energy."
It is a war that has very much engaged Gingrich's American Solutions group,...
Nixon created it, Newt wants to scrap it.
Related story on The Daily Beast: Should We Hit Gaddafi Next?
The newest Republican contender for the White House says the Environmental Protection Agency should be replaced with a more business-oriented model. And it just so happens that Newt Gingrich has drawn big-time financial support from huge energy companies that would love to be liberated from Epa regulation.
The subject has been something of a crusade for the former House speaker, who told a conservative conference in February that "what you have from Obama administration is a war against American energy."
It is a war that has very much engaged Gingrich's American Solutions group,...
- 5/11/2011
- by Eve Conant
- The Daily Beast
He's out to win the White House. But as Michael Tomasky explains, Newt's campaign is merely comic relief. Plus, Eve Conant on Newt's dirty polluter money.
I don't know much in this life. I can't tell you who's going to win the NBA championship or when the Pakistani Isi will become a bulwark against extremism or what year Keith Richards' lungs will finally cry uncle. But I do know this: Newt Gingrich will never be president of the United States.
Related story on The Daily Beast: The Gop's Bin Laden Jitters
It will of course be fun to watch him run. Following Gingrich is a form of entertainment-he's an all-around vaudevillian of political theatre. Journalists have a soft spot for him, even avowedly liberal ones like me, because if nothing else he is sui generis. I met him in 1992 when I was down in Atlanta for that year's vice-presidential debate,...
I don't know much in this life. I can't tell you who's going to win the NBA championship or when the Pakistani Isi will become a bulwark against extremism or what year Keith Richards' lungs will finally cry uncle. But I do know this: Newt Gingrich will never be president of the United States.
Related story on The Daily Beast: The Gop's Bin Laden Jitters
It will of course be fun to watch him run. Following Gingrich is a form of entertainment-he's an all-around vaudevillian of political theatre. Journalists have a soft spot for him, even avowedly liberal ones like me, because if nothing else he is sui generis. I met him in 1992 when I was down in Atlanta for that year's vice-presidential debate,...
- 5/11/2011
- by Michael Tomasky
- The Daily Beast
Five years after falsely accusing three Duke lacrosse players of rape, Crystal Mangum has been arrested after allegedly stabbing her boyfriend. David A. Graham and Eve Conant report on the former exotic dancer's tangled past.
Late Sunday night, a man called 911 in Durham, North Carolina, and told the dispatcher that his uncle, Reginald Daye, had just been stabbed in his apartment. When the dispatcher asked who had stabbed him, his nephew said, "Crystal Mangum. The Crystal Mangum," adding, "I told him she was trouble from the very beginning."
Related story on The Daily Beast: The New Face of Evil
The definite article-and the nephew's warning-testify to Mangum's reputation. Since she rose to national prominence almost five years ago, when she accused three members of the Duke University lacrosse team of rape, she has been a divisive figure for residents of the former tobacco town. To her detractors, Mangum, 32, is an unstable criminal,...
Late Sunday night, a man called 911 in Durham, North Carolina, and told the dispatcher that his uncle, Reginald Daye, had just been stabbed in his apartment. When the dispatcher asked who had stabbed him, his nephew said, "Crystal Mangum. The Crystal Mangum," adding, "I told him she was trouble from the very beginning."
Related story on The Daily Beast: The New Face of Evil
The definite article-and the nephew's warning-testify to Mangum's reputation. Since she rose to national prominence almost five years ago, when she accused three members of the Duke University lacrosse team of rape, she has been a divisive figure for residents of the former tobacco town. To her detractors, Mangum, 32, is an unstable criminal,...
- 4/5/2011
- by David A. Graham & Eve Conant
- The Daily Beast
There's no doubt Japan's disaster is already worse than Three Mile Island. Eve Conant talks to Tom Kauffman about working through the chaos and the problems facing U.S. nuclear plants.
Even before Tom Kauffman stepped inside the plant on the morning of March 28, 1979, he could tell something was wrong. The partial meltdown, caused by human error, marked Three Mile Island as America's most infamous-and perhaps educational-nuclear accident.
