Discovery Building Hostage Situation
 

Stay tuned... From CNN: http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/09/01...iref=allsearch

"Police: Reports of armed man at Discovery Channel building
[Updated at 1:39 p.m.] At least one hostage is confirmed at the headquarters of the Discovery Channel in Silver Spring, Maryland, police said.

[Posted at 1:34 p.m.] A police emergency response team was responding to reports of a man with a gun and possible explosives at the headquarters of the Discovery Channel in Silver Spring, Maryland, a police spokeswoman said.

Montgomery County police received the call at about 1 p.m., said Angela Cruz. The call came from One Discovery Place, the channel's headquarters.

The area has been evacuated, Cruz said. No further information was immediately available."

For a second, I thought it was the National Geographic place, and then I would have been SUPER upset, because I pass by it on my way home. I think I need a nap!

I hope it can be resolved without incident.

I wonder what the motive behind it is.

The suspect is an Asian man, with what looks like explosives on him. Supposedly he has a manifesto online with "bizarre demands". This could get nasty...

The suspect's name is James J. Lee.

He's upset about global warming and the extinction of animals and feels that the Discovery Channel doesn't give it enough focus on their programming.

OMG!!! I pray that everyone will come out of this safely. I'm not near a television right now, but my heart is with them. Good Lord!

Washington Post is providing live updates, as information is available.

Click here.

I go to school just a few miles away, and one of my friends was right in the area when they started evacuating. This is so scary...I'm praying that everything turns out alright.

One of the recent alumnae of the chapter I advise works there and she texted me letting me know she's ok. Sounds like most of the employees are confirmed out of the building.

What a complete dumbass.

Whatever ends up happening to him is justified or "I don't condone it but I understand."

He was apparently inspired in part by Daniel Quinn's Ishmael.

I was :rolleyes: about that book when I read it, and am :rolleyes: about this loser too.

He has been shot and killed, hostages are free.

Welp...there ya go.

I'm watching The History Channel's show on blood diamond violence in Sierra Leone. Crazy stuff. James J. Lee should've taken his ass to a place like Sierra Leone or Afghanistan. You wanna fight...we'll give you something to fight about.

Yes, sad. :(

Ishmael is a solidly-performed essay (it's really not a novel) . . . I can't imagine what would cause him to take a hostage and get shot in the face, though, since Quinn is relatively hands-off.

Nutjobs gonna nut, I guess.

what a nut. oh well.

Apparently, he was upset about shows like JK+8 that glamorize having large families with lots of children, among other issues. He was pro-population control, sterilization programs, etc.

I would agree that Ishmael is more essay than novel, but I'm still :rolleyes:

Honestly, I think he was just off his rocker.

This. And has been for years based on past behavior.

Don't get me wrong - JK+8 is pretty much trash, and I support sterilization for John and/or Kate.

Quinn's deal is recontextualizing history - particularly Biblical history - with an eye toward sociology and evo-psych. He's obviously neither provably right nor wrong (it's clearly opinion), and there are a LOT of things to argue about, so I have no problems with the rolleyes.

None of those things that he's stated, however, should lead to any sort of criminal activity.

Word to Big Bird, and the Izod gator (as C-Rayz Walz once said).