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January 9, 2011

6 die in Tucson rampage

Congresswoman is critically injured; suspected gunman arrested

Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' "Congress on Your Corner" event started much like dozens of her previous meetings with constituents: in a supermarket parking lot with two dozen people assembled. Only this time, a gunman stepped forward.

The shooting Saturday morning was so fast that there was barely time for people to scream before they fell, witnesses said. When it was over, six were dead and 12 were wounded, including Giffords, who was shot in the head.

The suspected gunman was identified by police as 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner. Police say the shooter may not have acted alone, and witnesses said he fired at close range with a semiautomatic pistol and was preparing to reload when two onlookers tackled him.

By that time, U.S. District Judge John M. Roll, who had stopped by the event to say hello to Giffords, was dead, as was Gabe Zimmerman, 30, the congresswoman's director of community outreach.

Also killed were Dorothy Murray, 76, Dorwin Stoddard, 76, and Phyllis Schneck, 79. A 9-year-old girl died at the hospital.

Los Angeles Times

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Mystery surrounds suspect in rampage

Jared Lee Loughner, 22, posted YouTube videos that offer rambling texts on mind control, currency, the Constitution and English grammar.

Until Saturday morning, Jared Lee Loughner was a sometime community college student who had attended high school in northwest Tucson, lived with his parents there in a quiet, working-class neighborhood of ranch homes and had recently posted several rambling messages on YouTube.

Now, the 22-year-old is in police custody, the chief suspect in a shooting rampage 10 minutes from his house that left six dead and 12 wounded, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), the apparent target of the attack, who remained in critical condition.

Late Saturday, though, authorities still were wrestling with a central mystery in the case: Did the suspect in the attack have a clear political agenda? Or is he a mentally unbalanced young man, perhaps spurred to action by what the sheriff called "the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths" in this country "about tearing down the government."

Pima County Sheriff Clarence W. Dupnik said the suspect, whom law enforcement officials privately identified as Loughner, had "a troubled past" and had come to the attention of the police because of his behavior while a student at Pima County Community College. The sheriff did not specify the nature of that behavior.

Los Angeles Times

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Jared Lee Loughner, shooting suspect, leaves YouTube rants

Videos posted under the profile of Jared Lee Loughner, who is being held in the Giffords attack, offer a scroll of rambling texts on mind control, currency, the Constitution and English grammar.

Jared Lee Loughner, the 22-year-old suspect in the Tucson shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and 17 others, left behind a series of rambling YouTube videos in which he speaks of mind control, dreaming and a "new currency."

He doesn't appear in any of the videos. Instead, the five clips he apparently posted since October under the screen name Classitup10, feature scrolling text on a black screen and diagrams attempting to explain his theories on obscure subjects.

His first video made reference to Giffords' 8th Congressional district, with stretches south and east across the desert from Tucson to the Mexican border.

"[My] hope — is for you to be literate!" the text in the video said. "If you're literate in English grammar, then you comprehend English grammar. The majority of people, who reside in District-8, are illiterate — hilarious. I don't control your English grammar structure, but you control your English grammar structure."

Los Angeles Times

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EDITORIAL

Shooting from the lip in reaction to Gabrielle Giffords tragedy

The unreasoned and intemperate Web commentary on the Giffords shooting is shameful, embarrassing.

The shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is, of course, both heartbreaking and depressing. It's been years since our country has been through the trauma of a political assassination attempt, and it's no wonder that even the suggestion of one puts us on edge and stokes our fears. Nevertheless, the sane and rational approach to such an event is to stop, take a deep breath, listen to the facts — and above all, to condemn violence in the harshest possible terms.

That, however, was not the immediate reaction of many Americans, as anyone who was surfing the news Saturday morning is aware. Within minutes, hundreds of commenters were at work across the Web loudly seeking to appropriate the story for their own purposes, in many cases fanning it for maximum fear, and injecting it into the roiling narrative of anger, partisanship and paranoia that has taken over so much of the national political conversation.

Some of the comments were vitriolic, bordering on scary. "So Congresswoman Giffords," wrote one commenter on latimes.com, "how's that Obamacare vote working out for you?" On the Washington Post's website, a commenter wrote: "Too bad it wasn't Howard Dean or Al Gore. But a Demokrat is a Demokrat."

The left, for its part, was adamant about who was to blame. "This was a political assassination promoted by the tea party and Sarah Palin," said a not atypical comment on the L.A. Times site. Then there was the paranoid fringe: "2 and 1/2 hours since she was shot and NO WORD on the 'gunman.' Dontcha wonder why???????"

Los Angeles Times

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Suspect in videos of disabled women being sexually abused is arrested in Hollywood, authorities say

Los Angeles County sheriff's detectives said late Saturday that they have arrested one man -- and located a second in state prison -- believed to be part of a group who allegedly filmed and sexually assaulted severely disabled women.

Sheriff's officials released still images and composite drawings of at least eight men suspected in attacks on 10 of the disabled women in hopes of identifying those who carried out the assaults.

Ernie Lloyd, 27, of Los Angeles was arrested Saturday after he turned himself in to Los Angeles police in Hollywood after telling them he knew he was wanted, said Sheriff's Capt. Mike Parker. Lloyd is the same man described as "Suspect #1" in images released Thursday by the sheriff's department.

"On Saturday morning, suspect Lloyd arrived at the Hollywood Station of the Los Angeles Police Department, saying he had seen himself on the news and that he knew he was wanted," Parker said in a statement. " The LAPD contacted detectives with the sheriff's Special Victims Bureau.

Los Angeles Times

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25 bodies found in Acapulco, 15 decapitated

Messages attached to some of the bodies reportedly claim responsibility on behalf of the Sinaloa drug cartel and accuse the dead men of being extortionists.

The bodies of at least 25 people, 15 of them with their heads cut off, were discovered Saturday in the resort city of Acapulco, authorities said.

Drug cartel violence has increasingly plagued Acapulco as rival gangs fight for control of the local market, occasionally spilling into the tourist areas of the city.

Even though most of Saturday's killings appeared to have steered clear of those sections, the violence damages the reputation of a once-glamorous city struggling to make a comeback amid President Felipe Calderon's drug war.

The grimmest discovery came as police were investigating a burning car in a shopping center parking lot early in the morning: the decapitated bodies of 15 people. Security officials for the state of Guerrero, where Acapulco is located, said all were men younger than 30.

Los Angeles Times

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In tough times, schools try to keep homeless students' education on track.

School on Wheels is one of the nonprofits trying to meet the needs of thousands of L.A.-area students whose families are homeless. But funds are shrinking.

The line of students who walk the few blocks from Western Avenue Elementary keeps getting longer. Only a year ago, it was just a handful who ventured once a week to the South Los Angeles Learning Center, an afterschool program for homeless children in a tiny strip mall.

Now, it's more than a dozen, five days a week.

On this afternoon, the kids are rowdy and restless. They chomp on chips and grapes, sip punch and chatter. The noise ricochets through the cramped classroom, but Charles Evans, the man who runs the place for School on Wheels, hones in on Jeanquis. The first-grader in a stained white shirt is reading aloud.

