Killer of 3Pitt cops today:upset because he"feared the Obama administration was poised to ban guns"

[Pirate Smile]

The lies the RW is spewing are having real consequences:

Police official: 3 officers killed in Pa. shooting

PITTSBURGH – A man opened fire on officers during a domestic disturbance call Saturday morning, killing three of them, a police official said. Friends said he had been upset recently about losing his job and that he feared the Obama administration was poised to ban guns.

Three officers were killed, said a police official at the scene who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Police spokeswoman Diane Richard would only say that at least five officers were wounded, but wouldn't give any other details.

Police planned to release more details at a mid-afternoon news conference Saturday.
The man who fired at the officers was arrested after a several-hour standoff. One witness reported hearing hundreds of shots.

The shootings occurred just two weeks after four police officers were fatally shot March 21 in Oakland, Calif., in the deadliest day for U.S. law enforcement since Sept. 11, 2001.

Police did not immediately release the gunman's identity, but his friends identified him as Richard Poplawski, 23. They described him as a young man who thought the Obama administration would ban guns.

One friend, Edward Perkovic, said Poplawski feared "the Obama gun ban that's on the way" and "didn't like our rights being infringed upon." Another longtime friend, Aaron Vire, said Poplawski feared that President Obama was going to take away his rights, though he said he "wasn't violently against Obama."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090404/ap_on_re_us/pittsburgh_shooting

:grr:

[JayMusgrove]

1. Well, he will never ever have a gun in his hand again..

And what's the deal with triple cop shooters in PA? Is there a death penalty?

Or will he just rot away in prison for 60 more years?

[Hekate]

2. He fears a gun ban so he kills cops. Riiiight. What're the RW talking heads saying about that logic?

:argh:

Hekate

[Hello_Kitty]

18. They'll find a way to blame liberals for it. Trust me.

[babylonsister]

3. What a lame ass excuse to kill anyone. Kill people because you're

afraid you won't be able to use your guns? :crazy:

For all the people who like their guns, these nuts are not helping their cause. But I guess that's way too deep for them.

[Peacetrain]

4. Words matter.. I tried to tell someone that the other day in a thread

UCC's were killed last year while they sat in church because they are liberals. The shooter was reading himself into derangement from Right Wing haters..

[firedupdem]

5. Sounds like he was a sick kid. Sorry for the families this tragedy

will hurt. People spouting off this crap need to consider their audience includes unstable people.

[PA Democrat]

6. Link to sickening video of the shooter's best friend below.

Some other highlights of the guys twisted views includes his fear of our "Zionist controlled government", his feeling that the founding fathers would have supported his actions to defend his rights that has resulted in the death of three cops, his feeling that there would be military police used domestically, and that a ban on guns was imminent.

http://www.wpxi.com/video/19094713/index.html

[firedupdem]

12. Zionist control of the government? Jeez n/t

[starroute]

35. Sounds like racist rants about "Zionist Occupation Government"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zionist_Occupation_Government

Zionist Occupation Government (abbreviated as ZOG) is an antisemitic conspiracy theory which holds that Jews secretly control a given country, while the formal government is a puppet regime. The expression is used by antisemitic groups such as neo-Nazis in the United States and Europe, ultra-nationalists such as Pamyat in Russia, and various far-right and far-left wing groups, including some in Poland and Sweden. ...

One early appearance of the term was in 1976 in an article, Welcome to ZOG-World, attributed to an American neo-Nazi Eric Thomson. The term came to the attention of a larger audience in a December 27, 1984 article in The New York Times about robberies committed in California and Washington by a white supremacist group, The Order. According to the newspaper, the crimes "were conducted to raise money for a war upon the United States Government, which the group calls 'ZOG,' or Zionist Occupation Government."

The Order of the Silent Brotherhood was an offshoot of the Aryan Nations, an organization founded in the early 1970s by Richard G. Butler; the latter had since the 1950s been associated with another antisemitic group, called the Church of Jesus Christ Christian. Both of these groups trace their origins to antisemitic activists, like Gerald L. K. Smith, and have interacted with the Ku Klux Klan.

