[Vision2020] Fw: Fw: Hignway Snipings
keely emerinemix
kjajmix1 at msn.com
Wed Feb 3 21:43:29 PST 2010
OK, Wayne.
Your Vision 2020 take on this subject stems from the story of the two young
snipers from Deary, one of whom was found last week to have a pipe bomb
in his basement. You think that rural Latah County has a certain "kind of people" who populate it, and you provide this, the Ortman story, and your own editorial comment to back up your hypothesis that these people in Juliaetta, Bovill, Helmer, etc., are just different . . . more violent, less
predictably law-abiding . . . from the rest of us, or, perhaps more specifically, from those who live in Moscow. I imagine you'll be able to continue to pull up police logs and other stuff that backs up your contention that "those folks" aren't like the rest of us, and I'll grant you this -- there appears to be a fair amount of crime going on outside of Moscow.
But what bothers me about your comments so far is the apparent willingness to cast stones at rural Latah County residents without considering that Moscow has its own share of problems -- problems that make its relative "urban" culture, compared to these small towns, a less-than-ideal place sometimes as well. We all know that a university town, virtually any university town, has its problems with alcohol, drugs, and the sexual victimization of female students. I think you see that; you've spoken eloquently in the past against the culture of rape that sometimes seeps into college life, particularly when alcohol is involved, and I don't think you, or anyone on this list, would suggest that Moscow is free of crime, free of social stressors, free of problems.
But in collecting for us examples of crimes taking place in Bovill and Kendrick and Elk City and other places where neither you nor I live, you risk mimicking one of the characteristics shared among too many people in Moscow. That's an inability, for all their talk about diversity, to see beyond their relatively urban, educated, liberal smugness. I say this as a Moscow-urban (again, in relation to, say, Helmer), educated liberal myself -- but one who has been deeply disturbed by the tendency of some of Moscow's academic, progressive elites to write off the experiences, realities, and concerns of Latah County's rural neighbors, unable, it appears, to believe that "they" exist apart from the peculiarities of what is seen as a misogynistic, gun-grains-and-God culture.
I remember during the school bond campaign a few years ago, when some of us on the Facilities Committee "communications/outreach" sub-group wanted to try to reach as many people, and as varied a demographic, as we could with our proposal to build a new high school. While the majority of people on the larger committee were part of the city's business community or for whatever reason were not part of the liberal, academic enclave of CQE and FONS, that group, the CQE/FONS people, were quite involved with communications and outreach. So was I, a school board member with feet in both camps.
We were frustrated with a particular project at the Farmer's Market that had info and feedback from pretty much the same dozen people, and we were discussing where to take our flip charts and handouts to reach a wider variety of people -- and more of them. We were looking for some diversity in our placement of materials and our quest for feedback, somewhere different from the Market. When a couple of us suggested info-stations outside of Wal-Mart, Moscow Building, Schuck's, Spence, A & W, and McDonalds, the acknowledged and self-identified progressive, academic, neighborhood schools folks were, frankly, aghast. People who went to "those places," we were told, didn't vote. They didn't "understand" the issue, and they weren't interested. And so, in a stunning move toward greater diversity of opinion, and with a striking degree of creativity, most of the communications/outreach people decided to move the Committee's efforts from the Farmer's Market to . . . the Co-Op.
I have since, and had before, seen examples of some of Moscow's liberals casting aspersions on their neighbors in Harvard and Princeton -- assuming no commonality with them and seeking no particular understanding of their day-to-day lives. Frankly, it's disheartening at best and offensive at worst that too many of our local liberals care much more about the geographic circle of sustainability from which their tomatoes come than about the reality of hunger in places where people perhaps not as educated or affluent as they are live in trailers, drive junk cars, and can't afford to feed any fresh produce -- and perhaps not much else -- to their kids. I've noticed that much of "academic Moscow" flocks to the Vagina Monologues but would mock the Bovill woman who blushes at the words on the marquee, and whose blushing covers up real experiences of sexual violence and degradation not affected, for better or worse, by the art of the spoken word. And, frankly, I've had firsthand experience with earnest groups of really nice, educated, affluent, liberal townies who decry development on "their" Palouse hills instead of objecting to the poverty too often found in the valleys below them.
