Catfished! Girls Scam ISIS on Social Media for Travel Money

If you’re low on funds for that big vacation, you could always ask to borrow some, run a Kickstarter campaign … or swindle a couple of Islamic State recruiters. It may not be the safest way to make money, but that’s what three young women from Chechnya, a Russian republic in southeastern Europe, did.

The Chechen women are under investigation for fraud after they allegedly scammed IS members into giving them money on the pretense that they would use it to travel from their homeland to Syria. The ladies got away with some $3,300 before being discovered, according to RT News.

The IS members allegedly reached out to the young women on their social media accounts, asking them to join the militant cause. The women kept in touch with IS members and even sent fake pictures to string them along.

https://www.yahoo.com/travel/catfished-girls-scam-isis-on-social-media-for-125374397897.html

Report: Navy officer and Marine fired upon Chattanooga gunman

A Navy officer and a Marine fired their sidearms at the gunman who killed five service members last week in Chattanooga, according to the Navy Times.

It is unclear whether either hit the gunman, Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, according to the paper.

...

The Washington Post first reported that the Marine may have been carrying a 9mm Glock and possibly returned fire on the gunman.

The report is raising questions over why the service members were armed, since it is against Defense Department policy for troops other than military police or law enforcement to carry weapons on federal property.

http://thehill.com/policy/defense/248771-report-navy-officer-and-marine-fired-upon-chattanooga-gunman

Concealed Carry Permit Holders Across the United States

John R. Lott Jr.
Crime Prevention Research Center

John E Whitley
Crime Prevention Research Center; Institute for Defense Analyses

Rebekah C. Riley
Crime Prevention Research Center

July 13, 2015

Abstract:

Since President Obama’s election the number of concealed handgun permits has soared, growing from 4.6 million in 2007 to over 12.8 million this year. Among the findings in our report:
-- The number of concealed handgun permits is increasing at an ever- increasing rate. Over the past year, 1.7 million additional new permits have been issued – a 15.4% increase in just one single year. This is the largest ever single-year increase in the number of concealed handgun permits.
-- 5.2% of the total adult population has a permit.
-- Five states now have more than 10% of their adult population with concealed handgun permits.
-- In ten states, a permit is no longer required to carry in all or virtually all of the state. This is a major reason why legal carrying handguns is growing so much faster than the number of permits.
-- Since 2007, permits for women has increased by 270% and for men by 156%.
-- Some evidence suggests that permit holding by minorities is increasing more than twice as fast as for whites.
-- Between 2007 and 2014, murder rates have fallen from 5.6 to 4.2 (preliminary estimates) per 100,000. This represents a 25% drop in the murder rate at the same time that the percentage of the adult population with permits soared by 156%. Overall violent crime also fell by 25 percent over that period of time.
-- States with the largest increase in permits have seen the largest relative drops in murder rates.
-- Concealed handgun permit holders are extremely law-abiding. In Florida and Texas, permit holders are convicted of misdemeanors or felonies at one-sixth the rate that police officers are convicted.

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2629704

In 2012, there were 8,855 criminal gun homicides in the FBI's homicide database, but only 258 gun killings by private citizens that were deemed justifiable, which the FBI defines as "the killing of a felon, during the commission of a felony, by a private citizen."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/06/19/guns-in-america-for-every-criminal-killed-in-self-defense-34-innocent-people-die/

Fake Ammo Causes Real Panic on MBTA Bus in Brighton

At about 4:20 PM on Friday July 10, 2015, officers assigned to District D-14 (Brighton) responded to a call for a person with a gun on an MBTA bus in the area of Cambridge and Harvard Streets. Officers learned that the driver had pulled the bus over as passengers began calling 911 when a male suspect boarded the bus with what appeared to be military grade ammunition strapped around his waist. The driver stated that the passengers were in a panic, fearing that the suspect was about to pull out a weapon. The suspect, later identified as Kevin Young, 26, of Watertown, exited the bus and was stopped by police on Penniman Road at which time it was discovered that the ammunition was fake. Officers recovered 69 replica bullets in all. The suspect was wearing what was described as spiked fighting gloves and spiked leather bracelets.

The suspect was placed in custody and will appear in Brighton District Court on charges of Unlawful Possession of Ammunition, Unlawfully Carried Dangerous Weapon and Disorderly Conduct.

http://bpdnews.com/news/2015/7/11/fake-ammo-causes-real-panic-on-mbta-bus-in-brighton

Hedging bets in 2016: Some donors give to Bush and Clinton

WASHINGTON — John Catsimatidis, a Manhattan grocery chain owner, gave as much money as allowed to Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Democratic primary campaign. Two months later, he gave the same amount, $2,700, to Jeb Bush, her would-be Republican challenger.

“I’ve been friends with both of their families for many, many years,” he said. “They both love America, and I’d be happy if either of them won.”

The billionaire is one of at least 60 donors hedging their bets heading into 2016 by giving to presidential campaigns of both parties, an Associated Press review of federal campaign finance records found. While those contributions totaled only about $300,000, they are an odd wrinkle of presidential politics in a race expected to see 22 candidates vying for billions of dollars in contributions.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/hedging-bets-in-2016-donors-give-money-to-bush-and-clinton/2015/07/16/6d152bca-2bfc-11e5-960f-22c4ba982ed4_story.html