Category Archives: crime news

crime news, national news

Motor vehicles are heavily regulated, too

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

A fascinating item showed up this morning on my Facebook news feed that tells us that they’ve been regulating automobiles for decades, but that “no one has taken our cars away.”

Well …

What do you think of that? I happen to think it is a relevant statement in light of the building debate — yet again — over whether there can be sensible, constitutional gun regulations in this country.

The discussion has flared once more in light of two horrific massacres, in Atlanta and then in Boulder, Colo. Eighteen people died in the carnage.

President Biden has called for an outright ban on assault weapons and for universal background checks on every human being who wants to purchase a firearm. Make ’em wait for, oh, three days before being cleared to walk away with a gun.

Is that reasonable? I believe it is. I mean, if you’re a “law-abiding citizen” of the United States of America, you shouldn’t worry one little bit about waiting for three whole days or so to get your gun. Right?

Does that take away anyone’s Second Amendment right to “keep and bear arms”? I don’t think so, but yet the gun lobby is reigniting the scare campaign that suggests these notions are attempts to take guns away from Americans.

No! They are nothing of the kind! They are initiatives intended to make it just a little more difficult for lunatics to purchase firearms.

As the social media message points, we have been regulating automobile ownership for decades. We have to have insurance. We have to be licensed by the state where we live. If we drive without a license and are caught by police, we can be thrown in jail. If we are involved in an auto wreck and we aren’t properly insured, we also can be jailed, and fined, and held liable for thousands of dollars in medical expenses.

Look along our streets and highways and tell me if you think there’s been a decline in motor vehicle traffic.

Nor would there be a decline in firearms among law-abiding citizens if we attach a few more sensible rules for their purchase.

crime news

He embodied the best of us

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

The reality is stark, which is that Eric Talley’s life was no more valuable than any of the other nine individuals who died in the Boulder, Colo., massacre this week.

However, his was the first name that went public as police sought to unravel the horror of the event.

You see, Talley was an 11-year veteran of the Boulder Police Department, which I understand is a small department charged with protecting and serving the community that is home to the University of Colorado.

Talley was a husband and well as a father to seven children, the youngest of whom is 7 years of age.

He died answering the call to help. The Boulder PD received the 911 call from someone inside the supermarket and Talley was the first one there. He rushed in to protect the community. He died in the effort.

In a tragic sense, Eric Talley’s story isn’t unique. We know of men and women who have given their lives to protect others. They rush toward the signs of danger, not away from them. The first responders of 9/11 reminded us of the valor they display daily. You hear occasionally of Good Samaritans, civilians with no apparent training in these matters, rushing to the aid of their fellow travelers.

The men and women who suit up as police officers and firefighters are a special breed of humanity. Many of them are just like Eric Talley, a 51-year-old police officer who sought to save others from tragedy only to meet it head on himself.

My career as a journalist put me in touch with police officers, firefighters and EMTs frequently during many years covering and commenting on their activities. I have told many of them how proud I am of the work they do and how grateful I am that they are willing to answer the call when it arrives.

I am going to thank Eric Talley now for the sacrifice he made on behalf of his colleagues and for the people he took an oath to serve.

Our nation mourns the latest senseless loss of life.

crime news

Is this the moment for action?

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Barack Obama wiped away tears while talking to the nation about the massacre of 20 first- and second-graders and six of their teachers in Newtown, Conn.; he implored Congress to toughen gun laws.

It didn’t act.

Donald Trump took office right after Obama and vowed to end “this American carnage.” It didn’t end during his term in office. He had opportunities to demand action from Congress, but he never took the bait.

Now it is Joe Biden who is facing the dilemma of what to do about the continuing senselessness of random gun violence. So it goes and so it will continue to go, more than likely.

In the span of a little more than a week, eight people died in Georgia at the hands of a gunman and then 10 more died from a shooter’s evil intent in Colorado. The first tragedy appears to be inspired by hate of Asians and of women. The motivation behind the second incident is still a bit murky.

What in  the name of righteous indignation happens now?

My hunch? Probably not a damn thing!

The National Rifle Association has sunk its claws deeply into the hides of many members of Congress, where laws could be created  that might be able to stem the “carnage” that Trump vowed to eradicate. The NRA stands firm on this preposterous notion that any law somehow would deprive “law-abiding citizens” of their constitutional right to “keep and bear arms.”

