Sutter County officials are looking for Jeffery Thomas Carney (oh really, they used his middle name?) because he has reportedly been telling acquaintances that he is planning a shooting rampage that will “make Virginia Tech ‘look mild.'”
This is really scary. I hope they find the guy. If only there were some way to remove the fame aspect from the minds of these psychos. For example, you might be able to prevent that by not rushing out to print whatever deranged rantings they send you, NBC.
My mind is reeling that at no point was there anybody in whatever team put that crap on the air who had the good taste and/or an ounce of brains to put a halt to it. I hope the parents of the victims sue the crap out of NBC.
The Sac Rag 
Brian Williams’ report on NBC last night was appalling. He started out by saying that they received the package and how they were so responsible by handing it over to the FBI, blah, blah. Then they panned down so he could show us the color copy of the envelope the package came in and further explain that they copied everything before handing it over. Why is that legal? Isn’t it tampering with evidence? They knew what it was before they started making copies. The whole thing was sick and I had to turn the channel after five minutes.
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My alarm and concern when reading this story were briefly interrupted by chuckling when I got somewhere around paragraph 18 and read this totally irrelevant description of the pregnant woman who had been evacuated from her home in preparation for the impending gun-fight:
“As the disheveled young woman spoke, her cat rubbed her ankles.”
What??? Stop the presses! I hope the cat is declawed because that could really hurt. By the way I totally agree with your take on this DMZ. It’s just horrible.
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It’s not just NBC but all news networks and their local affiliates, including our own Sacramento ones. Each newscast from any of our local news shows have bombarded us with images of the deranged mass murderer with the hopes that we haven’t yet seen enough of him and will tune into their newscast.
CNN last night was interviewing ex-FBI criminal profilers, and one of them practically implored the media to stop showing the murderer’s “manifesto” and photographs (complete with NBC branding) on the air, for fear of copycat crimes. Obviously, no one is paying attention to that advice.
There is something seriously wrong with the media today, and in particular, the sensational version of media that we find in this country. They are not doing their industry proud.
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Not only that but also the subtle ways in which the media seems to be treating the killer as if he also was a victim. Have you noticed how many times classmates, roomates, teachers, etc. have been asked questions about what they might have done differently in hindsight? As if his roomates bear some kind of responsibility for preventing a psycho from going on a shooting spree? I find that very odd, especially when asked of a 19-year old who has just experienced unimaginable evil. Don’t even get me started about how unbelievably callous it is to launch in to a gun control debate hours after the shooting as Congress seemingly had no iffy feelings about doing. Maybe let the gunsmoke clear before you start exploiting this for votes, folks.
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Conservative radio host/blogger Hugh Hewitt has some devastating comments about NBC’s conduct
http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/g/101b4405-3516-4721-b5fa-4c028769b0ab
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Another perspective and media response to criticisms of their coverage:
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/04/19/video-virginia.html
I don’t see that there’s anything wrong with Congress debating gun control at this point, after what had just happened. It’s a natural and reasonable reaction.
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It is natural for the question of gun control to arise following something like this. I’m just saying it’s tacky bordering on downright offensive to start spouting off about it within hours of the shooting, which it appears Congress did. It smacks of personal exploitation of tragedy rather than concern for public welfare. There’s a time and place for political posturing is all I’m saying. I think it’s insensitive and opportunistic.
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More on this tragedy vis-a-vis the gun control debate in the US here.
Selected quotes from this article:
And finally:
Bummer, huh?
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“Gun control and schools”? is that 2 topics?
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The sentence is structured to indicate that Gun control and schools” is a topic that was not on the agenda after that shooting in Pennsylvania.
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Do you suppose the President has an opinion on guns in schools other than that there should never be guns in schools?
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I believe his opinion is that which panders to his base, like any politician. Bush, being a pro-life Republican, doesn’t want to touch the issue of gun control for fear of alienating the red states – even if that means he ignores the issue of gun control when he holds a conference on school safety in response to a shooting at a school just shortly before.
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i guess “gun control and schools” just sounds funny… my point being is there even a debate about gun control and schools? no politician alive would pander to anybody who wants to make sure 5th graders can pack heat.
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“No offense” but it’s sort of clumsy to pretend that the President’s being “pro-life” has anything to do with gun control and school shootings. Though I suppose lots of things could be said about the moral trends toward violence on the unborn and violence on school children moving in symmetry. I just think we’re getting into a little bit of a high-school debate with that one though. Let’s head back to hate’n on the media.
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Right, because that’s what “Gun control and schools” means.
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then what does it mean, i wonder? i’m sure he talked about “schools” at the school safety conference. if he didn’t talk about “gun control,” maybe that’s because that topic normally means restricting people from buying guns. i don’t know how that’s related to schools. it’s a nit and i’m picking it.
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By the by, I believe there are already escalated penalties for illegal possession/discharge of firearms within certain distances of school grounds but I may be making that up. Anyone?
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I’ve long been annoyed by the fact that everytime any tragedy of magnitude happens, all news stations have to brand it with their own logos and catchy names. I mean seriously, whose job is that?
