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Author Topic: Discovery Channel building in Silver Spring, MD is in a Hostage Situation Sept 1  (Read 2654 times)
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klaasend
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« on: September 01, 2010, 03:17:06 PM »

NEW FRONT PAGE POST:

http://scaredmonkeys.com/2010/09/01/breaking-news-the-discovery-channel-silver-springs-maryland-in-a-hostage-situation/

Breaking News: The Discovery Channel – Silver Spring Maryland in a Hostage Situation
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MuffyBee
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« Reply #1 on: September 02, 2010, 08:39:51 PM »

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0901/James-Lee-killed-in-Discovery-Channel-hostage-crisis-reminiscent-of-Unabomber
James Lee, killed in Discovery Channel hostage crisis, reminiscent of Unabomber

James Lee, who police say was responsible for the Discovery Channel hostage crisis in Silver Spring, Md., Wednesday, was shot and killed. Lee has said human population growth imperils the planet.
September 1, 2010

The man who entered the Discovery Channel headquarters in Silver Spring, Md., with a handgun and what appeared to be explosives Wednesday, taking several hostages, is being described in news reports as an “environmental activist.”
If so, his ideology is reminiscent of the infamous “Unabomber” – Theodore Kaczynski, now serving life in prison for a series of mail bombings that killed three people and injured 23 others.

The man in the Discovery Channel episode, identified by law enforcement officials as James J. Lee, apparently held beliefs similar to Kaczynski: that human population growth and modern industrial development imperil the planet.

Several hours after the episode began, Mr. Lee reportedly was shot and killed by sniper. Three hostages were released unharmed.

“The debate about the state of the planet is done,” Lee writes on his web site. “Global Warming is a reality. The massive extinction of animals is happening all over the world. Now let us begin the debate on how to save the planet. We can’t wait anymore, something must be done immediately! Let’s act on it right away; let this be a new chapter in the earth’s history. As human beings we must join together to save it.”

Lee’s focus on the Discovery Channel is not new.

For several years, he had been protesting outside the company’s headquarters, carrying signs and placards critical of the channel’s programming. In March 2008, he was fined $500 and given six months supervised probation on a charge of disorderly conduct. The judge in the case ordered him to stay 500 feet away from Discovery Communications.

But apparently that did not deter him from continuing his critical focus on the Discovery Channel and its programming.

“The Discovery Channel is a big part of the problem, not the solution,” he wrote. “Instead of showing successful solutions, their broadcast programs seem to be doing the opposite. Shows like ‘Cash Cab’ and ‘Dirty Jobs’ serve as diversions to keep the focus off what is really important, which is Global Warming and Animal Extinction. Why do they broadcast a show like “Future Weapons” that only promise to destroy the planet even more? And their new lineup “Planet Green” is all about more products and other substandard solutions.”

Among Lee’s demands: "All programs on Discovery Health-TLC must stop encouraging the birth of any more parasitic human infants and the false heroics behind those actions. In those programs' places, programs encouraging human sterilization and infertility must be pushed. All former pro-birth programs must now push in the direction of stopping human birth, not encouraging it."

Most of the 1,900 Discovery employees had been evacuated before police negotiations began.

Discovery Communications includes the Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Science Channel, and Planet Green networks. Discovery Communications officials could not be reached regarding the hostage episode or Lee’s angry manifesto against the company.
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« Reply #2 on: September 02, 2010, 08:41:48 PM »

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/09/02/police-discovery-channel-hostages-ready-make-break-gunman-shot/
Police: Discovery Channel hostages were ready to make a break for it when gunman was shot
September 2, 2010

SILVER SPRING, Md. –  Police had been negotiating with James Jae Lee for several hours and intended to keep him talking for as long as it took to safely resolve the standoff at the Discovery Channel's headquarters. Inside the lobby, Lee's three hostages had no intention of waiting.

As the two Discovery employees and a security guard got ready to make a break for it, officers moving in on Lee heard him shout and then a "pop" that they thought might have been gunfire or a homemade bomb detonating. So they stepped out from behind a wall and shot him dead, ending the drama that unfolded Wednesday at the cable network's complex just north of Washington.

