Murder During Council Meeting, NY. 7/23/03

Wow! How on earth did he get in. You would think NY City Hall would be as secure as the White House!

From the article:
Fidler and others questioned how a gunman could have gotten past the building's metal detectors with a firearm, but staffers in the building told reporters that employees known to guards were often allowed into the building unchecked.
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Oooooh, another Harvey Milk situation. (Although that guy snuck in.)

According to one source I just found on-line, the shooter was an opponent of the man he shot, and he entered with the councilman. As though they were enemies, but knew each other well enough to enter together. The same news source says that the police shot the assailant.

The NY Times, for some reason, is lagging behind the wire service that's reporting those details, so I'm not vouching for them...

Was watching CNN. Looked like the victim was a pretty decent guy. Former minister, cop, and very pro gun control.

Yeah. The victim reads like a great guy. Deepens the tragedy, IMO.

THE ASSAILANT WAS KILLED!!!
The assailant was killed by a plainsclothes cop - the Council Speaker's "bodyguard." Here on the East Coast that was all that was on any of the TV channels from shortly after 2:00 P.M., when it happened, until after 6:30 P.M. - the World News slot. They gave his name, but I cannot repeat it to you. An unusual name that didn't stick in the memory. No doubt it's in many of the newspapers on-line. I'd recap the story, but it's widely available now. Besides, we're saturated with it here - over and over and over. It happened in "our area."

Incredibly sad. Reverend Davis was well-thought of and probably would have been Mayor of NYC one day. A bright future extinguished too soon.[/color]

Here's the assassin's name . . .
Here's the assassin's name:

"The gunman, identified by police as Othniel Boaz Askew, 31, of Brooklyn . . . "

Copy-and-paste from MSN.[/color]

Harvey Milk was the first thing I thought of when I heard the news on the radio. It was happening at the same time there was a shooting in San Antonio (on a road I happened to be on at the time) -- and that turns out to be murder by a guy -- fellow worker in a Century 21 office -- everyone liked and found "quiet."

Sofia<

Thanks for this thread.

I believe that in the hearts of people across the country, there is a sadness that New York City is once again the site of a tragedy.

This is such a disturbing trend in the media. There was just a fire in a large hospital in LA in an empty wing. No one injured. Not that big of a deal. Of course part of the hospital was evacuated, but the vultures were on the air live for hours on at least 5 channels, waiting, speculating.

eoe and fealola: You have touched on a raw nerve re how the media operate these days. I speak from experience because I was a PIO for an institution and hounded by journalists all the time. It got worse and worse as the years went by, with the advent of 24-hour cable news. These channels have an insatiable appetite for fresh stories that they want to report NOW. Throw facts and rumors against the wall, and see what sticks a few minutes later. Anyone who watches this kind of coverage is wasting his/her time. I find it numbing and switch it off. Check back later when they actually know what happened...

That's the great thing about not having TV, D'art (and a swift hand to the radio dial, when necessary). There's nothing worse than hearing and seeing constant speculation about an event. I like to wait and see how it turns out, having listened to an occasional analysis from a non-hysteric! One of the things I most disliked about Abuzz was the insatiable urge to speculate, did he, didn't he, will they, won't they, does it, maybe, whaddya think, what's the latest, whose statement, supposing, what if? ... etc. etc. A little goes a long way!

Amen, Tartarin!

Ooooo, then y'all don't want to know how they're speculating about Kobe on another thread. It's shameful!

Nice town in Japan. That's it as far as I'm concerned!

I think we can speculate amongst ouselves all we want -(people love a mystery) but the news has gone overboard recently and I think it's unethical. They've speculated to the point where at times they have given out bogus information as fact.

Good distinction, Fealola. I find online speculations boring, ultimately, but media speculation is indeed unethical and even dangerous.