I'm afraid, Wayne, that your highlighting of "rural crimes" and your veiled suggestion that there's just something about some kinds of people out there comes too close to that kind of cynical disregard of people whose lives are often more of a struggle than you or I can imagine. I'll grant that some people move way off the beaten track to escape the confines of social mores; sometimes, those people are gun nuts or violent men. I'll contend, though, that much more often, people live where they can afford to live, and sometimes that's an old trailer a few miles outside of Elk River. Sometimes, rural people do unwise things with guns. Sometimes, rural people do store up food for Armageddon, natural disasters, or next Friday. And sometimes, rural people do take the Christian Gospel to places it ought never go. Let's discuss their crimes, their bad conduct, or their unwise willingness to vote against their best interests. But let's not just toss them into the category of "the Other" whose voice really doesn't require our listening, or whose poverty really isn't much of our problem.
Keely
www.keely-prevailingwinds.com
From: deco at moscow.com
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Date: Wed, 3 Feb 2010 12:47:17 -0800
Subject: [Vision2020] Fw: Fw: Hignway Snipings
>From today's Moscow-Pullman Daily
News:
LATAH COUNTY
SHERIFF
Saturday
10:33 p.m. - A truck window was shot out by a BB gun on Cedar
Street in Bovill.
Sunday
2:43 a.m. - A female was arrested for driving under the
influence on Main Street in Juliaetta.
1:49 p.m. - A male was arrested for violating a no contact
order on Second Avenue in Bovill.
5:17 p.m. - A coin collection was reportedly stolen from a
residence on Johnson Road near Deary.
See bolded remarks below:
----- Original Message -----
From: Art Deco
To: Vision 2020
Cc: jmills at lmtribune.com ; Nathan Alford Daily
News ; asolan at dnews.com ; Murf Raquet Daily News ; dbauer at dnews.com ; billf at lmtribune.com ; sheriff at latah.id.us ; pa at latah.id.us
Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 2:57
PM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Fw: Hignway
Snipings
One can only conclude, Roger, that you are
unaware of some of the people who populate parts of Latah County,
particularly some in Deary, Bovill, Princeton,
Harvard, Kendrick, Juliaetta, etc As someone who has spent
time in some of the outer parts of the county, I can tell you I have meet some
really scary folks. If you talk to other people that work or recreate in
the upper Palouse River drainage, Emerald Creek drainage, Meadow Creek drainage,
etc, I am sure you will find these sentiments echoed.
Also, now that information/rumors about Austin
Rickert's father and grandfather, previous firings on chip trucks, unlicensed
firearms dealers, the amount of lawlessness in the
Deary, Bovill, Harvard, etc areas are circulating, many more
questions have arisen, for example:
Who built the fort from which the shots were
fired?
Why was the fort built in that exact
location?
Is this the first time chip
trucks have been fired upon from the fort, or fired upon from any
other places in Latah county?
When, on Friday, was the first
report of possible sniping actually made?
Were both firearms used purchased from licensed
firearm dealers?
Why did the LCSD wait so long to get a search
warrant? Why did they not get it immediately after at least one sniper's
identity was known? Did that wait result in the destruction or removal of
any evidence?
I can tell you this: There is a real angry
buzz going on among a lot of people about this incident which could have been
really tragic. People want some answers, not only to the kinds of
questions I have been raising, but other questions also. So far
information released has been bare bones. Even the information included in
the initial charging affidavit http://images.bimedia.net/documents/012510-hwy-shooting-Rickert.pdf is
very short on details.
Also, both the LMT and the DN
have been strongly criticized for not only being more informative, but
for the lack of aggressive reporting that this incident calls for.
For example, why hasn't Jack Buell been interviewed? There is another
person who could give most likely some very pertinent,
illuminating information should she consent to an interview, namely Nadine
Towne, mother of and custodial parent of Austin Rickert.
What penal and other measures should be
taken against the snipers depends to some extent on whether they acted purely on
their own or whether they were encouraged/abetted in any way by others. I
believe that should any plea bargain be made, it should include the condition
that the suspects fully reveal the role of anyone else, no matter how
small in these crimes, and they reveal such information under polygraph
testing.