Above the din, Evans is caught off guard. Jeanquis reminds him of how quickly the center has grown. Just six months ago, Evans made all the students read aloud. It was the only way he could be sure they were actually reading.

Los Angeles Times

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Arizona Suspect's Recent Acts Offer Hints of Alienation

WASHINGTON — Jared Lee Loughner had become increasingly erratic in recent months, so much so that others around him began to worry.

He had posted on his Myspace page at some point a photograph of a United States history textbook, on top of which he had placed a handgun. He prepared a series of Internet videos filled with rambling statements on topics including the gold standard, mind control and SWAT teams. And he had started to act oddly during his classes at Pima Community College, causing unease among other students.

That behavior, along with a disturbing video, prompted school administrators to call in Mr. Loughner's parents and tell them that their son had been suspended and would have to get a mental health evaluation to return to college. Instead, he dropped out in October, a spokesman for the college said.

The evidence and reports about Mr. Loughner's unusual conduct suggest an increasing alienation from society, confusion, anger as well as foreboding that his life could soon come to an end. Still, there appear to be no explicit threats of violence that explain why, as police allege, Mr. Loughner, 22, would go to a Safeway supermarket north of Tucson on Saturday morning and begin shooting at a popular Democratic congresswoman and more than a dozen other people, killing 6 and wounding 19.

New York Times

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Fiery package in DC triggers memories of anthrax

WASHINGTON -- Postal workers who returned to work Saturday said a package that ignited at a government mail facility conjured painful memories of the anthrax attacks that killed two of their colleagues in 2001.

The fiery package found Friday, which was addressed to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, followed two packages that ignited Thursday in Maryland state government mailrooms. It halted government mail until bomb-sniffing dogs could sweep the D.C. facility.

Mail processing resumed Saturday morning after a meeting with workers, the local postmaster and the workers' union.

Postal workers union President Dena Briscoe said that the meeting was helpful but that the fiery package worried many employees. She said most of the postal workers also were sorting D.C. mail back in 2001, when letters containing anthrax were sent to lawmakers and news organizations as the nation was still reeling from the 9/11 attacks.

Washington Post

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Unclaimed veterans buried in NY with full honors

CALVERTON, N.Y. — They were once forgotten: 20 Americans who had served their country in uniform and died years later, their remains unclaimed — until now.

On Saturday, they were buried with full honors at Calverton National Cemetery on eastern Long Island, complete with flag-draped coffins, prayers by a military chaplain and a 21-gun salute.

"Go gently dear brothers, your wait is done," said John Caldarelli, an American Legion member. "Taps has sounded and you are dismissed. ... No longer forgotten or cast aside."

Along with their names went life stories that placed the men in military service as far back as World War II.

In that conflict, Anderson Alston served as an Army master sergeant. Pvt. Frederick Hunter was a U.S. soldier from 1968 to 1971. And Myron Sanford Mabry was in the Navy from May 1960 to July 1971.

They were among the 20 who died in recent years in New York City, with no one to legally claim their remains.

Wall Street Journal

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January 8, 2011

Secret Service joins probe into Sierra Madre credit card fraud

Losses top $82,000 as detectives identify at least 282 victims defrauded at a now closed gas station in Sierra Madre. Police are looking for the owner and a man who allegedly used a cloned credit card at a Montebello bank.

Detectives have identified at least 282 victims of credit card fraud at a Sierra Madre gas station and are working to find the business' owner and a man photographed allegedly using a cloned card at a Montebello bank.

With losses now topping $82,000 and the investigation extending to a second gas station in the city, Sierra Madre Mayor Joe Mosca said the U.S. Secret Service, which specializes in card fraud scams, is joining the probe.

"The nature of this crime and the number of people it has affected is highly unusual in Sierra Madre," Mosca said.

Police said 75% of the victims are residents of the foothill community who used credit or debit cards since July at EVG Quality Gas, 50 S. Baldwin Ave.

Los Angeles Times

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Long Beach gang member arrested in three cold-case murders

A Long Beach gang member newly released from prison in New York has been arrested by Long Beach police in connection with the murders of three people in 2001 and 2002, authorities said Friday.

Juan Pablo Camacho, 33, a Mexican immigrant, was arrested Dec. 29 in Plattsburgh, N.Y., by Long Beach police investigating the three cold-case murders. He was being held in New York, awaiting deportation to Mexico after serving a prison term on weapons and illegal immigration charges.

The hunt for Camacho began Oct. 14, 2001, when Long Beach police found Richard Murillo, 30, shot to death in an alley on Rose Avenue. About 8:45 p.m. that night, Carrie Waltier, 33, was found dead in the 10000 block of Pinehurst Street in South Gate.

Long Beach and L.A. County sheriff's homicide detectives quickly connected the cases and later learned the victims were a couple who had been together in the hours before their killings.

Los Angeles Times

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FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III in O.C. denies sting operations aimed at terrorists are entrapment

FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III said in Orange County this week that the agency's use of sting operations has helped thwart terror attacks despite criticism that they amount to entrapment.

“We have been tremendously successful in thwarting attacks,” Mueller said Thursday in Orange, where he was unveiling a regional cyber-crime data analysis lab.

The FBI has been accused of cornering suspects believed to be potential terrorists, and critics claim the alleged undercover sting operations are especially focused on the Muslim community.

“There will be critics,” Mueller said. “But the one thing that our critics should know and understand is that we investigate individuals. We don't investigate areas of worship, we do not investigate particular persons. We have predication for undertaking any investigation we undertake.”

Recently, attorneys for Mohamed Osman Mohamud, a 19-year-old Somali American accused of plotting to explode a bomb at a Christmas tree lighting in Portland, Ore., said he was entrapped by the FBI, meaning he was induced into engaging in a crime he otherwise would not have committed. The FBI said Mohamud indicated his intention to kill Americans, identified the target and refused to change his mind.

Los Angeles Times

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VA legislation would mean jail time for bullying

Del. Adam Ebbin, D-Arlington/Alexandria, is proposing to elevate extreme cases of bullying to a class-one misdemeanor punishable by a year in prison and up to a $2,500 fine and enable victims to sue their harassers. In conjunction, Del. David Englin, D-Arlington/Fairfax, introduced the Anti-Bullying Responsibility Act that would make bullying prevention a mandatory part of teacher training, require all incidents to be reported to the district superintendent, and force schools to create procedures to separate bullies and their victims.

Englin was moved to include the last measure by a Fairfax County case in which a group of boys repeatedly sent sexually threatening text messages to a female fifth-grade classmate at Sunrise Valley Elementary School in Reston.

"And when she went to school, she was made to sit in the same classrooms as these boys," Englin said. "Because it happened off school grounds, the administrators said there was nothing they could do."

Washington Examiner

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Fiery package addressed to Homeland Security chief

First, fiery packages sent to top officials in Maryland were opened, revealing an angry message complaining of the state's terrorism tip line. Then, a mailing addressed to the nation's homeland security chief ignited with a similar flash of fire and smoke at a D.C. postal processing facility.

While authorities have not said if the latest parcel contained a note, they did say the three packages were alike. The targeting of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano also seemed to echo anger expressed by the mailer of the first two.

