that suggests that maybe Maurice Hinchey did speak out of turn when he was so quick to ID the man as a recent layoff from IBM. Says we don't know whether he was laid off or whether his father was laid off. Also, where he worked is still unclear, regardless:
http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20090404/NEWS01/904040430Suspected shooter may have lost job
His father is respected member of community
By Doug Schneider and Vanessa EbbelingBINGHAMTON - The gunman who went on a murderous rampage in a roomful of immigrants at the American Civic Association on Friday was an immigrant and a gun owner. But little else was known about him Friday, and it remained unclear what triggered his rage.
The man - identified as 42-year-old Linh Voong of Johnson City - was recently laid off from a job, U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-Hurley, said Friday. Police would not confirm that.
...Hinchey, whose district includes parts of Broome County, said his office had been told by four sources that the gunman had recently been laid off from IBM Corp. in Endicott. However, IBM spokesman Fred McNeese, when asked if a Linh Voong had worked for the company, said: "We did not have an employee or contractor by that name" - in Endicott or elsewhere.
Zikuski said the shooter most recently worked at Shop-Vac, which shut in November. The shooter's father was laid off from IBM, he said. "That's my understanding," Zikuski said....
As some of the people in the comments said, it's possible that either the suspected shooter or his father actually worked not at IBM, but at Endicott Interconnect Technologies, a locally based spinoff that was once part of IBM.
I post this because I was accused of Hinchey-bashing yesterday when I suggested that maybe he was speaking too soon when he identified the man as a laid-off IBM employee, saying I wanted more facts. I wasn't Hinchey-bashing, I was asking for more facts because the mere fact that Hinchey knows his district doesn't mean he sees all and knows all.
What I'm saying is, perhaps he was, perhaps he wasn't--perhaps he was laid off from somewhere else--perhaps he wasn't, but his father was. There's a whole lot we still don't know.
I know it breaks some people's hearts to try to stop the Rampant Speculation Derby in its tracks, but there you have it. We don't know whether the guy was laid off by a gigantic soulless corporation or a small local one, or whether his father was or wasn't, or that he didn't go crazy and start killing because he had a yet-unknown girlfriend who worked at the American Civic Association and she had just dumped him, or that he didn't have mental problems and thus no traceable "reason" for choosing to do this when he did and where he did. We just don't know.
Remember yesterday morning when the news first came out, and the Speculation Derby began? This guy was obviously a native-born white freeper who went nuts and decided to start killing immigrants out of hate. His home would be found to be crammed full of wingnut literature, his TV permanently set to Fox News and his radio to Rush. Right?...Well, maybe not so much.
Let's just wait, and see what other information is uncovered. That's all I wanted to say.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