If there is evidence of anyone else being
involved, perhaps a Magistrate's Inquiry might be helpful in fully exploring
this matter, particularly when some people would be less inclined to lie under
oath or even to give information to investigators in the first
place.
Information originating from Deary sources
suggests two very diverse opinions of the presence of the LCSD:
1. The department has not
taken alleged criminal goings on there out seriously enough in the last few
years, and as a result many things that should have been or should be reported
aren't.
2. The less we see of the LCSD,
the better.
Wayne A. Fox
1009 Karen Lane
PO Box
9421
Moscow, ID 83843
waf at moscow.com
208 882-7975
----- Original Message -----
From:
lfalen
To: Art Deco ; Vision 2020
Cc: Nathan Alford Daily News ; asolan at dnews.com ;
dbauer at dnews.com
; Murf Raquet Daily
News ; billf at lmtribune.com ; sheriff at latah.id.us ; pa at latah.id.us ; jmills at lmtribune.com
Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 10:54
AM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Fw: Hignway
Snipings
While most of your comments are well taken, your last statement
about crackpot political/religious leaders is a bit of a
stretch.
Roger
-----Original message-----
From: "Art Deco" deco at moscow.com
Date: Mon, 01 Feb 2010
13:07:26 -0800
To: "Vision 2020" vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject:
[Vision2020] Fw: Hignway Snipings
> Since this post appeared
yesterday, I've received a number of comments, including one which said I
ought mind my own business since it was just a couple of kids on a harmless
lark and I ought trust the sheriff to handle it.
>
> I
don't believe it was a harmless lark, and I don't trust the sheriff, left to
his own devices and prejudices, to conduct a complete,
let-it-go-wherever-it-leads investigation, and I don't trust the sheriff to
release information found in the investigation that the public not only has a
right to know, but ought to know.
>
> In the first post I asked
some questions. Here are some more:
>
> One shot passed
between two young women, likely known to the defendants, coming through the
windshield of the vehicle they were in.
>
> Here are some
unanswered questions and statements that leads me to think that this action
warrants more that an unlawful discharge of a firearm charge, perhaps even an
attempted murder charge.
>
> At one time in my life I was a
superior marksman, I knew a bit about firearms and was very adept at
using them, including a .22 caliber rifle.
>
> Again I ask these
questions because the news coverage has been more than just weak and
inadequate, but quite naive and a disservice to the community.
>
> A WalMart quality .22 rifle even with a WalMart quality scope on it
is not a very accurate weapon. Even in the hands of a marksman, the
accuracy dwindles considerably in ranges past 100 feet. Hence if the
snipers were shooting at the vehicle with the two women at a range where
accuracy is questionable, then regardless if they were only aiming at the
windshield, then they were certainly endangering the lives of the
occupants.
>
> What kind of 22. rifles were used in the
assaults? Was it a WalMart quality rifle or a high quality rifle
equipped with a high quality scope or laser sight? Where they using
ordinary .22 caliber bullets or higher power bullets? What position were
they in while firing? Was the rifle resting on something while
firing? How good of marksmen were the shooters? The answers to
these and other questions are relevant to the probable accuracy of the shots
and thus the amount danger the two young women were placed in.
>
> Where did the suspects get the rifles? Where the rifles their
own? Their families? Were they provided, in part, by some third
party? Who all provided them with instruction on these firearms?
>
> What is the relationship between the two young women fired upon and
the shooters? Were the shooters aiming for the windshield or one of the
occupants?
>
> Before we start calling this a harmless lark and
calling for leniency for two kids, we need to know a lot more
information. I think that we would be best served by having the FBI,
DHS, and ATF involved heavily in this investigation so that there is a higher
probability that the relevant facts will be found, that the facts will be made
known to the public, and to make sure that some of our local crackpot
political/religious groups were not involved in some way and have not groomed
some more gullible, not-too-bright kids to pull off something similar.
