Robert Card is now officially a suspect.
Liam Kent, a Maine resident who is familiar with Robert Card, the person of interest in the Lewiston shootings, said that Card and his family are “gun fanatics.” He also went on to claim that people around town knew to “stay away” from the family.
From the video - Card and his associates (family, too?) are described as “right-wing militia.” Local law enforcement had to have already been aware of them. That police were all “We have no idea who did this” is absolute bullshit. The moment the first call came in, they had to know immediately who they needed to go find and talk to.
Maybe they knew who to ask first, but I think it would be inappropriate for government officials to publicly point fingers at the “crazy guy” without first asking some questions. Like, for instance, was the crazy guy somewhere else at the time? Nobody wants a repeat of the Richard Jewell fiasco.
But local crazy guy with lots of guns is usually a great place to start.
That doesn’t narrow it down much for rural Maine.
If that were the case, they would have said that there were identified persons of interest that they needed to talk to, without releasing those identities publicly.
No, they knew who these well-known local armed right-wing militia people were, and decided to slow walk it for
at least 24 hoursseveral hours.Some of those who work forces are the ones who burn crosses.
They immediately released a photo, so it’s not true that they “had no idea” who did it. Everyone knew it was a white middle-aged male. And I don’t recall them saying “we have no leads on this man’s identity”. They simply didn’t want to publicly identify the person in the photo without corroborating evidence.
Even as we discuss this, it’s been less than 24 hours since the shootings.
Card was publicly identified by 11pm, about four hours after the shootings.
You’re right, and I have corrected my comment appropriately. Its point still stands.
Police can’t just jump to wild ass conclusions like this. You’re asking for police state tactics here.
That doesn’t mean they knew where they were after the shooting. That’s why they release identifying info.
People said the same about the Jill Dando case though.
That’s not the point. What the police said, when there’s a mass shooter at large and a shelter in place order, was “We have no idea who did this, call with tips.” What they did not say was “We have identified persons of interest that we are seeking to talk to in relation to these incidents.”
Remember that very early on, reporting was that there was a third shooting location at a WalMart distribution center (which seems to be off the table now, not sure why), and that there could be multiple perpetrators. They knew who they needed to talk to, and they chose not to ease the public concern at all by communicating that.
Devil’s advocate: it’s likely there are other militia members in the area, and that many of them are also middle-aged white guys.
And law enforcement officers.
Yeah, dude may have been over of several people who could’ve gone postal. Kinda like when a sex crime is committed the cops might know likely persons in the area (those with priors) but they still have to check into them to figure out which one or if there’s a new PoS they hadn’t come across yet
Meal Team Six.
Maine police has done what they always do. He has been hearing voices, he is mentally ill so it’s obviously that and nothing else! but his family and colleagues say his mental health only started to decline this summer, he even had an inpatient stay, and they didn’t take his guns. Let’s ignore the mass exodus of mental health professionals in this state, how Maine police won’t take guns away from clearly unstable people, or how they bully people with known diagnosed mental illness.
Our state has a lot of holes in the system. It feels like it’s on purpose at this point. It’s really hard to have a mental illness here and not be afraid for your safety.
The right wing fully intends to drive this country into the fucking ground and it starts with the types of cops who refuse to enforce legitimate regulations.
If there is an active incident in progress, do you really think it’s a good idea for the police to show all their cards immediately?
They have to assume the shooter has access to the same news we do, and if the police can give him a false sense of security during the initial hunt, maybe he’ll get overconfident and be easier to find quicker?
As I mentioned elsewhere, when there is an active shooter at large, and a shelter in place order, your immediate duty is to address the concerns of the public. Communicating that you have person(s) of interest that you are seeking to talk to - without identifying those persons - serves that purpose.
“Your immediate duty” – ok so we know the cops aren’t doing the rest of what you described