Related story on The Daily Beast: The Human Fallout for Japan
Kauffman, now a spokesman for the Nuclear Energy Institute, the policy arm of the country's nuclear industry, talks about why he stayed at the plant to help, how the accident changed America's nuclear industry, and how Japan's unfolding nuclear crisis compares.
What happened when you got to work that morning?
I was completing my second year of training as plant systems operator-which is basically the eyes, ears, and hands of the control room.
Even before Tom Kauffman stepped inside the plant on the morning of March 28, 1979, he could tell something was wrong. The partial meltdown, caused by human error, marked Three Mile Island as America's most infamous-and perhaps educational-nuclear accident.
Related story on The Daily Beast: The Human Fallout for Japan
Kauffman, now a spokesman for the Nuclear Energy Institute, the policy arm of the country's nuclear industry, talks about why he stayed at the plant to help, how the accident changed America's nuclear industry, and how Japan's unfolding nuclear crisis compares.
What happened when you got to work that morning?
I was completing my second year of training as plant systems operator-which is basically the eyes, ears, and hands of the control room.
- 3/20/2011
- by Eve Conant
- The Daily Beast
Several of Fukushima Daiichi's reactors are spewing radioactive material, but just one contains the even more toxic Mox fuel. Eve Conant reports on the controversial mixture of uranium and plutonium-and the likelihood of its dispersal into the air. Plus, full coverage of Japan's nuclear crisis.
Related story on The Daily Beast: Complete Methodology: Most Vulnerable Power Plants
At least three reactors at Japan's beleaguered Fukushima Daiichi plant appear to be releasing some radioactive material. But it is reactor No. 3 that, unlike the others, recently began using a special kind of mixed fuel that some scientists argue could be radically more toxic to human health if released into the atmosphere.
Japanese officials said Wednesday that smoke had been seen around the No. 3 reactor, that it may have ruptured and that the reactor was a "priority" without going into detail. High radiation levels also prevented a helicopter mission to dump water on...
Related story on The Daily Beast: Complete Methodology: Most Vulnerable Power Plants
At least three reactors at Japan's beleaguered Fukushima Daiichi plant appear to be releasing some radioactive material. But it is reactor No. 3 that, unlike the others, recently began using a special kind of mixed fuel that some scientists argue could be radically more toxic to human health if released into the atmosphere.
Japanese officials said Wednesday that smoke had been seen around the No. 3 reactor, that it may have ruptured and that the reactor was a "priority" without going into detail. High radiation levels also prevented a helicopter mission to dump water on...
- 3/16/2011
- by Eve Conant
- The Daily Beast
Military-wide drills to implement repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell have begun. Gay and lesbian service members can now read about how they must be treated equally-but still don't dare say they are gay for fear of losing their careers, reports Eve Conant.
This past Monday at 7:30 a.m., Air Force officer Jd Smith noticed on his work computer that training was about to begin. He was excited, and logged in right away for the online session.
Related story on The Daily Beast: Obama's War on Schools
It was the beginning of the end of Don't Ask Don't Tell-but only, as it turns out, yet another beginning.
He clicked through slides for about 25 minutes, filled with "basic info that all people will be held to the same standards with repeal coming." The overarching point: Everyone must maintain professional respect for military colleagues and harassment won't be tolerated. Smith...
This past Monday at 7:30 a.m., Air Force officer Jd Smith noticed on his work computer that training was about to begin. He was excited, and logged in right away for the online session.
Related story on The Daily Beast: Obama's War on Schools
It was the beginning of the end of Don't Ask Don't Tell-but only, as it turns out, yet another beginning.
He clicked through slides for about 25 minutes, filled with "basic info that all people will be held to the same standards with repeal coming." The overarching point: Everyone must maintain professional respect for military colleagues and harassment won't be tolerated. Smith...