Napolitano launched a nationwide "see something, say something" campaign in July, and her recorded voice can be heard in Washington-area subway stations, reminding commuters to report suspicious behavior. The program expanded last month to include more than 230 Walmarts across the country.

The Maryland packages had an explicit message, railing against highway signs urging motorists to report suspicious activity by calling a toll-free number. The message read: "Report suspicious activity! Total Bull----! You have created a self fulfilling prophecy."

Washington Examiner

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A National Program Office for Enhancing Online Trust and Privacy

Today, at Stanford University, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and I were pleased to announce that the Commerce Department will host a National Program Office (NPO) in support of the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC).  As I've written previously, the NSTIC fulfills one of the action items in the Cyberspace Policy Review (pdf) and is a key building block in our efforts to secure cyberspace. 

This holiday season, consumers spent a record $30.81 billion in online retail spending, an increase of 13 percent over the same period the previous year.  This striking growth outshines even the notable 3.3-5.5 percent overall increase in holiday spending this past year.  While clearly a positive sign for our economy, losses from online fraud and identity theft eat away at these gains, not to mention the harm that identity crime causes directly to millions of victims.  We have a major problem in cyberspace, because when we are online we do not really know if people, businesses, and organizations are who they say they are. Moreover, we now have to remember dozens of user names and passwords. This multiplicity is so inconvenient that most people re-use their passwords for different accounts, which gives the criminal who compromises their password the “keys to the kingdom.”

The White House

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January 7, 2011

Authorities seek identity of men videotaped sexually assaulting disabled women

A package left at L.A. County Sheriff's Department headquarters contains 100 hours of footage of men who appear to be assaulting severely disabled women. Investigators are looking for leads on who is involved and where the attacks took place.

The package mysteriously left at Los Angeles County Sheriff's headquarters shocked even some of the department's most grizzled detectives: A hundred hours of video footage showing severely disabled women, many in diapers, being sexually assaulted by anonymous men.

The attacks appeared to have taken place at residential care centers, authorities said, and most of the attackers are believed to be employees. One suspect appears to be a paraplegic patient, hoisting himself off his wheelchair, before removing his diaper and that of his victim's, and beginning his assault.

The footage, dropped off in March, has left detectives with few leads. Though authorities are confident the scenes were shot in residential care facilities, it's unclear if they are located in Los Angeles County. Much of the footage is so grainy that only the faces of four of the estimated 10 men could be made out.

Authorities Thursday asked for the public's help in identifying the men, releasing screenshots and composite drawings of the attackers.

"Maybe they can identify these people," said Sgt. Dan Scott. "Maybe they can identify the room."

Los Angeles Times

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China's development of stealth fighter takes U.S. by surprise

The emergence of what is said to be a prototype jet, along with news of advances on an anti-ship missile, raises concerns about China's military intentions and the threat it poses to the U.S. in the Pacific.

A few weeks ago, grainy photos surfaced online showing what several prominent defense analysts said appeared to be a prototype of a Chinese stealth fighter jet that could compete with the best of America's warplanes, years ahead of U.S. predictions.

Days later, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet disclosed that a long-awaited Chinese anti-ship missile, designed to sink an American aircraft carrier, was nearly operational.

As Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates heads to China this weekend, analysts are expressing concern about Chinese military advances, which appear to have taken the U.S. by surprise. The Pentagon had predicted that China wouldn't have a stealth fighter for a decade or more and Defense officials had given no previous indication the anti-ship missile, which had long been tracked by the U.S., was close to fruition.

The assertions came as Gates on Thursday outlined plans to cut $78 billion in projected growth from the Pentagon's budget over the next five years and cut the number of troops on active duty.

Gates is expected to meet stiff resistance from contractors and military officials who have long been accustomed to annual budget increases and development of new hardware systems in response to warnings of new foreign threats.

Los Angeles Times

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Women identified, missing persons cases reopened after photos released from Grim Sleeper's home

Investigators are looking into four missing persons cases after law enforcement released photos taken from the home of Lonnie Franklin Jr., the alleged South L.A. serial killer known as the "Grim Sleeper."

Since last month, the Los Angeles Police Department has been flooded with hundreds of phone calls, e-mails and other tips after detectives publicized photographs of unidentified women that were found in a trailer and garage belonging to Franklin.

He has pleaded not guilty to 10 killings in South L.A. over three decades.

So far, at least 53 women have been identified by LAPD Robbery-Homicide detectives who are continuing to receive information since going public with the approximately 180 images, including duplicates.

Los Angeles Times

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U.S. Cautions People Named in Cable Leaks

WASHINGTON — The State Department is warning hundreds of human rights activists, foreign government officials and businesspeople identified in leaked diplomatic cables of potential threats to their safety and has moved a handful of them to safer locations, administration officials said Thursday.

The operation, which involves a team of 30 in Washington and embassies from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, reflects the administration's fear that the disclosure of cables obtained by the organization WikiLeaks has damaged American interests by exposing foreigners who supply valuable information to the United States.

Administration officials said they were not aware of anyone who has been attacked or imprisoned as a direct result of information in the 2,700 cables that have been made public to date by WikiLeaks, The New York Times and several other publications, many with some names removed. But they caution that many dissidents are under constant harassment from their governments, so it is difficult to be certain of the cause of actions against them.

The officials declined to discuss details about people contacted by the State Department in recent weeks, saying only that a few were relocated within their home countries and that a few others were moved abroad.

The State Department is mainly concerned about the cables that have yet to be published or posted on Web sites — nearly 99 percent of the archive of 251,287 cables obtained by WikiLeaks. With cables continuing to trickle out, they said, protecting those identified will be a complex, delicate and long-term undertaking. The State Department said it had combed through a majority of the quarter-million cables and distributed many to embassies for review by diplomats there.

New York Times

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Two Packages Emit Smoke in Maryland State Buildings

Two packages that contained incendiary devices that emitted a brief flame and smoke were opened Thursday in Maryland state office buildings about 15 minutes apart, but caused no serious injuries, the police said. One package was addressed to Gov. Martin O'Malley.

Mr. O'Malley told reporters the package sent to him in Annapolis had a note complaining about highway signs that asked motorists to report suspicious activity.

No explosive material was found in either package, the authorities said. Mailrooms were inspected at government buildings across the state.

“When both packages were opened there was a reaction — a reaction that caused a flash of fire, a brief flash of fire, smoke and a smell” like sulfur, said Greg Shipley, a Maryland State Police spokesman. He said the employee who opened one of the packages complained of having “singed fingers.”

Officials took pains not to call the packages bombs or explosives. Instead they referred to them as “incendiary.”

New York Times

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Man gets life without parole in gruesome Ohio murders

Matthew Hoffman, 30, pleaded guilty to all 10 counts, including three counts of aggravated murder and the kidnapping of one of the victim's 13-year-old relatives, in Knox County, Ohio, in November.

According to his attorney, Hoffman said he committed the crimes after encountering Tina R. Herrmann when he entered the house during a burglary attempt.

But the sister of Stephanie Sprang, one of the other victims, said there was no excuse for him killing Herrmann and waiting for the other victims to come to the house.

"Death is too easy for him and we would rather pay tax dollars and let him suffer and live and deal with what he did every day," Sherrie Baxter told CNN affiliate WSYX.