I will not let go of the notion that there is a legislative remedy out there that can be enacted. I want Congress to act. I am tired of the inattention to a solution that well might put an end — finally! — to the heartache that has spilled over yet again.

crime news

Time to act … again!

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

President Biden said the following today while commenting on the Boulder. Colo., massacre that left 10 people dead, including a police officer who rushed to the scene when the shooting started.

“I don’t need to wait another minute, let alone an hour, to take common sense steps that will save lives in the future and to urge my colleagues in the House and Senate to act,” Biden said in remarks at the White House following Monday’s shooting. “We can ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in this country once again. I got that done when I was a senator. … We should do it again.”

OK. Do you think it will happen? Do you believe that lawmakers who snuggle up to the gun lobby are going to do the right thing?

Neither do I.

Which makes this latest plea for sane gun-control laws yet another exercise in extreme futility in this most recent moment of misery.

As The Hill reported: Biden called on the Senate to “immediately pass” two House-passed bills that would expand background checks for firearm sales, noting that both passed the Democrat-controlled lower chamber with some Republican support. One of the bills would close the so-called Charleston loophole by extending the initial background check review period from three to 10 days. The bill is linked to the 2015 shooting in Charleston, S.C., in which a white supremacist killed nine Black Americans at the Mother Emanuel AME Church.

Biden urges Congress to pass assault weapon ban | TheHill

Republican senators are likely to filibuster any effort at meaningful reform. It takes 60 votes to break the filibuster; that means a 50-50 Senate requires 10 GOP senators to cross over. They won’t do it.

I am beyond weary listening to gun lobbyists declare that any effort to strength gun laws somehow masks some nefarious plot to disarm Americans. I long have maintained that there must be a legislative solution that remains faithful to the Second Amendment to the Constitution, which allows citizens to “keep and bear arms.”

I am not alone in this belief. Sadly and tragically, the gun lobby with its big money and its bullying strategy continues to keep these remedies off the books. The result is inevitable: More Americans are going to die the way those 10 victims perished in Boulder.

Shameful.

crime news

Death in Boulder … oh, my!

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Multiple people are dead in Boulder, Colo.

A shooting suspect is in custody. The cops aren’t telling the community and the rest of us how many fatalities they have found inside a supermarket.

I am left to wonder — hours after the event — what in the world are they waiting on before they inform the world about the magnitude of this latest monstrous act of gun violence in America?

So far, I hate to suggest this, but the authorities in Boulder are not serving the people they are assigned to serve.

I know they need to notify next of kin before giving us the names of those who have died. But … why not the number of fatalities?

Meanwhile, the rest of us are in shock once again at what has transpired.

A man walked in public reportedly carrying a rifle. Colorado, as I understand it, is an “open carry” state, meaning that one can pack heat in the open.

My question: Why allow someone to walk into a business carrying a loaded weapon in the open without some assurance that he won’t use that weapon in the manner that occurred today in Boulder?

So here we are. The nation mourns yet again.

crime news

Much worse than a ‘bad day’

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Let’s see how we should process this.

A lunatic walks into a massage parlor and shoots four people to death. He leaves that site, drives to another such location and kills four more individuals.

Six of the eight victims are of Asian descent. The suspect, who I won’t name in this blog, is arrested and tells the cops he wasn’t acting out of hate for Asian-Americans or against women. He blames it on having some sort of “sex addiction.”

Then up steps a senior officer with the the Cherokee County (Ga.) sheriff’s office to say the shooter was having a “bad day.”

Oh, no. When most reasonable folks are having a “bad day,” they might swill some booze, or perhaps gorge on some comfort food, or maybe argue with their spouse.

Do they shoot people to death? Do they commit one crime, then drive to another location and do some more of it? Good grief!

Sheriff’s Capt. Jay Baker has since apologized for his remarks. Boy, howdy … he needs to say he’s sorry over and over. It’s a bit complicated, though, because Baker reportedly sported an anti-Asian t-shirt in a Facebook post.

Gulp! According to NBC News: “There are simply no words to describe the degree of human suffering experienced on Tuesday … in our community and in Atlanta,” Cherokee County Sheriff Frank Reynolds said in a statement Thursday.

“I have known and served with Captain Baker for many years. His personal ties to the Asian community and his unwavering support and commitment to the citizens of Cherokee County are well known to many. Oh behalf of the dedicated women and men of the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office we regret any heartache Captain Baker’s words may have caused.”