- 3/10/2011
- by Eve Conant
- The Daily Beast
If Gov. Walker defeats the public union, AFL-CIO president Richard L. Trumka predicts disastrous results for American workers. Trumka talks to Eve Conant about the price of union-busting.
Richard L. Trumka has seen his share of strikes and protests, but now as president of the AFL-CIO, his fight for Wisconsin has the scent of a final battle, a last stand for America's organized labor movement.
Related story on The Daily Beast: How Wisconsin Helps Obama
If Wisconsin yields to the pressures of Gov. Scott Walker, so might some two dozen other states with collective bargaining rights, conservative analysts predict, and that-they argue-would be good news for the economy. The economy is undeniably in trouble. The governor just unveiled his new budget, which includes more than one billion in painful cuts to education and local government. He added that unless the 14 Senate Democrats who have fled the embattled state "come home...
Richard L. Trumka has seen his share of strikes and protests, but now as president of the AFL-CIO, his fight for Wisconsin has the scent of a final battle, a last stand for America's organized labor movement.
Related story on The Daily Beast: How Wisconsin Helps Obama
If Wisconsin yields to the pressures of Gov. Scott Walker, so might some two dozen other states with collective bargaining rights, conservative analysts predict, and that-they argue-would be good news for the economy. The economy is undeniably in trouble. The governor just unveiled his new budget, which includes more than one billion in painful cuts to education and local government. He added that unless the 14 Senate Democrats who have fled the embattled state "come home...
- 3/1/2011
- by Eve Conant
- The Daily Beast
If the White House won't fight for the Defense of Marriage Act anymore, there are plenty of legal eagles who will. Eve Conant and Daniel Stone talk to same-sex unions' newly emboldened opponents.
Rewind to a few months, weeks, or even just two days ago, and Peter Wolfgang, executive director of the Family Institute of Connecticut, was feeling like a profound underdog in his fight against gay marriage. "Let's just say the deck was stacked against us, it was not a level playing field," says Wolfgang. But today he is a happy man.
Related story on The Daily Beast: Facebook Chat Gets Hijacked
The administration's surprise announcement Wednesday that part of the Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional and that it would no longer defend the 1996 law in federal court-including in a key Connecticut case, Pederson v. Office of Personnel Management-has changed everything for him, and for the best. The...
Rewind to a few months, weeks, or even just two days ago, and Peter Wolfgang, executive director of the Family Institute of Connecticut, was feeling like a profound underdog in his fight against gay marriage. "Let's just say the deck was stacked against us, it was not a level playing field," says Wolfgang. But today he is a happy man.
Related story on The Daily Beast: Facebook Chat Gets Hijacked
The administration's surprise announcement Wednesday that part of the Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional and that it would no longer defend the 1996 law in federal court-including in a key Connecticut case, Pederson v. Office of Personnel Management-has changed everything for him, and for the best. The...
- 2/25/2011
- by Eve Conant & Daniel Stone
- The Daily Beast
President Obama shocked gay rights activists and opponents alike Wednesday, announcing that the Department of Justice will no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act limiting same-sex marriage. Eve Conant & Daniel Stone report on the fallout.
On Wednesday, about an hour after the Justice Department announced it would no longer be defending the Defense of Marriage Act that limits same-sex marriage across state lines, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney was peppered with questions from stunned reporters.
Related story on The Daily Beast: Will Carney's Voice Carry?
The president's view on the constitutionality of the law had changed, Carney said. But Obama's personal views on the legality of same-sex marriage were still evolving. "The president is obligated to enforce the law," Carney said, but he would no longer defend it in federal court.
The biggest legal battlegrounds of the gay marriage debate are currently Massachusetts and California, where over the past year,...
On Wednesday, about an hour after the Justice Department announced it would no longer be defending the Defense of Marriage Act that limits same-sex marriage across state lines, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney was peppered with questions from stunned reporters.
Related story on The Daily Beast: Will Carney's Voice Carry?
The president's view on the constitutionality of the law had changed, Carney said. But Obama's personal views on the legality of same-sex marriage were still evolving. "The president is obligated to enforce the law," Carney said, but he would no longer defend it in federal court.