>
> Wayne A. Fox
> 1009 Karen Lane
> PO Box 9421
>
Moscow, ID 83843
>
> waf at moscow.com
> 208 882-7975
>
> ______________________________________
>
> Alleged Deary
teen vehicle shooter charged with bomb possession
> Posted on: Monday,
February 01, 2010, Moscow-Pullman Daily News
>
> Court
records identify Austin Rickert as the Deary teen who was taken back into
custody and charged with an additional felony after a pipe bomb was found
inside a residence Friday.
>
> Rickert is accused of being
involved in a series of vehicle shootings on State Highway 8 near Helmer last
month.
>
> He was charged with unlawful possession of destructive
devices or bombs, according the Idaho State Judiciary's online repository
records.
>
> Following the discovery of the bomb, the area was
evacuated and the Spokane Bomb Squad responded to the scene and neutralized
the explosive. The search was part of an ongoing investigation involving
Rickert and fellow alleged shooter Austin Medlock. The two 14-year-old Deary
High School freshmen were charged with two counts of unlawful discharge of a
firearm at a vehicle during a hearing at the Latah County Courthouse last
Monday. The Jan. 22 incident shut down a portion of State Highway 8 between
Deary and Bovill for several hours. Latah County Magistrate John Judge allowed
for the release of Medlock and Rickert into the custody of their parents on
the condition they not be out of sight of a parent except for when sleeping or
attending school. They also were prohibited from being around firearms and
will wear electronic monitoring devices, among other conditions.
>
> The teens allegedly shot as many as 20 vehicles with a .22 caliber
rifle and a crossbow. The sheriff's office was continuing to investigate the
case this week to determine if additional charges needed to be filed.
>
> The teens allegedly discharged the weapons from a three-level,
10-foot-tall fort located near the highway, according to court records.
Casings from the .22 and other evidence were apparently discovered nearby,
according to the document.
>
> Medlock and Rickert are scheduled
to appear in court at 11 a.m. Wednesday.
>
>
> -----
Original Message -----
> From: Art Deco
> To: Vision 2020
> Cc: jmills at lmtribune.com ;
Nathan Alford Daily News ; asolan at dnews.com ; Murf Raquet Daily News ;
dbauer at dnews.com ; billf at lmtribune.com ; sheriff at latah.id.us ; pa at latah.id.us
> Sent: Sunday, January
31, 2010 1:34 PM
> Subject: Hignway Snipings
>
>
> I
have to take the recent snipings at chip trucks and personal vehicles
allegedly by two Deary area teenage suspects as serious business. I have
some questions, however, that have not been answered by newspaper accounts or
press releases.
>
> 1. According to the initial
press release of the incidents, the first reported sniping occurred last
Friday just before 1:00pm. yet the highway wasn't closed until about
3:45pm. What's going on here? Shouldn't the highway have been
closed as soon as possible? Couldn't some of the snipings been prevented
by such a move? When snipings occur elsewhere, isn't sealing off and
closing the sniping area done immediately? It now appears the alleged
snipers went through a police roadblock unchallenged around 2:45pm, and before
the highway was closed.
>
> 2. Prior to the
revelation about the possession of a pipe bomb by one of the suspects, this
was still a very serious matter. At least twenty vehicles were fired
upon. A bullet smashed the windshield of a passenger car and passed
between two young women inside. These were local Deary area women
apparently known by the suspects. Deary is not a big place, hence
doesn't it seem likely that the shooters knew exactly who they were firing
upon in this case? The big question: Why were only two charges
initially filed against the suspects?
>
> 3.
With the finding of the pipe bomb, this becomes a much more serious matter
demanding a much closer, serious investigation, perhaps aided by the FBI, DHS,
and ATF. What explosives were used in making the pipe bomb? How
did the suspect obtain the explosives? What was the initial source of
the explosives? Did the suspect act totally alone? Or was he aided
and abetted by others including adults including members of some of the local
crackpot political/religious groups? Are there any ties (like between
friends or relatives) between the suspect and some of these crackpot
groups? Was the suspect not only encouraged by others but given material
assistance and instruction? I don't know the answers, but for the sake
of local and perhaps national security, these answers ought be found and
reported.
