As details about the Florida school shooting emerge, more and more questions surface as to why and how 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz carried out the deadly massacre that killed 17 people.
Cruz and his brother Zachary were orphaned in November when their adoptive mother, Lynda Cruz, died of flu complications. Their father, Roger Cruz, died in 2005 of a heart attack.
Neighbors say that Zachary was quiet, while Nikolas frequently got into trouble and enjoyed hurting animals. One relative claims he has autism. He was also reportedly showing signs of depression and had been in counseling, but he hadn’t shown up for treatment in over a year.
Since 2010, Broward Sheriff’s deputies were called to the family residence 39 times. The reasons ranged from “mentally ill person” to “child/elderly abuse.” Many of the incidents are unaccompanied by written reports, so it is unclear who was the focus of many of these disturbances and what the specific details were.
Cruz reportedly arrived to the scene of the massacre in a gold Uber car, carrying a black bag and wearing a black hat. One staffer radioed another to alert him that Cruz was “walking purposefully” towards the school, but by then, it was too late.
Cruz, then, was said to have opened fire — killing 17 and wounding 15 others. He then reportedly ditched his vest and AR-15 rifle to blend in with the terrified, fleeing crowd. (Though Cruz was expelled from the school for getting into a fight and bringing knives on campus, he was wearing a Stoneman Douglas High maroon T-shirt, perhaps to better look inconspicuous.) He was apprehended a little over an hour later at a Walmart in nearby Coral Springs, where he bought a drink from the Subway inside.
What about the yoga instructor killed by a Somali? Where are the protesters for her?
New Yorkers chanted “fuck pigs” as they took to the streets Monday night to protest the death of Eric Garner, a black man who died in police custody in New York July 17, 2014.
Protesters walked the streets of Staten Island to commemorate the third year anniversary of Garner’s death. They marched the streets chanting Garner’s name with one protester calling out “no more comrades in jail!”
Protesters also shouted “fuck pigs” repeatedly. “No more choke-hold murders,” a protester chanted. Police officers trailed behind the protesters, presumably to make sure the march remained safe.
“Fuck these racist police, no justice no peace!” protesters yelled as the march continued.
Police officers tried to move the protesters from the streets to the sidewalks, warning protesters that they would be arrested should they fail to do so. The New York Police Department told The Daily Caller News Foundation that no arrests were made.
Garner died after being arrested by New York Police Department officers for allegedly selling illegal cigarettes in 2014. An officer put Garner in a choke-hold on the ground, prompting Garner to say “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe.” Garner died on the way to the hospital from a heart attack.
Hitler’s descendant Wilhelm gets view of cop’s asses. Sad, but he probably likes that…
NEW YORK CITY — Hundreds of NYPD police officers turned
their backs on left-wing Mayor Bill de Blasio when the Democrat
spoke at a police funeral Tuesday — not the first time de Blasio
has had the NYPD turn their backs on him in protest of his anti-
cop actions.
Thousands of mourners gathered in the Bronx to pay tribute to Officer Miosotis Familia, who was assassinated as she sat in her police vehicle last week. De Blasio infuriated officers and New Yorkers alike when he flew out to Germany the next day to attend the G20 protests in Hamburg.
That anger was on display at the mother of three’s funeral, which took place at the World Changers Church in the Bronx. The New York Post reported that officers outside the church turned their backs as de Blasio’s eulogy was broadcast on screens.
Other officers chatted with one another and played with their phones during his eulogy, the Post reported.
However, the Mayor’s office dismissed the snub as a “bogus controversy.”
“A couple dozen people showed up to partake in a bogus controversy ginned up by the media and those looking to politicize Detective Familia’s death. That’s unfortunate,” a spokesman told The Post.
It isn’t the first time de Blasio has been snubbed by the NYPD. Officers turned their backs on de Blasio in 2015 at the funeral of Wenjian Liu, who was one of two officers murdered as they sat in their car.
NYPD representatives, as well as rank-and-file cops, were angered by a long list of what were perceived as anti-cop comments made by de Blasio, including one in which he talked about how he had to “train” his son on what to do if approached by cops, implying cops were racist.
“With Dante, very early on, we said, ‘Look, if a police officer stops you, do everything he tells you to do. Don’t move suddenly. Don’t reach for your cellphone,’” he said in 2014. “Because we knew, sadly, there’s a greater chance it might be misinterpreted if it was a young man of color.”
On Tuesday, NYPD union chief Ed Mullins told the New York Daily News that the bad blood between the mayor and the cops still exists.
“I talked with hundreds of cops today and they have about had it with the mayor and the police commissioner and their policies. They don’t feel that either one of them has their backs. It’s very hypocritical,” he said.
EAST END, Ohio (WKRC) – Fifteen people were injured and one person is dead after a shooting at the Cameo Night Club in the East End Sunday morning.
Police were called to the club at the 4600 block of Kellogg Avenue around 2:30 a.m. after shots were fired.
Chief Eliot Isaac said in a press conference Sunday that 16 people total were shot, one person dying from their injuries. That victim has been identified as 27-year-old O’Bryan Spikes.
Victims were taken to four area hospitals. Nine victims were taken to UC Medical Center. Seven are in stable condition and, of those seven, five will be released soon. Two victims are in critical condition. Two other victims were taken to Christ Hospital with minor injuries and are in stable condition. Several others were treated at Bethesda North and Mercy Anderson.
It’s not known what led up to the shooting, but police believe the conflict began between specific groups or individuals earlier in the day that escalated into the shooting. Officers say they believe there is one shooter at this time.
Police are actively investigating the scene and interviewing multiple witnesses. Chief Isaac said approximately 100 people were in the bar at the time.