The biggest legal battlegrounds of the gay marriage debate are currently Massachusetts and California, where over the past year,...
- 2/23/2011
- by Eve Conant & Daniel Stone
- The Daily Beast
Keith Miller was headed for an enviable position in the NFL-until the velvet-voiced gridiron star was serenaded by the opera. He talks to Eve Conant about exchanging his helmet for tights.
Meeting Keith Miller for the first time backstage at the Washington National Opera, in a black kimono and Japanese Tabi slippers, he comes across as a gentle performer with a voice that impresses, even when just speaking quietly.
Related story on The Daily Beast: NFL Owners' Lockout Ego Trip
But if you were to look at his old driver's license? In that hulking mug shot is a man who weighs 265 pounds and sports a menacing Fu Manchu goatee. The photo barely resembles the now 220-pound budding opera star who will sing a commanding solo when Madame Butterfly opens in the nation's capital next week. If there is a disconnect, it's because Miller's rise in the rarified world of opera...
Meeting Keith Miller for the first time backstage at the Washington National Opera, in a black kimono and Japanese Tabi slippers, he comes across as a gentle performer with a voice that impresses, even when just speaking quietly.
Related story on The Daily Beast: NFL Owners' Lockout Ego Trip
But if you were to look at his old driver's license? In that hulking mug shot is a man who weighs 265 pounds and sports a menacing Fu Manchu goatee. The photo barely resembles the now 220-pound budding opera star who will sing a commanding solo when Madame Butterfly opens in the nation's capital next week. If there is a disconnect, it's because Miller's rise in the rarified world of opera...
- 2/20/2011
- by Eve Conant
- The Daily Beast
Velma Hart triggered a media storm last fall when she told the president she was "exhausted" from defending him, as her family struggled financially. Hart, who has since lost her job, spoke with The Daily Beast's Eve Conant about how Obama's State of Union won back her confidence. Plus, more Daily Beast contributors weigh in on the speech.
Velma Hart didn't want to become a media darling for telling the president she was "exhausted" with him last September at a televised town-hall meeting. She's a "staunch" supporter, she says, both then and now. But her concerns about the dark place the recession might be taking her family resonated with Americans-both supporters and foes of the president. She feels her fundamental question, however, got lost in the debate, which was simply: "Is this my new reality?"
Related story on The Daily Beast: Nice Rhetoric, but Need Real Results
Velma Hart's TV appearance triggered a media storm.
Velma Hart didn't want to become a media darling for telling the president she was "exhausted" with him last September at a televised town-hall meeting. She's a "staunch" supporter, she says, both then and now. But her concerns about the dark place the recession might be taking her family resonated with Americans-both supporters and foes of the president. She feels her fundamental question, however, got lost in the debate, which was simply: "Is this my new reality?"
Related story on The Daily Beast: Nice Rhetoric, but Need Real Results
Velma Hart's TV appearance triggered a media storm.
- 1/25/2011
- by Eve Conant
- The Daily Beast
As the House voted to repeal Obamacare, Blanche Lincoln reflected on the vote that helped end her political career. Eve Conant talks to defeated lawmakers about their new realities.
She was one of the Democrats' most vulnerable incumbents in 2010-the subject of a fierce primary challenge from the left and an even fiercer challenge from the right in November. But in the end, Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln's vote in favor of President Obama's health care reform helped pull her under, and she lost her Senate seat by a substantial margin.
Related story on The Daily Beast: Maine's Tea Party Governor Paul LePage to NAACP: 'Kiss My Butt'
So Lincoln watched with more than casual interest from afar this week as the Republican-controlled House voted to repeal the very measure that ended her career. "I've said all along it wasn't a perfect bill and I hope it's something that can be improved upon.
She was one of the Democrats' most vulnerable incumbents in 2010-the subject of a fierce primary challenge from the left and an even fiercer challenge from the right in November. But in the end, Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln's vote in favor of President Obama's health care reform helped pull her under, and she lost her Senate seat by a substantial margin.
