Saturday, August 22, 2015

Murder-Suicide at the Manhattan Federal Building

The Daily Beast

The shooting was at a federal building in downtown Manhattan that houses the immigration court and processing center.

Anybody who has been listening to Donald Trump rant about a supposed illegal alien crime wave might have imagined that the gunman who inexplicably drew one of two .38 caliber revolvers he was carrying in a plastic bag and fatally wounded a security guard on Friday was a homicidal foreigner.

But after the gunman had stepped beyond the dying guard and passed through the metal detector and fatally shot himself, a search of his wallet showed that he was 68-year-old retired U.S. Army Reserves officer and onetime government employee named Kevin Downing from a place no more distant than just across the Hudson River in Fort Lee, New Jersey. He had briefly worked as an economist with the U.S. Department of Labor, which has offices in the building. He had been let go before he completed the one year trial period and he had unsuccessfully sued to be reinstated, charging he had been fired for being a whistleblower who reported “a gross waste of funds.” The hearing board found he had “not revealed anything not widely known” and had “failed to make a non-frivolous allegation.”

Detectives noted that Downing had opened fire without exchanging so much as a word with the ill-fated guard. The guard, 53-year-old Idrissa Camara, had been due to go off duty at 4 pm, but he had agreed to work an extended shift when he could have gone home to his wife and children. He was a native of the Ivory Coast, which means in this case the immigrant was the victim. He had died simply because he had the terrible luck to be there at 5:05 PM when Downing appeared with his two handguns.

21 comments:

  1. Interesting that Mr. Downing hails from a state with very strict gun laws, New Jersey, and he traveled to another state with strict laws to commit his crime. I'm guessing that the revolvers he brought were legally owned.

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    1. A military man goes nuts and kills. Big surprised since that's what he was trained to do, kill with his guns.

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    2. "A military man goes nuts and kills. Big surprised since that's what he was trained to do, kill with his guns."

      Apparently a liberal military man Anon. Since you don't know much about the military, I'm not going to confuse you with explaining about how not everyone is trained extensively about being a killer. I wonder what his branch his commission was in. Retiring as a Captain is also a bit unusual also.

      "As he sought redress for what he considered his own poor treatment, Downing took on other causes. In 2013 he signed a petition asking U.S. senators to sign legislation to strengthen protections for whistle-blowers and victims of sexual assault in the military. He created a Twitter account in February 2014, and the vast majority of his Tweets consisted of pleas for others to sign petitions backing a host of liberal political causes, including opposition to giving President Obama “Fast Track” authorization in free-trade negotiations and supporting the proposal by Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Democratic presidential candidate from Vermont, to spend $1 trillion on infrastructure projects. He also posted occasionally about how the Department of Veterans Affairs’ health care system needed reform. Records show that he was registered as a Democrat as of the 2011 general election."

      http://www.northjersey.com/news/rep-pascrell-discusses-his-office-s-role-in-dealing-with-n-y-c-shooter-from-fort-lee-1.1396875

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    3. And when he went off, his first reaction was to go back to his training to kill. Many people get a "raw" deal in life, they don't go kill. But according to you, life ain't fair, so it's OK to kill-great gun loon thinking.

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    4. Make up your mind SS, does the military train to kill, or not. I know you try to have it both ways on any issue and that's why you are just a dishonest, kill crazy, criminal, gun loon. ,

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    5. Anon, the military applies combat power to selected targets of the government's choosing. We don't go somewhere and kill everything. We kill whatever the government selects.
      And if the other side is willing to quit without fighting, we're really cool with that too. This liberal guy in Jersey retired as a Captain, so his job was potentially to command troops. In other words, he was supposed to supervise and ensure his soldiers did their jobs properly and legally.

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    6. You forgot to mention they kill on the orders of a proven lying president Bush, and kill innocent people all the time. But of course, to a dishonest, kill crazy gun loon like you any killing is OK including the killing of innocent people, either by the military, or just everyday kill crazy gun loons. And don't bother to mention the MANY times soldiers have been found guilty of murder while acting on behalf of the country.

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    7. Again Anon, didn't you get the memo? The military has been killing on the orders of the current President for what, about seven years now?

      "And don't bother to mention the MANY times soldiers have been found guilty of murder while acting on behalf of the country."

      I'm seeing about ten convictions of soldiers for homicide of Iraqi civilians Anon. Do you have a different number?

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    8. So 10 (many more than that) is none SS? What a lying gun loon idiot.

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    9. Never said none Anon. If you think that ten over 14 years equals many, that is completely your decision. If you think its more, then kindly provide a different number?

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    10. You said 10, which is another lie by you. Why do gun loons have to lie?

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    11. I said I found ten Anon. Did you come up with a different number? Likely not since that would suggest you actually looked. And you don't seem to like doing that.

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    12. I did look SS, which is why I can call you a kill crazy lying gun loon. Now you look it up liar.

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  2. "And when he went off, his first reaction was to go back to his training to kill."

    And what about the training in escalation of force, and rules of engagement that occurs continuously in the military? Perhaps it's him being a liberal military man that made him "go off" as you put it. I personally don't think it's either, but you're the one who brought it up....

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    1. Yes, I did, because it's correct, but leave it to you to blame it on him being liberal, which you have no proof of, just being your usual dishonest self. Why do gun loons have to lie?

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    2. "but leave it to you to blame it on him being liberal, which you have no proof of, just being your usual dishonest self."

      Anon, you have but to look at the second comment I made in this thread to find proof.

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    3. "but leave it to you to blame it on him being liberal,..."

      Try reading what he said one more time.

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    4. Right SS, the military does not train to kill. Thanks for making that clear.

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  3. "Perhaps it's him being a liberal military man that made him "go off" as you put it."
    Your own words. Why do gun loons have to lie?

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    1. Let me make this simple Anon, go to the top of the comments, then, every time you see one of my comments, count upwards. Stop when you get to two. There you will see the article I cited showing that he is a liberal, which you claimed I had no proof of.
      Have a nice day....

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    2. Let me make it more simple, those were YOUR words, period.

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