The name was publicized extensively in Aryan Nations literature. In December 1984, almost ten years before the appearance of the World Wide Web, Newsweek magazine reported that the Aryan Nations had set up a bulletin board called "Aryan Nation Liberty Net" to offer information such as, for instance, the locations of Communist Party offices and "ZOG informers".

[firedupdem]

45. Thanks for this explanation. n/t

[Blue_Tires]

57. probably a Ron Paul voter n/t

[AlinPA]

15. Notice he said the shooter "was going to defend himself" if "they" tried to take

his firearms. It looks like he set up the confrontation to to have that gun battle and to make a political point. Of course the police would try to have him give up his guns in that situation.

[PA Democrat]

22. The local media reported that it looked like it was an "ambush"

because the shooter was wearing a bullet-proof vest and started firing from an upstairs window before the cops even knocked on the door. The friend confirmed that the vest probably saved Poplawski's life because he had been hit in the chest.

[Drunken Irishman]

40. Too bad it saved his life.

[Fovea]

19. His friend is a litmus test

for the psychosis of the dis enfranchised Right.

This is only the beginning, I am sad to predict.

[PA Democrat]

23. If you want to see psychosis go peek at what the freepers

are saying about this incident. They are all convinced that the friends are all plants whose purpose is to make the right wing look bad. BTW, they also think that the NY shootings were actually a Taliban terrorism plot. These people are nuts.

[Blue_Tires]

25. FR is probably scrubbing his posts now...

[d_b]

61. fuckkk

:spray:

[eleny]

7. Well, it's been said how the right wing is down to belonging to the craziest

This is a sad example.

[Cali_Democrat]

8. What a sick puppy

I'm sure he voted for McCain/Palin

[Egnever]

9. Ironic that it is actions like his that make banning guns atractive.

[Vinca]

10. This is what happens when the far right gins up fear and hatred.

I expect we'll see quite a bit more of it.

[rvablue]

11. Limbaugh and Beck now officially have blood on their hands. n/t

[jwirr]

13. And possible the NRA magazines. It is one thing to want to protect

the constitutional right to own guns it is another to encourage fear in the hearts of their readers.

[wisteria]

26. You should include a local RW radio kook in you list also- Quinn.

He does a local/ national broadcast from Pittsburgh titled, "Quinn in the Morning" with a professed Christian sidekick called Rose and all they do is talk hate and fear. Quinn often speaks in scary terms about everything Liberal and some of his favorite words are Zionist, Marxist and Communist.

[rvablue]

32. If you can bear it and your ears don't start bleeding...

it would be interesting for you to tune in this coming week and see if their tone changes at all and then post about it here.

Cry Baby Beck might do the same this week after getting told by Ailes to cool it. But I wouldn't put money on it.

But it will be interesting to see if this affects any of these RW hosts and what they choose to spew to their paranoid listeners.

[PA Democrat]

33. Quinn is one of the worst.

I once had a plumber in my house who started quoting Quinn, making some pretty hateful remarks about Hillary Clinton. I found a new plumber. I don't want any of that lunatic's fans anywhere NEAR my house.

[wisteria]

41. Lunatic is a good word to use to discribe him. n/t

[AnotherMother4Peace]

44. They absolutely have blood on their hands. This is the rhetoric they've been pushing.

[uponit7771]

46. +1

[MadMaddie]

59. I wonder at what point will the police and the FBI consider the

rhetoric from Bachman, Limbaugh, Beck and others terroristic actions? These people are intentionally inciting violence with their rhetoric.
This goes beyond Free Speech when their listeners and readers start to implement violence against innocents.

[Goony 2009]

63. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Shut down right-wing radio because of incitement to violence.