Related story on The Daily Beast: Maine's Tea Party Governor Paul LePage to NAACP: 'Kiss My Butt'
So Lincoln watched with more than casual interest from afar this week as the Republican-controlled House voted to repeal the very measure that ended her career. "I've said all along it wasn't a perfect bill and I hope it's something that can be improved upon.
- 1/22/2011
- by Eve Conant
- The Daily Beast
Gun control advocates are demanding a crackdown, but sellers say the system works. Eve Conant and Molly Kelly-Yahner visit an Az gun store to find out how easy it is to get armed.
As funerals of the victims of the Tucson massacre were underway nearby, it was business as usual at a Tucson gun shop, its walls covered with hunting trophies and "long guns," its glass cases packed with handguns; Glocks, Smith & Wessons, and Springfield Armory brands the most popular. Customers milled about and were greeted by friendly clerks, mostly avid hunters and firearms connoisseurs. Pundits and lawmakers may be talking about a gun culture gone mad. But in this store, the sellers see themselves as nothing more than guys trying to run a responsible and legal business in a tough economy-one based firmly on our constitutional rights. Passions are running hot. To those who desperately want to see stricter gun control,...
As funerals of the victims of the Tucson massacre were underway nearby, it was business as usual at a Tucson gun shop, its walls covered with hunting trophies and "long guns," its glass cases packed with handguns; Glocks, Smith & Wessons, and Springfield Armory brands the most popular. Customers milled about and were greeted by friendly clerks, mostly avid hunters and firearms connoisseurs. Pundits and lawmakers may be talking about a gun culture gone mad. But in this store, the sellers see themselves as nothing more than guys trying to run a responsible and legal business in a tough economy-one based firmly on our constitutional rights. Passions are running hot. To those who desperately want to see stricter gun control,...
- 1/16/2011
- by Eve Conant & Molly Kelly-Yahner
- The Daily Beast
As politicians across the spectrum weigh in on the Arizona shooting, the state's senior senator has been surprisingly silent. Eve Conant on McCain's low profile-and the calculus behind it.
Barack Obama jump-started his presidency. The local sheriff became a national figure overnight. And Sarah Palin once again rallied her base while enraging everybody else. Politicians all over the country have been speaking out to great effect-positive and negative-about the Arizona shootings and the toll they've taken. But one normally voluble elected official has been conspicuously quiet amid the din. After releasing a powerful statement branding Jared Lee Loughner a "disgrace to Arizona, this country and the human race," the state's senior senator has gone radio silent. You have to wonder: Where the heck is John McCain?
The decision by Arizona's best-known statesman, whose own style of speech has grown increasingly heated in recent years, to stay out of the fray...
Barack Obama jump-started his presidency. The local sheriff became a national figure overnight. And Sarah Palin once again rallied her base while enraging everybody else. Politicians all over the country have been speaking out to great effect-positive and negative-about the Arizona shootings and the toll they've taken. But one normally voluble elected official has been conspicuously quiet amid the din. After releasing a powerful statement branding Jared Lee Loughner a "disgrace to Arizona, this country and the human race," the state's senior senator has gone radio silent. You have to wonder: Where the heck is John McCain?
The decision by Arizona's best-known statesman, whose own style of speech has grown increasingly heated in recent years, to stay out of the fray...
- 1/14/2011
- by Eve Conant
- The Daily Beast
U.S. Marshal for Arizona David Gonzales talks to Newsweek/The Daily Beast's Eve Conant about the Arizona shooter's bizarre "paranoid" behavior in custody, concerns about copycat attacks, and the loss of his friend and colleague, U.S. District Judge John M. Roll. Plus, full coverage of the Arizona shooting.
Tucson shooter Jared Loughner is in Marshal's custody in Phoenix, U.S. Marshal for Arizona David Gonzales tells The Daily Beast's Eve Conant. (The Marshals Service is the oldest federal law-enforcement agency in the nation; its tasks include federal judicial security, fugitive investigations, witness protection, and prisoner transfers and operations.)