It turned out that Lee was armed with starter pistols, police said Thursday as they revealed new details about the culmination of Lee's yearslong crusade against the Discovery networks, which he faulted in fanatical Web posts for offering programming that promoted overpopulation.

But Lee, 43, was also carrying homemade pipe bombs, one of which went off when he was shot. Authorities found and detonated four more devices Thursday at a home about 3 miles north of the Discovery building. The owner of the house called police and said Lee had stayed there, according to Montgomery County Police Lt. Robert Bolesta.

Investigators were trying to determine whether Lee had a car or a truck.
Authorities had been negotiating for roughly four hours Wednesday afternoon when the tactical team opened fire.

"For most of the time, the hostages were laying on the ground, and he didn't engage them much other than saying on the phone, 'I don't care about these people,'" Montgomery County Police Chief Thomas Manger said Thursday. "I believe he was not intending to come out of there alive. ... He told us many times over the course of hours that he was ready to die."

None of the hostages or any of the 1,900 other people who work at Discovery Communications Inc.'s building was hurt.

"Those hostages were tremendously courageous," Manger said, adding that he understood why they were preparing an escape.

"I think they probably figured that was their best chance. I don't know who came up with a plan or who gave a signal, but they were there for four hours and had the presence of mind to maintain themselves and ultimately get out of there safely."

Discovery Communications officials said a security guard who was taken hostage served as a calming influence and helped police throughout the ordeal. Montgomery County Police Capt. Darryl McSwain said the guard couldn't speak with police during the standoff but may have done some motioning.

David Leavy, a Discovery spokesman, said the guard is a former military officer who served in Iraq. The guard and the two other male hostages were at home Thursday with friends and family, according to Leavy, who added that the company plans to seriously review security measures around the building.

Security firm Whelan SFI, which is headquartered in St. Louis and has offices in Washington and in Landover, Md., said the guard works for the company, but they declined to identify him.

Lee, who was periodically homeless, was charged with disorderly conduct in February 2008 after he staged a "Save the Planet" protest outside the Discovery building. He threw fistfuls of cash in the air and paid homeless people to carry signs condemning the network. Police found him with a duffel bag stuffed with more than $20,000, according to court records.

Acting as his own lawyer during the trial, he described himself as a peace activist who wanted "to save the planet, of course."

He served two weeks in jail and was ordered to stay 500 feet away from Discovery headquarters as part of his probation, which ended two weeks ago.

Twice since then, including the day of the fatal confrontation, Silver Spring resident Christopher Ekakoro came across Lee by chance. The first time, Ekakoro said, Lee took offense to some evangelizing Ekakoro was doing on a bus and ripped up an image of Jesus that Ekakoro had been handing out.

"I set him off. He said there is no God and why would I be collecting money for something that doesn't exist," Ekakoro said.

Ekakoro saw Lee again Wednesday near a mall a few miles from the Discovery headquarters. Lee was again dressed in a green military-style uniform and was pushing boxes on a stroller. Ekakoro wanted to try to engage Lee again, but Ekakoro's wife talked him out of it.

"He was focused. He knew what he was doing," Ekakoro said.

Lee's first known run-in with the law came in 2003 in San Diego, where he was convicted in federal court of smuggling aliens into the U.S.

He wrote a forlorn letter to the judge expressing his unhappiness.

"After 36 years of my life I have absolutely nothing to show for it," Lee wrote. "As for family, all I can say is that I avoid them to preserve my sanity. I think that they are better off without me in their lives."

He went on to write: "I don't know if my life will end with a happy ending, but all I ask is for an ending that is not in prison."

In court and on his website, he had demanded an end to Discovery Communications' shows such as TLC's "Kate Plus 8" and "19 Kids and Counting." He said the network should air "programs encouraging human sterilization and infertility."

Lee also objected to Discovery's environmental programming.

The Discovery building reopened for a short time Thursday. Employees were then given the afternoon off, and the building will be closed Friday.