[me b zola]

72. No one is suggesting shutting down the rw idiot's radio

--what is being suggested is that when voices on rw radio are calling for citizens to commit crimes that they be held accountable for their actions. acceptable rw idiocy: "Less government, low taxes for corporations!!1!"

unacceptable/criminal rw idiocy: a Congress person saying that they are "on the behind enemy lines" calling for their constituents to arm themselves and revolt.


Get the difference? I knew you could.

[MadMaddie]

73. me b zola thanks that was exactly my point!

No one is calling for elimination of right wing radio. Responsibility is the key here.

[MadMaddie]

74. So inciting violence is okay?

Are you saying that right wing radio hosts are incapable of presenting an opposing view without inciting violence?

Bully's resort to inciting violence when they are unable to have a rational discussion or argument.

I know that looking at this issue from a historical view is hard for some but lets try....

Inciting violence led to the deaths of MLK and the Kennedy brothers.
Inciting violence led to the genocide in Africa
Inciting violence led to the death of millions in Nazi Germany
Inciting violence led to the genocides in Sarejevo....

We could go on....it's not a game. These talking heads hide behind their microphones and their positions and goad others to implement the violence while they sit back and act like they were only providing entertainment.

I find it amusing that the right shoves "Taking Responsibility for ones station in life and actions", down America's throat but when it comes to them taking responsibility....well...they can never do it for themselves.

[kestrel91316]

14. What a bunch of freaks. Obama isn't going to take everybody's guns away.

He has taught constitutional law and is aware of the existence of the Second Amendment.

[Thrill]

16. See what the NRA did. This blood is on their hands

[AnnieBW]

17. Beck, Hannity, BillO, Coulter, Malkin, Limpballs

The blood of these cops is on their hands as well.

[mecherosegarden]

50. I totally agree with you.

One of my husband's coworkers is so convinced that is going to be a civil war that he is desperate looking for ammunition to save it just in case... The problem is , according to him, he can't find it anywhere. When you have crazy people, like Beck ,calling for people to be ready and arm... is dangerous, very dangerous.

[geckosfeet]

20. Nutbags like this are MUCH more effective at taking guns out of peoples hands

and getting knee jerk gun ban laws proposed than the anti-gun lobby could ever hope to be. But you never hear the the gun jobs railing about them.

Why is that?

If they were really serious about public safety AND the second amendment, I would expect them to be horrified and disgusted at nutbags like this. I know I am.

[Aloha Spirit]

21. Friends said he had been upset recently about losing his job

Ugh

This is, like, a lagging economic indicator.

[wisteria]

24. It has also been reported that he was an former Marine.

It is a sad situation all around.

[JayMusgrove]

28. Not a real Marine, had been let go from Marines.

I just want to keep the facts up here. My respect for Marines is still high, but this sick puppy was never a real Marine.

Also, this guy is rumored to have had an AK47, which is not legal anywhere in PA.

[wisteria]

42. Thanks for the update. It had been reported he was a Marine and

I just want it known I meant nothing derogatory by mentioning that. I though perhaps he might have been suffering from a stress disorder. I also have a high level of respect for Marines.

If it turns out he did have the AK-47 I would like to know how he acquired it in Pa.

[Blue_Tires]

27. sadly i think this is the tip of the iceburg

it would not surprise me if these angry shootings start happening with more frequency...

[JayMusgrove]

29. Yes, depression, despair, and fear can

bring this on. Sad, very sad.

[Canuckistanian]

30. Where did he get such a crazy idea?

I'm baffled.

[Pirate Smile]

36. All the RW'ers have been spewing this garbage. The sales of guns and ammo are way up because

they are all freaking themselves out for no reason. It is actually quite alarming when you hear the insane crap the RW talk radio and Faux News spew everyday. This isn't going to be the last occurrence like this. We are headed towards more Timothy McVeighs.