>
> 4. The press coverage has been
meager. If this had happened on I-90 in Coeur d'Alene, Kootenai County
would be swarmed by national media, and at least some of the above kinds of
questions (and many more) asked and perhaps answered. In addition, the
LMT revealed the name of the pipe bomb suspect. The DN didn't claiming
that the sheriff wouldn't tell them, although it appeared that the LMT story
was their source. Is it the sheriff who withheld information or the DN,
either party perhaps protecting someone they considered needed
protecting?
>
> Again, I think this is a very serious
matter. This is not a private incident, it is a blatant public
crime. The public has a right to know the details.
>
>
Before making up my mind about what I think should happen to the suspects or
how area law enforcement can change so that they can intelligently respond to
these types of incidents much faster, I await more information. I hope
that it is forthcoming. I'd hate to think that we are being subjected to
another Steven Sitler type cover-up.
>
>
> Wayne A.
Fox
> 1009 Karen Lane
> PO Box 9421
> Moscow, ID
83843
>
> waf at moscow.com
> 208 882-7975
>
> __________________________________________________________
>
Pipe bomb found at teen shooting suspect's home
> By Joel Mills Of The
Tribune
>
>
>
> Latah County officials
rearrest 14-year-old after executing search warrant as part of shooting
investigation
>
> One of two juveniles arrested in connection
with the shooting of up to 20 vehicles on State Highway 8 last week was
retaken into custody after investigators found a pipe bomb during a search of
his room Thursday, according to the Latah County Sheriff's Office.
>
> Latah County Prosecutor William Thompson Jr. said authorities
rearrested Austin James Rickert Thursday after a PVC pipe stuffed with
fireworks powder and primed with a fuse was found in the room he uses at his
grandfather's residence on Forks Road near Helmer.
>
> Thompson
said the bomb was likely made before the Jan. 22 shooting incident that lasted
for more than three hours and temporarily closed the highway between Deary and
Bovill.
>
> "We don't have anything to suggest he actually made
this device or possessed this device subsequent to his release," Thompson
said.
>
> Authorities allege Rickert and his friend Austin Blake
Medlock used two .22-caliber rifles and a crossbow to shoot at vehicles from a
three-story fort on Rickert's grandfather's property, where the boy sometimes
stays.
>
> Most of the bullets hit tractor-trailers, but at
least two passenger vehicles were struck. No one was injured, but one round
passed through the passenger compartment of one car, narrowly missing two
girls.
>
> Thompson said Rickert's father lives at the Forks
Road residence full time. Rickert lives with his mother in Deary but has a
room reserved for him at the Forks Road residence, he said.
>
>
Deputies were executing a search warrant as part of their investigation into
the shootings, according to a news release issued Friday afternoon by
sheriff's Lt. Brannon Jordan. Officials evacuated the area around the home,
and a bomb squad from Spokane neutralized the device, Jordan said.
>
> Rickert appeared in court Friday, where he was charged with felony
unlawful possession of bombs or destructive devices. Earlier this week,
Rickert and Medlock - both 14-year-old freshmen at Deary High School - were
charged with unlawfully discharging a firearm at a vehicle in connection with
the Jan. 22 shootings.
>
> Latah County Magistrate John Judge
released Medlock and Rickert to their parents last week, on the condition
neither leave the sight of one of their parents; that all guns be removed from
their homes; that they not touch a firearm; that the parents take them to and
from school; that they both wear electronic monitoring devices; and they agree
to be searched at any time by authorities.
>
> Thompson said
Rickert's rearrest is a separate issue and was not due to a violation of
Judge's conditions for release.
>
> Rickert will remain in the
Latah County Jail for the weekend, and probably until scheduling hearings on
Wednesday for both juveniles, Thompson said.
>
> Lewis County
Magistrate Stephen Calhoun, the regular juvenile judge for Latah County, will
handle hearings for Rickert and Medlock from now on, Thompson said.
>
> He said while the investigation into the shootings and the pipe bomb
is ongoing, there is nothing to suggest the teens were planning a larger
attack.
>
> "What happened last Friday was really serious and
really dangerous," Thompson said. "We're waiting to see if there is anything
else behind this."