___
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« Reply #3 on: September 02, 2010, 08:43:41 PM »

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38979569/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

More bombs found in Discovery standoff case

Man who identified himself as James J. Lee was shot dead by police
September 2, 2010

 SILVER SPRING, Md. — Four more explosive devices tied to the suspect in the Discovery Channel standoff were found at a residence in Montgomery County, Md., authorities told NBC News on Thursday.

Authorities said a bomb squad detonated the devices. No one was injured.

Investigators are still trying to find the car they believe that the suspect, identified as James J. Lee, was driving on Wednesday before he entered the headquarters of Discovery Communications in Silver Spring, Md., with bombs strapped to him and took three people hostage.

Montgomery County Police Chief Thomas Manger said the gunman was shot to death about 4:50 p.m. EDT when authorities watching security cameras saw the hostages move in a possible run for freedom and heard a "pop" they believed to be a gunshot or an explosive going off.
For most of the time, the hostages were laying on the ground, and he didn't engage them much other than saying on the phone, 'I don't care about these people,'" Manger said.

Manger said police planned to negotiate as long as necessary, but acted when officers believed the hostages were trying to escape.

"We saw some hand movements from hostages," Manger said. "We're watching this and trying to keep the focus of the guy we're talking to. We didn't know if they were up to something or what they were doing. We are surmising they were making a break for it."

(snip)
« Last Edit: September 02, 2010, 08:54:51 PM by MuffyBee » Logged

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« Reply #4 on: September 02, 2010, 09:03:00 PM »

http://abcnews.go.com/US/discovery-channel-attack-inside-james-lee-takedown/story?id=11541307
(video)
Discovery Gunman James Lee's Sordid Past as a Human Smuggler
Court Documents Detail His Descent into Isolation and Despair
September 2, 2010


Discovery Channel gunman James Lee in a previous protest in front of the Discovery Channel headquarters Feb. 14, 2008.
(Chip Py)

James Lee,  the bomb-laden gunman who was killed by police in the lobby of the Discovery Channel, was once convicted and imprisoned for smuggling illegal immigrants into the country from Mexico.
The revelation that Lee had once smuggled illegals contrasts sharply with a hate-filled manifesto he left behind in which he describes illegal immigrants as "disgusting filth" and their children as "anchor baby filth."

As his smuggling history came to light, new details emerged about Lee's deadly confrontation with police on Wednesday.

"I'm ready to die," Lee told police negotiators, Montgomery County Police Chief Thomas Manger told ABC News.

"My sense from listening to him was that he had no intention of leaving alive," Manger said.

Police also said today that the gun he used to menace his hostages and police was a starter's pistol. In addition, authorities discovered and safely detonated more four explosive devices found inside Lee's home.

Documents in the 2003 people smuggling case highlight Lee's descent into isolation and despair.
According to a copy of his plea agreement and a jailhouse confession written to the judge on the eve of his sentencing, Lee was choked and robbed in a Tijuana, Mexico, hotel room, before his assailants induced him to become a human trafficker.

"There I was in a Tijuana hotel being further subjected to more of life's brutality. There I was just being finished being choked and robbed. Then they offered me work. I had nothing left so I tried it. I started to smuggle people for them," Lee wrote Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz in August 2003.

He quickly came to like the job.

"For one brief moment in my whole worthless life I felt good about myself. I felt like I was really helping people. I have never saved a person's life, but it felt the same as I imagine it would have felt… For once my life seemed to actually benefit the lives of others," he wrote to the judge.

Lee was arrested trying to smuggle a woman in a concealed compartment of his car through the San Ysidro border crossing in southern California and was sentenced to 18 months in prison, according to court documents. He later said he was ashamed of his people smuggling.

The jailhouse letter also offers eerie foresight into Lee, who described his life as "a living, breathing nightmare."

"When I get out of prison, I undoubtedly will have the same personality traits as I had before. I wish I could point a finger at someone or something and magically be someone else.... I don't know if my life will end with a happy ending, but all I ask is for an ending that is not in prison," he wrote.
James Lee's Family Says He Was Estranged

Lee's sister-in-law Tuonglan Lee confirmed to ABC News.com that Lee had been arrested and sentenced in 2003 for human smuggling.

The documents do not mention how many people Lee smuggled across the border, but Tuognlan Lee said her family was contacted at the time by the FBI and told "it was more than one."