Can you imagine if you were the guy who had think to himsef “Tragedy? No. That word is gonna get played. Slaughter? No, probably too inflammatory. I know! Massacre! Yes, Massacre at Virginia Tech. Hmmm…now where I can get me some nifty sniper clip art?”
ick.
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This is how “Gun control and schools” are related, based on the context of the Pennsylvania story:
1. Gun-toting manic shoots and kills five children in a school in Pennsylvania.
2. Shortly after shooting, President throws a conference on school safety, in response.
3. Here is the crux: Because it just happened, President talks about how to prevent future attacks on children by gun-toting maniacs.
#3 didn’t happen, but perhaps that’s because some people consider it callous to talk about gun control after guns were used to kill innocent children and people.
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I think it’s fair to say that the “guns control and schools” discussion is pretty short lived: “Is there the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms in the 5th grade?” “No?” “Ok, let’s move on.” Declining to talk about it doesn’t mean that it’s a hot-button issue that either party is avoiding talking about, but rather one that’s so obvious that it doesn’t need much discussion. Sort of the same reason why I don’t have a discussion with my wife of whether or not I should have an affair- is it really something that needs to be discussed in a pro/con list?
Should gun control be re-addressed due to a tragedy like this? I don’t see any better time to re-address it. It wouldn’t make much sense if it wasn’t addressed at a time like this. However, there is a level of tact and respect that should be paid to the country while it’s still reeling from this tragedy.
And I’m sick of the news making the news. When this first occurred, I turned on CNN- watched 15 minutes to get the story, and then stopped when they said “…And that’s all we know at this time, we go now to interview BLANK about what they think…” Whatever happened to, “that’s all we know, and we’ll keep you posted as more develops. In other news…?”
Here’s a chicken and egg question getting back to the original post: although it may be a fame-seeking psycho that makes a threat to the news in order to get coverage, isn’t it incumbent upon the news organization to report information like this for the public to be aware of a possible threat? Discuss…
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SinghCity I’m just curious – what would the right outcome of those discussions have been and how would it have prevented the catastrophe that happened at VT?
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HeyMeg, the point is, that at a conference talking about school safety that occured after the Pennsylvania school shooting, it seems irresponsible that the issue of gun control was not discussed at all, especially considering that two other school shootings also that happened around that time.
What the outcome of that discussion would have been and whether it would have prevented what happened at VT is purely hypothetical. But in the Pennsylvania situation and the avoidance of a gun control discussion, no one can say that those in charge explored every avenue to ensure that such crimes don’t happen again, whether the avoidance is intended or out of incompetence.
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So you would have been happier if the politicians bullshitted about gun control for a while regardless of any actual plan or solution coming out? I’m thinking we already waste plenty of money on politicians sitting around chewing the fat about hypotheticals. If we can’t identify any potential solution or even an identified intention that would come out of an agenda item why would we complain so zealously that the agenda item is not included? We have no reason to assume that the topic would have made the conference any more productive or the discussions more meritorious. It’s not like the issue of gun control is never discussed in the public forum by the way.
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it’s naive to say that a Republican is the only kind of politician who can’t budge on gun control for fear of alienating the base. nobody would get elected running on a platform of repealing a Constitutional right. they all triangulate. sure, Republican voters are more likely to be wary of challenges to that right, but establishment Democrats in no way deserve some sort of high and mighty status for being faster to trot out that phrase.
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Scooter: just to clarify, I definitely think printing a story like the Bee did about the Yuba City man is a great public service, because there is a manhunt on.
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I didn’t catch the news last night…did the yuba city manhunt have a catchy name and a logo?
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I don’t know about the catchy name and logo – that’s a good question. But did everyone see this guy turned himself in? That had to be awkward… “um, hi, yes, I am the dude planning the giant rampage. . . you wanted to see me?”
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sooo um.. does anyone know what school “Jeffery Thomas Carney” attends? I’d be quite unhappy if i walked into a shooting rampage on monday….
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first of all, as i’m sure you all know now, the guy turned himself in. which provides a great counterweight to this whole issue: might the media coverage have convinced this guy to turn himself in?
the coverage of this on CBS13 was laughable. they had an 8 second clip of the guy turning himself in that they were playing on endless loop. it hypmotized me. also they had Sam Shane talking to a real live former meth addict who confirmed that he looked like a methhead because he was skinny.
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Did anyone else catch the quote from the Yuba guy’s girlfriend in the Bee article? She said that this is so unlike him, “He’s a real teddy bear.” I shudder to think what accessories she’d offer if she were to open a “Build a Bear Workshop” franchise.
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Ok, so here’s my prediction
In accordance with the GWOT (global war on terror) we will pass laws that forbid non-citizens from owning or possessing firearms.
Maybe, we will give doctors the power to forbid the “violently mentally ill” (however it is defined) from possessing or owning firearms. We already let MD’s take away drivers licenses from people who have seizures.
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As soon as I hear the threat by Carney, I thought it was an empty threat.
From what I’ve read, the people you should fear the most, that could do you the most harm; are family, friends, and acquaintances. When people are murdered, the police usually begin their search for the murderer by questioning the immediate family.
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