The remains of Herrmann, 31, her son, Kody, and Stephanie Sprang, 41, were found November 18 in a rural area after they had been missing 10 days from Herrmann's home. Autopsy results indicated they had been stabbed to death and dismembered.

CNN

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Arrest in killing of hospital worker

The unusual slaying at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda was high-profile, coming on New Year's Day at the well-known facility. The victim, Roosevelt Brockington, was stabbed more than 70 times in a basement boiler room.

Detectives quickly identified a suspect: Keith Little, a hospital employee. He worked for Brockington, who had recently given him a poor performance review. Little had also been accused of killing a co-worker at a previous job, at a maintenance facility in the District in 2003, but he was acquitted.

Detectives spoke to Little, but they said it wasn't until a bizarre incident Wednesday night that they had enough to charge him: Another hospital worker said he saw Little, just outside the boiler room, using chemically treated water and a bucket to wash down a pair of black gloves and a ski mask, police said.

"We got a break in the case," Montgomery Police Chief J. Thomas Manger said Thursday.

Washington Post

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Former CIA Officer Arrested for Alleged Unauthorized Disclosure of National Defense Information and Obstruction of Justice

WASHINGTON – A former CIA officer was arrested today on charges that he illegally disclosed national defense information and obstructed justice, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Jeffrey Alexander Sterling, 43, of O'Fallon, Mo., was charged in a 10-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia on Dec. 22, 2010, and unsealed today.  The indictment charges Sterling with six counts of unauthorized disclosure of national defense information, and one count each of unlawful retention of national defense information, mail fraud, unauthorized conveyance of government property and obstruction of justice.  Sterling was arrested today in St. Louis and is expected to make his initial appearance this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Terry I. Adelman in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

According to the indictment, Sterling was employed by the CIA from May 1993 to January 2002.  From November 1998 through May 2000, he was assigned to a classified clandestine operational program designed to conduct intelligence activities related to the weapons capabilities of certain countries, including Country A. During that same time frame, he was also the operations officer assigned to handle a human asset associated with that program.  According to the indictment, Sterling was reassigned in May 2000, at which time he was no longer authorized to receive or possess classified documents concerning the program or the individual.

Dept of Justice

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National security is a top priority for ICE

As far as government agencies go, U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a relative newcomer. However, the roots behind ICE and its focus on national security date back hundreds of years — 1789 to be exact. That's when Congress established the U.S. Customs Service (CSCS). Since then, the Immigration Act of 1891 was implemented, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was created, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was established. All have paved the way for ICE.

Today, ICE serves as the largest investigative arm of DHS. ICE's National Security Investigations Division (NSID) — part of ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) — leads efforts to identify, disrupt and dismantle transnational criminal enterprises and terrorist organizations that threaten the security of the United States. Each program housed under NSID serves a specific purpose, whether that be protecting our borders, keeping terrorists out of the United States or identifying war criminals and making them accountable for their crimes.

"As a threat evolves, we evolve," says ICE Deputy Assistant Director John P. Woods. "As we identify vulnerabilities, we address those vulnerabilities."

ICE

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January 6, 2011

Huntington Beach police turn to Facebook to help identify woman killed in 1968

Detectives get dozens of calls and e-mails, and quickly learn that a key piece of evidence they had followed for decades was nothing more than a false lead.

Her body was found face down in a drainage ditch in an open field. Her throat was slit and she had been sexually assaulted.

On March 14, 1968, detectives in Huntington Beach would begin a 42-year search to identify the victim, later dubbed "Jane Doe" — and the person who killed her.

Monty McKennon, 82, remembers the case well. For 12 years, it sat on his desk, McKennon and his team the only advocates for the answers to the mystery. McKennon, who spent 24 years with the Huntington Beach Police Department, recalled how long it took to bury the woman's body.

"We had her on ice for a long time," he said. "Every time we started to bury her, someone would claim they knew who it was."

But the case never went anywhere. Until now.

Los Angeles Times

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FBI cyber-crime lab opens in Orange

The $7-million regional crime lab will help law enforcement agencies analyze evidence from computers, cellphones and other digital devices.

A regional FBI crime lab where investigators can analyze evidence from computers, cellphones, cameras and other digital media opened Wednesday in Orange.

The $7-million lab is the third of its kind in California and the 15th in the nation and is designed to tackle the growing use of computers and the Internet to commit and conceal crimes, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III said.

Mueller said Regional Computer Forensic Labs are intended to help local law enforcement agencies analyze evidence and have helped investigators throughout the country solve public corruption, fraud, gang crime and counterterrorism cases. The labs streamline resources and investigative standards across agencies, he said.

"There's no one agency that can be successful in addressing the threats of today," Mueller said. "This [lab] is a perfect example of how we come together and how we are far more effective than we would be individually."

Los Angeles Times

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FBI lab will examine remains of Mitrice Richardson, sheriff says

The remains of Mitrice Richardson, the woman who disappeared after being released from the Lost Hills/Malibu sheriff's station and was found dead nearly a year later, will be exhumed and sent to the FBI laboratory in Quantico, Va., for further examination, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca.

Clothing that was found near her remains — and assumed to be hers — as well as a hank of hair discovered near her will also be sent for investigation.

“I am responding to the family's wishes,” Baca said in a phone interview. 

He said he called the FBI's assistant director here in L.A. in late December to request the agency's involvement.

“But I also think it doesn't hurt having the FBI say, ‘We've examined this and find the following,'" Baca said. "I think the needs of the family should be my first priority.”

Los Angeles Times

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Morocco Says It Foiled Terror Cell in Sahara

The Moroccan government arrested 27 people accused of operating a terrorist cell in Western Sahara led by a member of the local branch of Al Qaeda, officials said Wednesday.

The group was planning suicide and car bomb attacks against Moroccan and foreign security forces as well as bank robberies in Rabat and Casablanca to finance their activities, the interior minister, Tayeb Cherkaoui, said at a news conference carried by state news media.

The group's leader, the minister said, was a Moroccan member of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, which operates in North Africa and has camps in neighboring Algeria, Mauritania and northern Mali. The goal was to set up a “rear base” for terrorism planning, he said.

A Moroccan security official said the cell had “links with extremists of different nationalities in European countries.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly.

New York Times

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Hijacker Overpowered on Norway-Turkey Flight

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Passengers aboard a Turkish Airlines flight from Oslo overpowered a would-be hijacker as the plane landed at Istanbul airport on Wednesday, fellow passengers told Turkish media.

Police said the man was a Turk who had demanded that the plane return to Norway. His motive was unclear. According to the Turkish Dogan news agency, he tried to force his way into the cockpit of the plane saying: "I have a bomb."

The pilot notified emergency services at Istanbul's Ataturk airport. Passengers were quickly taken off after landing and the man was arrested and the bomb found to be a fake.

"I was sitting at the front end of the plane and I heard voices at the back of the plane around 30 minutes before we landed," said Lelya Kilic, one of the 59 passengers aboard flight TK1754 from Oslo. "I saw a fight between passengers and a man with a mask, carrying a device that looked like a radio handset."