Sheriff’s officials ‘regret any heartache’ for ‘bad day’ comment after Georgia spa killings (msn.com)

Yes, Baker’s words caused “heartache.” They also seem to reveal a stunning lack of revulsion over the results of a horrible act.

crime news

Won’t ID latest loon

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Allow me this declaration: I am not going to publish the name of the latest lunatic to open fire on innocent victims.

I am going to maintain a policy I enacted some time ago.

A moron killed eight people in three locations in the Atlanta area. Six of the victims were Asian-Americans. Most of them were women. It’s the latest horrifying hate crime in this country.

We’ve been hearing a lot lately about hate crimes being committed against Asian-Americans, who have become the targets of haters in the wake of the pandemic that had its origin in China. The seriously sick logic then suggests that all people of Asian descent are responsible for the worldwide misery.

The shooter who allegedly committed this act might have been driven by that hatred.

I won’t identify him here. If you need to know his name, just look somewhere else.

crime news

Will they still follow ‘our president’?

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Let’s see how this plays out.

Many of the rioters/terrorists on Jan. 6 looked into TV cameras and said they merely were doing what “our president” wanted them to do, which was to storm Capitol Hill, threaten to kill the vice president and commit an act of insurrection against the U.S. government.

So, will those individuals now commit to doing what “our president” asks us to do by wearing masks, practice social distancing and follow infectious disease experts’ guidelines and recommendations so we can kill the coronavirus?

Or are they interested only in destroying the nation rather than trying to protect it?

Hey, I’m just askin’ … for a friend.

crime news

How do you find a jury for this trial?

(Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

This might be one of the world’s greatest puzzles … trying to find 12 competent Americans who can pass judgment on a former police officer accused of murdering a man in one of the nation’s most chronicled and publicized events — ever!

A Minneapolis trial court has commenced the process of finding jurors who will decide the fate of Derek Chauvin, accused of murdering George Floyd, the African-American man who suffocated after Chauvin placed his knee on the back of Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes, 46 seconds. The judge in this case has delayed jury selection for the time being.

There is no “allegedly” to be used here. The whole world has seen it. Chauvin snuffed the life out of Floyd as Floyd was pleading for his life. He said he couldn’t breathe. He begged Chauvin to let him get up. Chauvin didn’t budge.

How do lawyers determine who hasn’t seen that video, or who hasn’t drawn any conclusions based on what they saw? If they can find 12 men and women who live in Hennepin County, Minn., who know next to nothing about this case, then how competent are those individuals to pass judgment in this most notorious matter?

Hey, I’m sitting here far away, in the peanut gallery. I don’t have a direct stake in who they select.

And for that I am grateful. This is a tough call to make. I wish them  well. As for Derek Chauvin, I wish something quite different for him … which is why I never could serve on that jury.

business news, crime news

DA gets Trump tax returns … what now?

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

OK, where do we stand now that the Manhattan, N.Y. district attorney has gotten his hands on Donald J. Trump’s tax returns?

DA Cyrus Vance Jr. had been fighting with Trump over those tax returns. He is investigating alleged campaign finance violations and other matters that involve the complexities of Trump’s, um, complex fiscal dealings.

Cyrus Vance: Manhattan DA faces critical decisions in Trump investigation as his time in office runs low (msn.com)

It’s not clear whether the public will get to see these returns. As one American who has been yapping and yammering for them to be released, I want to see them. I want to know if the former president is as rich as he said he is; I want to know if he’s paid his fair share of taxes; I want to know all that I can grasp relating to those returns. I mean, he was the president of the United States and even though I never voted for him, I am a citizen/patriot and I deserve to get a glimpse of my country’s formerly elected president.

Cyrus Vance is serving his final term as Manhattan DA. The word is that he is likely to take his findings to a grand jury soon. The grand jury then would have to decide whether to indict the ex-president, which all by itself is a huge deal.

At least the game of keep-away is over. Trump said he would release the returns. Then he backed away from that. It had been customary for presidential candidates, dating back to 1976, to release their personal financial records. Then came Donald Trump. He tossed that custom into the crapper.

So, I am going to place a measure of faith that Cyrus Vance Jr. will do the right thing with those returns now in his possession.

I’ll be patient.