This was in today's NYT:


Pitchforks and Pistols

By CHARLES M. BLOW
Published: April 3, 2009

Lately I’ve been consuming as much conservative media as possible (interspersed with shots of Pepto-Bismol) to get a better sense of the mind and mood of the right. My read: They’re apocalyptic. They feel isolated, angry, betrayed and besieged. And some of their “leaders” seem to be trying to mold them into militias.

At first, it was entertaining — just harmless, hotheaded expostulation. Of course, there were the garbled facts, twisted logic and veiled hate speech. But what did I expect, fair and balanced? It was like walking through an ideological house of mirrors. The distortions can be mildly amusing at first, but if I stay too long it makes me sick.

But, it’s not all just harmless talk. For some, their disaffection has hardened into something more dark and dangerous. They’re talking about a revolution.

Some simply lace their unscrupulous screeds with loaded language about the fall of the Republic. We have to “rise up” and “take back our country.” Others have been much more explicit.

-snip-
And between his tears, Glenn Beck, the self-professed “rodeo clown,” keeps warning of an impending insurrection by saying that he believes that we are heading for “depression” and “revolution” and then gaming out that revolution on his show last month. “Think the unthinkable” he said. Indeed.

All this talk of revolution is revolting, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed.

As the comedian Bill Maher pointed out, strong language can poison weak minds, as it did in the case of Timothy McVeigh. (We sometimes forget that not all dangerous men are trained by Al Qaeda.)

At the same time, the unrelenting meme being pushed by the right that Obama will mount an assault on the Second Amendment has helped fuel the panic buying of firearms. According to the F.B.I., there have been 1.2 million more requests for background checks of potential gun buyers from November to February than there were in the same four months last year. That’s 5.5 million requests altogether over that period; more than the number of people living in Bachmann’s Minnesota.
Coincidence? Maybe. Just posturing? Hopefully. But it all gives me a really bad feeling. (Where’s that Pepto-Bismol?!)

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/04/opinion/04blow.html?_r=1

[Canuckistanian]

49. I was being sarcastic

But thanks for the article. This guy nails it.

[PA Democrat]

31. KDKA Pittsburgh has traced postings on a white supremacist website to Poplawski.

Sick, sick, sick.

[AllieB]

34. From the Post-Gazette:

"Mr. Perkovic and other former classmates said they were surprised by this morning's events. Mr. Perkovic said Mr. Poplawski was opposed to "Zionist propaganda" and was fearful that his right to own weapons would be taken away but he wasn't a member of an organized group or militia.

"He always said that if someone tried to take his weapons away he would do what his forefathers told him to do and defend himself."

Another friend, Aaron Vire, 23, said he'd helped Mr. Poplawski and Mr. Perkovic with a radio show they'd broadcast on the Internet, discussing "politics, girls and life."

Mr. Poplawski had supported Republican candidate John McCain in the presidential election and had "very spirited debates" about Democratic candidate Barack Obama, Mr. Vire said. Mr. Poplawski was opposed to Mr. Obama's election, which he thought would result in the loss of his rights, Mr. Vire said.

"He wasn't a racist but thought some of his amendments were overlooked," Mr. Vire said. Even though Mr. Vire is black and Mr. Poplawski is white, the debates over President Obama did not hurt their friendship, he said.

Mr. Poplawski told him he bought his guns "because he felt the quality of life was being diminished," Mr. Vire said.

"He said he'll be ready if there's ever an invasion of the United States and that he had stockpiled foods and guns for that eventuality.""

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09094/960660-100.stm

[Drunken Irishman]

37. So wait, he feared his gun would be taken away, so he went and killed three people?

What a loon.

[polichick]

38. Another whacked gun clinger in good ol' shoot-em-up America!

[Sebastian Doyle]

39. It's ironic that the gun nut propagandists always accuse Democrats of plans to confiscate guns.

When the only actual gun confiscation that ever took place in this country was in New Orleans, in 2005, when Blackwater thugs, under command of the Bush Crime Family, took them away from the citizens of Louisiana at the very time where they (arguably) would have needed them the most.