Lee had been estranged from his family since 2002, according to Tuonglan. "We last spoke to him in 2002. The next time we heard about him was in 2003 when we heard about the Mexico incident. Then we had no news until he was arrested again in 2008 and then of course the news yesterday. We always wonder what he was doing."

Lee was arrested in 2008 for disorderly conduct during a protest outside of Discovery Channel headquarters.

Tuonglan Lee said his mental state diminished over time. "Two people close to him died in 2002, and after their passing he became angry and very emotional. He had a normal relationship with people before 2002, but after that he was completely different."

Lee's brother told ABC News that Lee was likely seeking to be killed by the police.

"It was definitely out of character," Aaron Lee said. "I thought it was insanity. I was sad to know that he was shot and killed, but that's what he probably wanted."
Lee, 43, was killed Wednesday as he brandished a gun and wore an explosive device in the lobby of the Discovery Channel headquarters where he had taken three people hostage.

"Any time that police officers use deadly force, it's to save a life... In this situation the hostages -- who were tremendously courageous throughout this incident -- were in grave danger," Montgomery County Police Chief J. Thomas Manger told "Good Morning America."

Manger said that SWAT officers had been able to sneak "very close" to Lee without alerting him, close enough to hear a disconcerting "pop."

"SWAT officers heard a shout, they heard a pop. They were unclear if that was a gunshot or if it was the suspect detonating a device," Manger said. "The officers immediately confronted the suspect. He had a gun out and he was shot at that point."

After Lee was killed and all the hostages safely evacuated, police found several makeshift explosive devices both strapped to Lee's body and in a box and bag that he had brought into the building. In addition, police recovered a second handgun and a ski mask.

"Attached to propane cylinders, he had pipes that contained shotgun shells. In addition he had a couple of pipe bombs strapped to it. They appeared to have some sort of firework type material inside of them," Manger said.

One of the devices reportedly went off when Lee was shot. The rest were detonated overnight by police who have since swept the building and found no other explosives.  (I've read since this article more explosives WERE found. See article upthread.  MuffyBee)

James Lee Warned That He Was Rigged to Explode

Lee warned that he was wired to explode. Remarkably, the gunman picked up the phone when a reporter for NBC News called the lobby. When asked if he had a gun, Lee responded, "I have a gun and I have a bomb. I have several bombs strapped to my body ready to go off."

It's believed Lee invaded the building as the final act in a longstanding protest against the Discovery Channel for promoting what he called an anti-environmental message.

In a rambling manifesto on Lee's website, believed to have been written by Lee, the writer rails against "disgusting human babies," "parasitic infants," and says people should "disassemble civilization." The manifesto also calls on Discovery to "broadcast to the world their commitment to save the planet."

For at least two years Lee called for protests against the company and was arrested and found guilty of disorderly conduct for a protest outside of Discovery's Maryland headquarters in 2008. Due to these past actions, security at the Discovery Channel offices knew who Lee was and "immediately identified" him during this incident, Manger said.

The drama began when workers in the building got a bulletin from the building's security at around 1 p.m.

"We have reason to believe there is an armed gunman at One Discovery Place. All employees should seek protection in a locked office on their respective floors immediately," read an email sent to employees and read over the public address system.

"There's a guy with a gun in the lobby. Police are swarming in -- assault rifles and all," one producer told ABCNews.com via instant message.

Employees at the building were told to take cover in locked offices and police have sent SWAT teams to the area to seal off nearby roads.The FBI and agents from ATF, including explosives experts, also rushed to the building.

Many were trapped inside the suburban headquarters.

"Friends, I am in work closet with workers here. There is a shooter here at Discovery. I am ok," read a text from one Discovery employee.

Another employee said the Lee had taken a hostage. "The police are trying to get the situation under control!INSANE!" read the email to ABCNews.

(snip)

Link to  excerpts of the manifesto on James Lee website:  http://abcnews.go.com/Site/page?id=10417970
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« Reply #5 on: September 16, 2010, 08:58:21 PM »

Two of the hostages were on Oprah today.  Very scary!
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