New York Times

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Prescription Drug Abuse Sends More People to the Hospital

The number of emergency room visits resulting from misuse or abuse of prescription drugs has nearly doubled over the last five years, according to new federal data, even as the number of visits because of illicit drugs like cocaine and heroin has barely changed.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found there were about 1.2 million visits to emergency rooms involving pharmaceutical drugs in 2009, compared with 627,000 in 2004. The agency did not include visits due to adverse reactions to drugs taken as prescribed.

Emergency room visits resulting from prescription drugs have exceeded those related to illicit drugs for three consecutive years, said R. Gil Kerlikowske, President Obama's top drug policy adviser.

“I would say that when you see a 98 percent increase,” Mr. Kerlikowske said, “and you think about the cost involved in lives and families, not to mention dollars, it's pretty startling.”

New York Times

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Nebraska: School Shooting Ends in Two Deaths

A student opened fire at Millard South High School in Omaha on Wednesday, killing one person, wounding another and causing students to take cover, the authorities said.

No motive was apparent for the shooting of the principal, Curtis Case, and the vice principal, Vicki Kasper, who later died.

After the shootings the student, Robert Butler Jr., 17, was found dead in a car about a mile away from the school after shooting himself, said the Omaha police chief, Alex Hayes.

Mr. Butler is the son of an Omaha police detective.

New York Times

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Bizarre final days and hours of John P. Wheeler 3d

As more becomes publicly known of the final days and hours of John P. Wheeler 3d, an image is emerging of a man coming unglued.

Less than 48 hours before the respected former Pentagon aide turned up dead last week in a Delaware landfill, Wheeler limped into a Wilmington parking garage. Coatless and confused, one of his shoes in hand, he bizarrely inquired about the location of his car, then declined offers of help, witnesses said.

A day later, police said Wednesday, surveillance video captured Wheeler in downtown Wilmington again - this time looking "confused" inside the Nemours Building at 10th and Orange Streets about 8:30 p.m. Dec. 30.

That was less than 14 hours before Wheeler's body tumbled into a Wilmington landfill from a garbage truck. Police have called his death a homicide, but have refused to disclose how they believe Wheeler, 66, died.

Philadelphia Inquirer

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Another Step Forward For Alzheimer's Research and Services

This week, President Obama signed The National Alzheimer's Project Act (NAPA), bipartisan legislation that will help individuals and families across the country whose lives are touched by Alzheimer's disease.  This legislation represents the next step in our strong, continued commitment to supporting Alzheimer's research and health and long-term care services for affected individuals. 

Alzheimer's disease currently affects 5.3 million Americans, a number which is expected to increase fourfold by 2050.  Additionally, there are nearly 11 million unpaid caregivers and the Nation spends an estimated $172 billion in annual costs.

Signing NAPA builds on a commitment made to individuals and families affected by Alzheimer's disease at a meeting that was held at the White House on World Alzheimer's Day last September.  We brought together leading Alzheimer's disease advocates, researchers, health and long-term care experts, and others to commemorate World Alzheimer's Day. 

Developing a national plan to respond to this disease is critical for making sure that we are supporting individuals and families as effectively as possible and making important research investments to develop effective therapeutics and change the trajectory of this disease.  The Obama Administration looks forward to implementing this legislation. 

Arlington Man Indicted for Alleged Threats Via Facebook

ALEXANDRIA, VA—Awais Younis, 25, of Arlington, Virginia, was indicted by a federal grand jury today of threatening to bomb the Metro in statements he made on Facebook.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and James W. McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Washington Field Office, made the announcement. On Nov. 6, 2010, Younis was arrested on the same charge and has been detained pending further court action. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison if convicted.

According to the indictment, through a Facebook profile under the name of Sudullah “Sunny” Ghilzai, Younis chatted online with another individual. In November 2010, Younis allegedly threatened to injure the individual by harming her father, who lives in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area and rides Metrorail to work. The indictment alleges that Younis described to the individual a potential attack he planned to carry out against the Metro and warned “tell your father to cancel work tomorrow.”

FBI

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Self-Proclaimed White Supremacist William White Convicted of Soliciting Violence Against Hale Jury Foreman

CHICAGO—A self-proclaimed white supremacist was convicted today by a federal jury in Chicago of soliciting violence to the foreman of a federal jury in Chicago that convicted another white supremacist, Matthew Hale, in 2004, federal law enforcement officials announced today. The defendant, William A. White, was found guilty on one count of solicitation, announced Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

White, 33, also known as “Bill White,” of Roanoke, Va., faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Jurors deliberated several hours following a two-day trial before U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman, of Milwaukee, who was assigned to preside over the case in U.S. District Court in Chicago. A sentencing date was not immediately set.

Judge Adelman initially had dismissed the indictment against White but a federal appeals court in Chicago reinstated the solicitation charge last summer. Today's verdict is White's second federal conviction in little more than a year. He is currently serving a 30-month federal sentence that was imposed last April after a federal jury in Roanoke convicted him in December 2009 of three counts of communicating threats in interstate commerce and one count of witness intimidation.

FBI

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January 5, 2011

Mexico: La Familia offers to cease January 'activities' in public letter

The Mexican drug cartel La Familia has offered in a public letter to refrain from "any activities" for the first month of 2011 in order to support its claim that the federal authorities, not the cartel, are responsible for violence gripping its home-base state of Michoacan.

The letter purportedly signed by the group began appearing in Michoacan on Saturday night, local news reports said. It starts with a formal new year's greeting, then says La Familia will maintain a "withdrawal" for the first month of 2011 to "keep demonstrating to the authorities, the federal government and especially the people of Michoacan that La Familia Michoacana is not responsible for the criminal acts that the authorities and federal government report in the media."

Federal authorities say La Familia has been severely weakened since an operation in early December that resulted in the death of the cult-like group's spiritual leader, Nazario Moreno Gonzalez, or "El Mas Loco."

La Familia often directs messages to "Michoacan society" in public letters or on banners known as narcomantas that are hung over bridges. The messages reflect the group's quasi-populist view of its operations, insisting regularly that the cartel works to protect the people of Michoacan from rival drug-trafficking groups and from the government.

Los Angeles Times

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Huntington Beach police use Facebook in hopes of solving 1968 slaying

The woman's body was found more than 42 years ago in a dirt field in Huntington Beach, her throat slashed with a sharp instrument. She had been beaten and sexually assaulted, police said.

On Tuesday, the Huntington Beach Police Department released photos on its Facebook page that may be linked to the slaying in an effort to drum up leads in the case. The photos were found in a purse about a quarter-mile from the crime scene, police said, and had not been previously released.

"If we can figure out who she was, we can find out what she was doing that day ... and maybe find out who that suspect is," Lt. Russell Reinhart told The Times.

Dubbed "Jane Doe," the woman was found March 14, 1968, in the field near Newland Street and Yorktown Avenue. She was white or Latina, 20 to 25 years old, and about 5 feet 4 inches tall with dark, shoulder-length hair and brown eyes, police said.

Los Angeles Times

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A weapon against drug cartels

President Obama should give the ATF authority to require gun dealers near Mexico to report multiple purchases of high-powered rifles; tracing the guns will help fight violent drug cartels.