The same Chimp whom the NRA promoted, claiming they would be able to work directly out of the White House. There's your gun grabber. And I put a lot of the blame for this fucked up tragedy directly at the feet of Wayne LaPierre and the rest of the hysterical gun nut propagandists. :grr:

[Goony 2009]

64. You should write a history book.

Named "I make it up as I go along" Blackwater seized the guns? Well then, why is it the the NOPD was named in the suit over the seizure? It was the NOPD that stored the guns after the seizure, and they returned the few that weren't "lost". Xe and BFEE? Hahaha.

[Name removed]

65. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Goony 2009]

68. Speak truth to power, then.

Serve up a link regarding Blackwater seizing guns in New Orleans. The delusional rantings of Alex Jones and the PrisonPlanet gang don't qualify. Let's see an actual news link regarding the seizure done by Blackwater, as you assert. Shouldn't be hard with all the thousands of stories reporting the New Orleans gun seizure, (by the NOPD, in case you forgot). Revisionist history is all fun and games until you actually have to prove yourself, eh?

[Phx_Dem]

43. Sounds like something an idiot Republican would say. Well, now he doesn't have

to worry about his precious guns since he's dead. And burning in hell for taking 3 cops with him. Good ridance asshole, enjoy your afterlife.

The most ironic thing is that his last deed is exactly the type of thing that makes some people want to ban guns. The stupidity is astounding.

[Pirate Smile]

47. The bastard didn't die. He had on a bullet proof vest. He is in custody.

[Phx_Dem]

55. I must have confused him with the other murderous lunatic.

Well, this guy will have the pleasure of spending the rest of his life in prison. Do they have the death penalty in PA?

[Pirate Smile]

56. I know. There were too many mass murders in under 24 hours.

I don't know about PA and the death penalty.

[Phx_Dem]

58. I do not support the death penalty, but if PA has it, they should use it

on this despicable person. He ambushed those cops and murdered them in cold blood. If he doesn't get the death penalty -- assuming they have it -- why have it?

[JayMusgrove]

66. I doubt he'll be put to death while Obama is Prez.

it takes years and years and millions and millions of dollars to get a person to the needle, unless it happens in Texas.

[JayMusgrove]

67. I doubt he'll be put to death while Obama is Prez.

it takes years and years and millions and millions of dollars to get a person to the needle, unless it happens in Texas.

[BrightKnight]

69. Slowly but surely he is going to get the needle. - n/t

[msanthrope]

48. What's his Freeper name???? n/t

[BeyondGeography]

51. Hopeless

:thumbsdown:

[Catherine Vincent]

52. Delete

[Catherine Vincent]

53. Delete

[Catherine Vincent]

delete

[Catherine Vincent]

54. Goodness!

It seems we never have time to get over one mass shooting before another one happens. I was talking with my mother last night and we were saying if something like that will happen here where we live. You are almost afraid to leave your house, although in this particular shooting that wasn't the case except for those poor cops that were ambushed. I am really surprised the perp didn't shoot his mother for calling the cops on him. This is so sad.

[a la izquierda]

60. ideas and words, no matter how asinine

and illogical, can kill.
Very, very sad for the families of these officers. And in a way, sad for misguided fools who believe RW propaganda.

[BrightKnight]

62. AK-47s are apparently popular with cop killers. - n/t

[Hellataz]

70. I was just talking to my conservative friend about this. He still can't explain the gun fear to me.

In fact no conservative can show me their proof that Obama plans to take their guns. But it sure doesn't stop them from stockpiling like it was Y2K. My friend has been upset cause he can't buy ammo because it's sold out everywhere. And for some reason that doesn't scare him like it scares me.

[gauguin57]

71. Right wing radio, TV hosts have the blood of those officers on their hands.

... for this constant drum beat about Obama taking people's guns away. They lie, and lie, until the sheeple believe it, and then go off the deep end and start shooting up the place.

May they all rot in hell.