>
> ---
>
> Mills may be
contacted at jmills at lmtribune.com or
(208) 883-0564.
>
>
>
___________________________________
>
> Teen charged in shootings
arrested after bomb found
> Spokane Bomb Squad neutralizes device found
in suspect's residence
> Staff report
>
> Posted on:
Saturday, January 30, 2010
>
>
>
> One of the two
teens charged with felonies in last week's Highway 8 shootings near Helmer is
back in custody after a pipe bomb was discovered inside the residence
following a search warrant.
>
> Following the discovery of the
bomb, the area was evacuated and the Spokane Bomb Squad responded to the scene
and neutralized the explosive.
>
> The search was part of an
ongoing investigation involving alleged shooters Austin B. Medlock and Austin
J. Rickert. The two 14-year-old Deary High School freshmen each were charged
with two counts of unlawful discharge of a firearm at a vehicle during a
hearing at the Latah County Courthouse on Monday. The Jan. 22 incident shut
down a portion of State Highway 8 between Deary and Bovill for several
hours.
>
> Latah County dispatcher Jenny Bryant said the
department is not releasing the name of which of the boys was taken back into
custody as of Friday evening. The teen has been charged with unlawful
possession of bombs or destructive devices along with the two other felony
counts.
>
> Latah County Magistrate John Judge allowed for the
release of Medlock and Rickert into the custody of their parents on the
condition they not be out of sight of a parent except for when sleeping or
attending school. They also were prohibited from being around firearms and
will wear electronic monitoring devices, among other conditions.
>
> The teens allegedly shot as many as 20 vehicles with a .22 caliber
rifle and a crossbow. The sheriff's office was continuing to investigate the
case this week to determine if additional charges needed to be filed.
>
> The teens allegedly discharged the weapons from a three-level,
10-foot-tall fort located near the highway, according to court records.
Casings from the .22 and other evidence were apparently discovered nearby,
according to the document.
>
> The two teens allegedly left the
fort around 2:45 p.m. to attend basketball practice in Deary and actually went
through the vehicle identification section of the roadblock outside of Helmer.
They were eventually taken into custody separately later Friday
evening.
>
> Medlock and Rickert are scheduled to again appear in
court at 11 a.m. Wednesday.
>
>
_______________________________
>
> Courtesy of today's (January
23, 2010) Moscow-Pullman Daily News.
>
>
------------------------------------------------------
>
> Boys
charged for vehicle shootings near Helmer
> No one injured during Friday
afternoon incident
> Staff report
>
> Posted on: Saturday,
January 23, 2010
>
> Two male juveniles were in custody at the
Latah County Jail on Friday
> night for allegedly shooting several
vehicles on State Highway 8 near
> Helmer.
>
> The boys
have been charged with unlawful discharge of a firearm at a
> vehicle, a
felony, according to a media release from Latah County
> Sheriff's
Office Lt. Brannon Jordan. Officials did not release the boys'
> names
Friday.
>
> No injuries have been reported related to the
shootings, the release states.
>
> The sheriff's department began
receiving reports of vehicles being struck
> by gunfire in the Forks
Road area east of Helmer at about 1 p.m. Friday.
> Dispatcher Nathan
Reetz said the shooting continued over the course of the
> afternoon,
with about 20 shots fired. Officials believe about 10 vehicles
> were
struck, though there is not yet an official count.
>
> Reetz said
about eight of the vehicles were semi trucks. Dispatcher Marci
>
Williams said the semis were operated by Jack Buell Trucking.
>
>
Sheriff's officials and Idaho State Police shut down the highway from
3:44
> p.m. to 4:31 p.m. as they secured the area of the shootings.
Officials did
> not locate anyone on the scene, but later identified the
location from
> which the shots were fired and identified the juveniles,
according to the
> report.
>
> The boys were taken into
custody at 7:20 p.m. and 8:34 p.m., respectively,
> Reetz said. He said
no further information about the suspects was
> available as of press
time Friday.
>
> Information about what type of firearm was used
in the shootings also was
> unavailable.
>
> The incident
remains under investigation, according to the release, but
> the
sheriff's office has determined there is no further threat.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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