Mexico has some of the strictest gun laws in the hemisphere. Citizens are permitted to buy low-caliber firearms for self-protection or hunting, but only after a background check and approval by the defense ministry; they must also purchase the guns directly from the ministry. The goal of this parsimonious approach to allotting firearms is a society free from gun violence. Unfortunately for Mexico, however, its weapons management strategy is sabotaged by an accident of location — its residence next door to the gun capital of the world.

The United States is awash in guns. Americans own an estimated 283 million guns, and 4.5 million new ones, including 2 million handguns, are sold each year, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Nor are these weapons confined to U.S. borders and households. Officials say that they are pouring south into Mexico, into the hands of violent drug cartels.

As part of its effort to halt the flow, the ATF has asked the White House for emergency authority to require gun dealers near the border in four states — California, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas — to report multiple purchases of high-powered rifles. Specifically, the agency wants 8,500 retailers to report any sales of two or more long rifles of .22 caliber or higher to the same customer within a five-day period.

Los Angeles Times

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Don't deny detainees their day in court

Indefinite detention of post-Sept. 11 detainees without charge or trial is not the American way.

The idea that every person deserves his or her "day in court" is a fundamental principle in the United States and many countries worldwide. Yet more than nine years after 9/11, the United States remains paralyzed not just about how to give the thousands of detainees in U.S. custody around the world their day in court but about whether to give them that day in court.

Multiple judicial forums have been created to try nonstate actors who have perpetrated war crimes from Rwanda to Sierra Leone to Cambodia to the former Yugoslavia — to give them their day in court. That makes the failure to answer this question for post-9/11 detainees particularly perplexing and deeply troubling.

Two successive administrations have been incapable of answering what should be the most basic questions: if, how and where to try terrorists. In the meantime, post-9/11 detainees languish in indefinite detention. The result is a fundamental and overwhelming violation of the rights of individuals who are no more than suspects, in either past or (more problematic) future acts.

The Obama administration now intends to issue an executive order establishing indefinite detention without trial for detainees at Guantanamo Bay. This decision will formalize this violation of basic rights. Denying individual accountability will now be official U.S. policy and law.

Los Angeles Times

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Birthright Citizenship Looms as Next Immigration Battle

NOGALES, Ariz. — Of the 50 or so women bused to this border town on a recent morning to be deported back to Mexico, Inez Vasquez stood out. Eight months pregnant, she had tried to trudge north in her fragile state, even carrying scissors with her in case she gave birth in the desert and had to cut the umbilical cord.

“All I want is a better life,” she said after the Border Patrol found her hiding in bushes on the Arizona side of the border with her husband, her young son and her very pronounced abdomen.

The next big immigration battle centers on illegal immigrants' offspring, who are granted automatic citizenship like all other babies born on American soil. Arguing for an end to the policy, which is rooted in the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, immigration hard-liners describe a wave of migrants like Ms. Vasquez stepping across the border in the advanced stages of pregnancy to have what are dismissively called “anchor babies.”

The reality at this stretch of the border is more complex, with hospitals reporting some immigrants arriving to give birth in the United States but many of them frequent border crossers with valid visas who have crossed the border legally to take advantage of better medical care. Some are even attracted by an electronic billboard on the Mexican side that advertises the services of an American doctor and says bluntly, “Do you want to have your baby in the U.S.?”

New York Times

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15-Year Sentence for 1968 Plane Hijacking

The crime evoked a touch of nostalgia, tracing back to an era when political activism and crime sometimes went hand in hand. Hijackings, especially to Cuba, seemed commonplace.

Luis Armando Peña Soltren was one of three men accused of hijacking of Pan American Flight 281, bound for Puerto Rico but taken to Cuba on Nov. 24, 1968. The other two men have long since pleaded guilty and served their sentences.

After 40 years living as a fugitive in Cuba, Mr. Soltren, now 67, received his sentence in Federal District Court in Manhattan on Tuesday.

He walked slowly into the courtroom, with short, silvery hair and bowed shoulders. Then he stood before Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein and read for 15 minutes from a piece of paper.

Through an interpreter, he apologized to the court, to his family and to the passengers and crew of the plane he helped hijack. Mr. Soltren, who surrendered to United States authorities in 2009 and pleaded guilty in 2010 to conspiracy to commit air piracy, interfering with flight crew members and kidnapping, attributed his misdeeds to “lack of experience, lack of patience and lack of maturity.”

New York Times

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Milwaukee Archdiocese Seeks Chapter 11

The Roman Catholic archbishop of Milwaukee, Jerome E. Listecki, announced Tuesday that the archdiocese had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, saying it would allow the church to continue its ministry while giving fair compensation to the victims of sexual abuse by priests.

But advocates for the victims say the church's real motivation is to avoid disclosing information about priests accused of abuse and officials who covered it up.

The bankruptcy filing comes just before the deposition of an important church official, Auxiliary Bishop Richard J. Sklba, who until his recent retirement served alongside three successive archbishops of Milwaukee. A lawyer for Bishop Sklba was trying to have that deposition sealed.

Other officials expected to be deposed include the former archbishop of Milwaukee Timothy M. Dolan, now archbishop of New York. The bankruptcy filing will almost certainly delay the depositions, although they could eventually proceed.

New York Times

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Fake White House holiday e-mail is cyber attack

WASHINGTON (AP) — It looked like an innocent e-mail Christmas card from the White House.

But the holiday greeting that surfaced just before Christmas was a ruse by cybercriminals to steal documents and other data from law enforcement, military and government workers — particularly those involved in computer crime investigations.

Analysts who have studied the malicious software said Tuesday that hackers were able to use the e-mail to collect sensitive law enforcement data. But so far there has been no evidence that any classified information was compromised.

The targeted e-mail attack comes as the federal government is desperately trying to beef up its cybersecurity after the release of thousands of State Department cables and military documents by the WikiLeaks website. Federal authorities want to improve technology systems and crack down on employees to prevent the theft or loss of classified and sensitive information.

GOOGLE

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Elisa Baker says Zahra died Sept. 24

Zahra Baker was likely killed on Sept. 24, and her body disposed of the following day, according to new search warrants released Tuesday. She was not reported missing until about two weeks later.

Elisa has also been arrested on several other charges unrelated to Zahra's disappearance. Adam was arrested, as well, on several charges unrelated to the case, but is out of jail on bond.

In the search warrants, Elisa maintains that Adam dismembered Zahra's limbs and they disposed of them in several locations.

All search warrants in the Zahra Baker investigation were unsealed Tuesday.

Hickory Record

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January 4, 2011

Military consultant under 3 presidents found dead in landfill; helped get Vietnam wall built

(Video on site)

DOVER, Del. (AP) — A military expert who served three Republican presidents and helped get the Vietnam Veterans Memorial built as part of his dedication to those who fought in that war was found dead in a landfill, and authorities are trying to piece together when he was last seen alive.

The body of John Wheeler III, 66, was uncovered Friday when a garbage truck emptied its contents at the Cherry Island landfill in Wilmington. The truck had collected the trash from about 10 commercial disposal bins in Newark, several miles from Wheeler's home in the historic district of New Castle, but police said they aren't sure which container his body came from.