There were officers working details outside the club at the time. The Cameo has a history of violent incidents, including a shooting inside the club on New Year’s Day in 2015 and a shooting in the parking lot in September 2015. There was also a violent incident recently on March 5
. Chief Isaac said security at the club do wand individuals and pat them down, but somehow several firearms were brought into the bar.
“This is going be a long process for us to solve this crime, crimes, plural, and heal as a community,” said Mayor John Cranley. He also urged witnesses or anyone with information to come forward. They can contact Crimestoppers at 352-3040.
“We recognize the horrific nature of this incident,” said City Manager Harry Black. “I have full confidence in our police professionals who are devoting all the necessary resources toward working this case. I want to recognize all of our first responders who answered the call last night and handled a very difficult situation extremely well. As our assessment and investigation continues we will continue to share information as soon as we are able.
At a time when there is an uneasy, sometimes even volatile, divide between some communities and the police officers who are sworn to protect them, one police chief is encouraging her department to practice meditation as a way to help ease the stress of policing.
Chief Sylvia Moir, who has been the head of the Tempe Police Department in Tempe, Arizona, for the past year and has nearly 30 years of policing experience, believes teaching and practicing meditation should be a key piece of police officer development.
“In policing, it’s essential that we respond. We don’t react,” Moir told ABC News’ Dan Harris in an interview for his “10% Happier” podcast. “Without a doubt I think the [meditation] practice shows promise, getting us to be present, not take triggers, not take the bait that makes us react and if the practice can get us to see the perspective of another to enhance our compassion, then I think it does lend itself to broader application in policing.”
It’s important for officers to “be tactically sound and physically fit,” Moir said. She practices mindfulness, a series of meditation techniques that are designed to slow the mind, focus on the breath and bring attention back from distraction, as well as gratitude — focusing on positive emotions.
“I really practice gratitude a lot,” she said. “I say thank you for the people that come at me with anger, I say thank you for things I used to fight against, and it’s given me a really interesting kind of path.”
Moir said she usually practices meditation in the early morning for about 10 minutes while sitting in a chair.
“The great thing about meditation is that it takes no equipment,” she said. “I’m a runner and I’ve run, in the past, full marathons and I need my shoes and nowadays I need my GPS and I need my fuel and I need all my stuff and meditation really offers you … this equipment-free practice that enriches your life.”
Moir spoke at length about benefits of meditation, including how it not only helps officers make smarter decisions in the field but also how it makes them more thoughtful people who see tense situations from all perspectives, not just their own.
“It takes courage because there’s this narrative around police officers that we are hard and tough and cynical,” she said. “[But] I have found police officers to be incredible people, and we view our responsibility, our duty and this call that we are guardians always and warriors when we need to be.”
Moir admitted that some of her officers will grumble about whether it will make them lose their “edge,” but she doesn’t see it that way.
“We’re really good at — I call them perishable skills, the shooting, driving, defensible tactics,” she said. “And what we’re doing with mindfulness practices is we’re saying, ‘Look, we’re going to give you a set of tools, you take it, you use it for the whole you, personal and professional, make it what works for you. Maybe a little quirky. … Maybe different from what somebody else does but you make it yours.’”
As chief, Moir said mindfulness helps her deal with the public in high-stress situations and also lead her fellow officers. The practice has been useful, she said, in helping her realize “micro-cues” she may be unintentionally sending, such as a raised eyebrow or a squint, when she’s meeting with an officer or a grieving family member.
“I meet with a lot of people who are really angry,” she said. “I meet with people who are suffering, who don’t feel like they have been served by the justice system … with family members who have lost someone, [with] officers that have done wrong and I’m holding them accountable … it’s in those moments where I have to really engage but also listen.”
Meditation always struck me as the distillation of everything that was most annoying about the granola lifestyle. I pictured myself seated in an unbearable cross-legged position in a room that smells like feet. My attitude was not far from that of Alec Baldwin’s character on “30 Rock,” who said, “Meditation is a waste of time, like learning French or kissing after sex.”
Turns out, meditation is the victim of a terrible PR. It’s really just exercise for your mind — bicep curls for your brain. And there’s an explosion of recent science to back it up. A blockbuster MRI study from Harvard found that people who took an eight-week meditation course had thicker gray matter in the areas of the brain associated with self-awareness and compassion, while the regions associated with stress actually shrank.
Best of all, it doesn’t require robes, chanting or incense. You don’t even have to sit funny.
Three simple steps:
Sit Comfortably
You don’t have to twist yourself into a cross-legged position — unless you want to, of course. You can just sit in a chair. (You can also stand up or lie down, although the latter can sometimes results in an unintentional nap.) Whatever your position, you should keep your spine straight, but don’t strain.
Feel Your Breath
Pick a spot: nose, belly or chest. Really try to feel the in-breath and then the out-breath.
Return to the Breath
This one is the key: Every time you get lost in thought — which you will, thousands of times — gently return to the breath.
I cannot stress strongly enough that forgiving yourself and starting over is the whole game. As my friend and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg has written, “Beginning again and again is the actual practice, not a problem to overcome so that one day we can come to the ‘real’ meditation.”
Notice that I said the above steps are “simple,” but not easy. Repeatedly hauling your attention back from distraction takes grit, but it’s worth it. Once you learn how to watch your breath without reactivity or judgment, you can start to do the same with anger, annoyance, impatience and all the other noxious impulses and urges that too often carry us away.
Start with five minutes a day. It’s not a panacea, but it can help you in all sorts of ways — from curbing your addiction to email to reducing mindless eating to being less frequently yanked around by your emotions. These benefits are why modern meditators include CEOs, elite athletes, marines, and me, a skeptical newsman. I’ve even written a book about it, called “10% Happier,” coming out next month.