Related story on The Daily Beast: The Suddenly Quiet McCain
The Daily Beast: Have you seen Loughner, where is he now? Gonzales: We have him now. I was with him Tuesday. He doesn't say much, he just sits in his cell with a smirk on his face, nothing else.
That same smile from his mugshot?...
Tucson shooter Jared Loughner is in Marshal's custody in Phoenix, U.S. Marshal for Arizona David Gonzales tells The Daily Beast's Eve Conant. (The Marshals Service is the oldest federal law-enforcement agency in the nation; its tasks include federal judicial security, fugitive investigations, witness protection, and prisoner transfers and operations.)
Related story on The Daily Beast: The Suddenly Quiet McCain
The Daily Beast: Have you seen Loughner, where is he now? Gonzales: We have him now. I was with him Tuesday. He doesn't say much, he just sits in his cell with a smirk on his face, nothing else.
That same smile from his mugshot?...
- 1/12/2011
- by Eve Conant
- The Daily Beast
The Arizona shooting suspect's legal team is likely to use a mental defense, which could leave him in a hospital, rather than in prison, for life, a forensic psychiatrist tells Eve Conant. But whether Loughner ever sought or needed mental-health care is unclear. Plus, full coverage of the Arizona shooting.
Just how mentally stable is Jared Loughner?
Related story on The Daily Beast: The Suddenly Quiet McCain
Answering that question is the crucial next step in the investigation and criminal case for Saturday's shooting spree that left six dead, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords critically wounded, and 14 injured.
"You can take it to the bank that lawyers will raise a mental defense. There is zero question in my mind about that," said Steven Pitt, a forensic psychiatrist and consultant to the Phoenix Police Department. "The case is not a whodunit. It's a case about why he did it and why he did it now.
Just how mentally stable is Jared Loughner?
Related story on The Daily Beast: The Suddenly Quiet McCain
Answering that question is the crucial next step in the investigation and criminal case for Saturday's shooting spree that left six dead, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords critically wounded, and 14 injured.
"You can take it to the bank that lawyers will raise a mental defense. There is zero question in my mind about that," said Steven Pitt, a forensic psychiatrist and consultant to the Phoenix Police Department. "The case is not a whodunit. It's a case about why he did it and why he did it now.
- 1/11/2011
- by Eve Conant
- The Daily Beast
Cut off from the world by his iPhone earbuds and hoodie, neighbors and classmates say alleged murderer Jared Lee Loughner was a deeply disturbed young man who'd been wandering the neighborhood with an especially strange look in his eyes in recent days. But is he a calculating killer on a political mission-or a desperate young man battling severe mental illness? Eve Conant, Claire Martin and Masada Siegel report.• Jared Lee Loughner appeared in court on Monday. He did not enter a plea but confirmed that he understood the charges against him. He had a shaved head and a cut on his right temple. He was mostly silent, but appeared to smirk in front of the judge. • Loughner refuses to cooperate with officials and hasn't spoken since his arrest other than his courtroom appearance. • He'll be represented by Judy Clarke, the lawyer who defended Unabomber Ted Kaczynski and worked on Timothy McVeigh's legal team.
- 1/10/2011
- by Eve Conant & Claire Martin
- The Daily Beast
Sheriff Clarence Dupnik is overshadowed by Phoenix's infamous Joe Arpaio. But Tucson's top lawman is winning liberal raves for his handling of Arizona's shooting spree.
Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, leading the investigation into the tragic Tucson shooting spree that gravely wounded Rep. Gabrielle Gifford and 13 others and claimed six lives, is not your typical Arizona lawman.
Related story on The Daily Beast: Gabrielle Giffords' Shooting: The Impact on Obama's Presidency
Dupnik, a Texas native who joined the Tucson Police Department in 1958, became an overnight Internet sensation after taking over the probe into Saturday's bloodbath. Prominent liberal blogs hailed him as a paragon of virtue, and urged readers to email their thanks for announcing that hate speech can have dangerous consequences. Fans set up a new Facebook page, dubbed "Clarence Dupnik is my Hero," after he denounced his home state as a "Mecca for prejudice and bigotry" and blamed political...
Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, leading the investigation into the tragic Tucson shooting spree that gravely wounded Rep. Gabrielle Gifford and 13 others and claimed six lives, is not your typical Arizona lawman.
Related story on The Daily Beast: Gabrielle Giffords' Shooting: The Impact on Obama's Presidency
Dupnik, a Texas native who joined the Tucson Police Department in 1958, became an overnight Internet sensation after taking over the probe into Saturday's bloodbath. Prominent liberal blogs hailed him as a paragon of virtue, and urged readers to email their thanks for announcing that hate speech can have dangerous consequences. Fans set up a new Facebook page, dubbed "Clarence Dupnik is my Hero," after he denounced his home state as a "Mecca for prejudice and bigotry" and blamed political...
- 1/10/2011
- by Terry Greene Sterling
- The Daily Beast
The 22 year old accused of shooting Rep. Giffords left digital fingerprints that point to a young man obsessed with government control, radical politics, and sleep deprivation.
Jared Lee Loughner left a long Internet trail. The 22 year old accused of the murder of at least six people in Tucson and the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords posted rambling missives on YouTube and MySpace about the U.S. government and mind control, creating one's own currency, grammar, and sleepwalking.
Related story on The Daily Beast: The Suddenly Quiet McCain
Loughner has been described as a white male with short, dark hair. In a YouTube video set against electronic music, he rails against government control of currency, and at one point seems to indicate he may suffer from insomnia. In a Socratic style he uses throughout his writing, Loughner states:
Watch Loughner's alleged YouTube video.
"All humans are in need of sleep.
Jared Lee Loughner left a long Internet trail. The 22 year old accused of the murder of at least six people in Tucson and the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords posted rambling missives on YouTube and MySpace about the U.S. government and mind control, creating one's own currency, grammar, and sleepwalking.
Related story on The Daily Beast: The Suddenly Quiet McCain
Loughner has been described as a white male with short, dark hair. In a YouTube video set against electronic music, he rails against government control of currency, and at one point seems to indicate he may suffer from insomnia. In a Socratic style he uses throughout his writing, Loughner states:
Watch Loughner's alleged YouTube video.
"All humans are in need of sleep.
- 1/9/2011
- by Eve Conant
- The Daily Beast
Jared Lee Loughner, the 22-year-old alleged shooter behind Saturday's deadly rampage in Tucson, appears to have had an obsession with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. He's now being charged with attempted assassination, among other counts.
Federal officials have filed five criminal charges against Jared Lee Loughner, the alleged shooter behind Saturday's deadly rampage in Tucson. Loughner faces counts of an attempted assassination of a member of Congress, two counts of murder, and two counts of attempted murder-but FBI Director Robert Mueller says more charges could be on the way under a domestic terrorism statute. Loughner will be arraigned Monday.
Related story on The Daily Beast: The Suddenly Quiet McCain
A search of Loughner's home turned up disturbing evidence of an obsession with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, whom he shot in the head at close range on Saturday. Among other items, officials discovered an envelope with the words "I planned ahead," "Giffords," and "My assassination" stored in a safe.
Federal officials have filed five criminal charges against Jared Lee Loughner, the alleged shooter behind Saturday's deadly rampage in Tucson. Loughner faces counts of an attempted assassination of a member of Congress, two counts of murder, and two counts of attempted murder-but FBI Director Robert Mueller says more charges could be on the way under a domestic terrorism statute. Loughner will be arraigned Monday.
Related story on The Daily Beast: The Suddenly Quiet McCain
A search of Loughner's home turned up disturbing evidence of an obsession with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, whom he shot in the head at close range on Saturday. Among other items, officials discovered an envelope with the words "I planned ahead," "Giffords," and "My assassination" stored in a safe.
- 1/8/2011
- by The Daily Beast
- The Daily Beast
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