Friends say they traded e-mails with Wheeler — who had not been reported missing — around Christmas. Wheeler also had been scheduled to take an Amtrak train from Washington to Wilmington on Dec. 28, but it's not clear if he ever made the trip, said investigators, who have labeled Wheeler's death a homicide.

Family members may not have reported him missing because they were out of town, Newark police spokesman Lt. Mark Farrall said.

Los Angeles Times

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Out of prison and into mortal danger in Mexico

Female kidnapping suspect 'The Redhead' was found tortured and hanging from an overpass after being sprung from prison. Observers wonder if it was a gang hit or even vigilante 'justice.'

They called her La Pelirroja , The Redhead.

After languishing in jail on kidnapping charges for more than a year, she was abruptly sprung from custody two days after Christmas, during what may have been a bogus medical transfer.

But instead of being freed, Gabriela Muniz was within days found hanging by the neck from a pedestrian overpass in Mexico's wealthiest city, Monterrey — a brutally rare fate for a woman, even amid this nation's depraved and escalating drug violence.

Was it score-settling among gangs? Or was this an even more sinister example of vigilante justice by affluent private parties determined to restore what they see as law and order to their enclave?

"Since there are no rules — the big businessmen have no rules, the narcos have no rules — it is difficult to know what this was," Samuel Gonzalez, former head of organized crime investigations for the federal government, said in a telephone interview Monday. "But if it is a case of private 'justice,' then this is really a terrible, terrible phenomenon."

Los Angeles Times

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Georgia: N.A.A.C.P. Says Guards Beat Prisoners

The N.A.A.C.P. says three prisoners were beaten by guards in retaliation for a strike, but the prison leadership denies wrongdoing. The N.A.A.C.P. and the inmates' families said Monday that they planned to file a lawsuit or a complaint with the federal government after receiving photographs showing the men's injuries. The group says that the men were handcuffed and beaten, including with a hammer, and that one man now needs a wheelchair and another apparently has brain damage. “We are a law enforcement agency and do everything possible to uphold, not break, laws,” the Georgia Department of Corrections said. Inmates in several Georgia prisons went on strike last month, seeking more food and better living conditions.

The New York Times

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DNA Evidence Clears Man After 30 Years

Thirty years after Cornelius Dupree Jr. was imprisoned for rape and robbery, prosecutors in Dallas declared him innocent on Monday in light of new DNA evidence. Mr. Dupree, 51, has served more years in a Texas prison for a crime he did not commit than any of the other 41 people exonerated in the state in recent years. In 1980, Mr. Dupree was convicted along with a second man, Anthony Massingill, of robbing a couple and then kidnapping and raping the woman. But DNA tests completed last year on traces of semen showed that neither man committed the rape. Mr. Dupree was released on parole last summer, weeks before the DNA tests were done. Mr. Massingill, who was convicted in another sexual assault, remains in prison.

The New York Times

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Anonymity and the Dark Side of the Internet

In McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission (1995) the Supreme Court overturned a statute requiring any person who prints a notice or flyer promoting a candidate or an issue to identify the communication's author by name. Justice John Paul Stevens, writing for the majority, grounded his opinion in an account of meaning he takes from an earlier case (First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti): “The inherent worth of . . . speech in terms of its capacity for informing the public does not depend upon the identity of its source, whether corporation, association, union, or individual.” Or, in other words, a writing or utterance says what it says independently of who happens to say it; the information conveyed does not vary with the identification of the speaker.

There are at least two problems with this reasoning. First, it is not true that a text's meaning is the same whether or not its source is known. Suppose I receive an anonymous note asserting that I have been betrayed by a friend. I will not know what to make of it — is it a cruel joke, a slander, a warning, a test? But if I manage to identify the note's author — it's a friend or an enemy or a known gossip — I will be able to reason about its meaning because I will know what kind of person composed it and what motives that person might have had.

In the same way, if I am the recipient of a campaign message supporting a candidate or a policy, my assessment of what I am reading or hearing will depend on my knowledge of the sender. Is he, she or it an industry representative, a lobbyist, the A.C.L.U., the Club for Growth? The identity of the speaker is part of the information and is therefore part — a large part — of the meaning. (“Consider the source” is not only commonplace advice; it is a theory of interpretation.)

The New York Times

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OPINION

A Clear Danger to Free Speech

THE so-called Shield bill, which was recently introduced in both houses of Congress in response to the WikiLeaks disclosures, would amend the Espionage Act of 1917 to make it a crime for any person knowingly and willfully to disseminate, “in any manner prejudicial to the safety or interest of the United States,” any classified information “concerning the human intelligence activities of the United States.”

Although this proposed law may be constitutional as applied to government employees who unlawfully leak such material to people who are unauthorized to receive it, it would plainly violate the First Amendment to punish anyone who might publish or otherwise circulate the information after it has been leaked. At the very least, the act must be expressly limited to situations in which the spread of the classified information poses a clear and imminent danger of grave harm to the nation.

The clear and present danger standard has been a central element of our First Amendment jurisprudence ever since Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.'s 1919 opinion in Schenk v. United States. In the 90 years since, the precise meaning of “clear and present danger” has evolved, but the animating principle was stated brilliantly by Justice Louis D. Brandeis in his 1927 concurring opinion in Whitney v. California. The founders “did not exalt order at the cost of liberty,” wrote Brandeis; on the contrary, they understood that “only an emergency can justify repression. Such must be the rule if authority is to be reconciled with freedom. Such ... is the command of the Constitution. It is, therefore, always open to Americans to challenge a law abridging free speech and assembly by showing that there was no emergency justifying it.”

The New York Times

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Secretary Napolitano and Qatari Minister of State for Internal Affairs He Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Bin Khalifa Al Thani Sign Letter of Intent on Bilateral Security Initiatives

Doha, Qatar—Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Qatari Minister of State for Interior Affairs HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani today signed a letter of intent to expand collaboration between the two nations on bilateral initiatives to enhance security for American and Qatari citizens.

“Homeland security does not begin at America's borders—it starts with our international partnerships to detect and deter terrorists and other individuals who pose a threat to citizens around the world,” said Secretary Napolitano. “This agreement will help us expand collaboration with Qatar in order to better protect the citizens of both nations against the evolving threats we face.”

The letter of intent signed today recognizes expanded coordination between the United States and Qatar, and outlines several areas for expanded collaboration—including: Strengthened information sharing about individuals with ties to terrorism and serious crime; Enhanced passenger screening at airports; Sharing of best practices for document screening, behavior detection capabilities and efforts to combat bulk cash smuggling and money laundering; and New partnerships to enhance international aviation security, cybersecurity, disaster response and emergency preparedness, and the protection of critical infrastructure and key resources.

DHS

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Readout of Secretary Napolitano's Meetings With Israeli President Shimon Peres, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intelligence and Atomic Energy Dan Meridor, and Minister of Transport Yisrael Katz

Jerusalem—Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today traveled to Israel, meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intelligence and Atomic Energy Dan Meridor, and Minister of Transport Yisrael Katz to discuss threats from terrorism and the ongoing security partnership between the United States and Israel.

“Protecting against terrorism relies on close cooperation and information sharing with our international partners,” said Secretary Napolitano. “The continued collaboration between the United States and Israel is critical to ensuring our shared security in the face of new and evolving threats.”

In her meetings with President Peres, Deputy Prime Minister Meridor, and Minister Katz, Secretary Napolitano reiterated her commitment to promoting enhanced international aviation security and sharing information and best practices with Israeli aviation authorities in order to counter threats of terrorism. Secretary Napolitano also discussed the continued collaboration between the two countries on global supply chain security, emergency management, science and technology, and intelligence analysis and sharing.

DHS

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Organized Retail Theft

A $30 Billion-a-Year Industry

It's a telling case: a few years ago, members of two criminal organizations in California were charged for their role in a large-scale fencing operation to buy and sell over-the-counter health and beauty products—as well as other items like camera film, batteries, and infant formula—that had been stolen from major retail chain stores. The merchandise was then passed off to crooked out-of-state wholesale distributors, who just sold it back to unsuspecting retailers.

Industry experts say organized retail crimes like these cost the U.S. about $30 billion a year. While that estimate includes other crimes like credit card fraud, gift card fraud, and price tag switching, the FBI's Organized Retail Theft program—according to Special Agent Eric Ives of our Violent Crimes/Major Offenders Unit in Washington, D.C.—“specifically focuses on the most significant retail theft cases involving the interstate transportation of stolen property.” Organized retail theft, says Ives, is a “gateway crime that often leads us to major crime rings that use the illicit proceeds to fund other crimes—such as organized crime activities, health care fraud, money laundering, and potentially even terrorism.“

Targets and thieves. The stores targeted for theft run the gamut—from grocery and major department stores to drug stores and specialty shops. The organizations responsible for much of this crime include South American theft groups, Mexican criminal groups, Cuban criminal groups from South Florida, and Asian street gangs from California.

FBI

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January 3, 2011

Outlawed, Cellphones Are Thriving in Prisons

ATLANTA — A counterfeiter at a Georgia state prison ticks off the remaining days of his three-year sentence on his Facebook page. He has 91 digital “friends.” Like many of his fellow inmates, he plays the online games FarmVille and Street Wars.

He does it all on a Samsung smartphone, which he says he bought from a guard. And he used the same phone to help organize a short strike among inmates at several Georgia prisons last month.

Technology is changing life inside prisons across the country at the same rapid-fire pace it is changing life outside. A smartphone hidden under a mattress is the modern-day file inside a cake.

“This kind of thing was bound to happen,” said Martin F. Horn, a former commissioner of the New York City Department of Correction who teaches at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “The physical boundaries that we thought protected us no longer work.”

New York Times

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Obama Signs Bill to Help 9/11 Workers

HONOLULU — President Obama took time out of his Hawaiian vacation on Sunday to sign into law one of the surprise accomplishments of the lame-duck Congress: a measure covering the cost of medical care for rescue workers and others sickened by toxic fumes and dust after the 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

To become law, the bill required Mr. Obama's signature before he returned to Washington on Tuesday, so he signed it at his rented vacation home in the town of Kailua, near Honolulu. There was no signing ceremony, as there would probably have been had the president been at the White House. Instead, Mr. Obama's official photographer recorded the moment, and the White House said it would release a picture.

The $4.3 billion bill became a major point of contention in the waning days of the Congressional session. Republican senators blocked a more expensive House version, and as it appeared that the measure was going to die, the comedian Jon Stewart took up the cause, using his Comedy Central television program to advocate passage. Ultimately, the Senate approved the less expensive measure; the House quickly followed suit and sent the bill to the president.

New York Times

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Crude Videos Aboard an Aircraft Carrier

The videos resemble something a college fraternity could have put together as a joke and posted on YouTube. There are scenes showing women showering together, frequent sexual references and a number of antigay slurs and vulgarities.

But instead of a college joke or an amateur YouTube production, the videos — created about four years ago and now becoming public — appear to be the work of a man who is currently the commanding officer of the Navy's nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Enterprise, based in Norfolk and weeks away from deploying. The man, Capt. Owen Honors, reportedly not only orchestrated the making of the raunchy videos, but also starred in them and filmed them aboard the Enterprise with government equipment while the carrier was deployed during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The videos were splashed across the Internet over the weekend, and are now at the center of a Navy investigation.

According to The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, which obtained the videos and posted them on its Web site, Captain Honors made the videos in 2006 and 2007 to entertain and boost the morale of sailors aboard the carrier. The videos were filmed with cameras and equipment from the carrier's public affairs office, and were shown at least once a week on closed-circuit television throughout the ship. Captain Honors at the time was the carrier's executive officer, or “XO,” but he later became its commanding officer.

New York Times

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OPINION

Chewing Gum for Terrorists

DID former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Tom Ridge, a former homeland security secretary, and Frances Townsend, a former national security adviser, all commit a federal crime last month in Paris when they spoke in support of the Mujahedeen Khalq at a conference organized by the Iranian opposition group's advocates? Free speech, right? Not necessarily.

The problem is that the United States government has labeled the Mujahedeen Khalq a “foreign terrorist organization,” making it a crime to provide it, directly or indirectly, with any material support. And, according to the Justice Department under Mr. Mukasey himself, as well as under the current attorney general, Eric Holder, material support includes not only cash and other tangible aid, but also speech coordinated with a “foreign terrorist organization” for its benefit. It is therefore a felony, the government has argued, to file an amicus brief on behalf of a “terrorist” group, to engage in public advocacy to challenge a group's “terrorist” designation or even to encourage peaceful avenues for redress of grievances.

Don't get me wrong. I believe Mr. Mukasey and his compatriots had every right to say what they did. Indeed, I argued just that in the Supreme Court, on behalf of the Los Angeles-based Humanitarian Law Project, which fought for more than a decade in American courts for its right to teach the Kurdistan Workers' Party in Turkey how to bring human rights claims before the United Nations, and to assist them in peace overtures to the Turkish government.

New York Times

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Man accused of killing deputy sparked similar confrontation in 2001

Michael L. Ferryman, 57, who officials said fatally shot Deputy Suzanne Waughtel Hopper and then died during a shootout with officers, also fired shots at deputies in Morgan County in 2001.

No one was hurt in the incident near Malta, and Ferryman was later found not guilty by reason of insanity and sent to a psychiatric facility in Columbus.

Authorities identified Ferryman yesterday as the man who fired a shotgun at close range and killed Hopper, 40, who had responded to reports of gunfire at a trailer park in Enon, a village west of Springfield. During the shootout that followed, a township police officer was wounded, and Ferryman died.

The Columbus Dispatch

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New DE Law (Blue Alert System)

A new law is in effect in Delaware today to aide in catching criminals who remain at large after killing or injuring a police officer.

Delaware Gov. Jack Markell signed House Bill 448, known at the Blue Alert System, last August, one year after Georgetown Policeman Chad Spicer was fatally shot and his partner was wounded during a traffic stop.

The Blue Alert System is modeled after the nationwide Amber Alert System for missing children. When a Blue Alert is activated, news releases will be sent immediately to any and all news organizations alerting the public if a suspect who hurt a police officer is still at-large.

WGMD News

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