WASHINGTON NAVY YARD OPENING 3 DAYS AFTER MASSACRE

(AP) Washington Navy Yard opening 3 days after massacre
By BRIAN WITTE
Associated Press
WASHINGTON

The Washington Navy Yard began returning to nearly normal operations three days after it was the scene of a mass shooting in which a gunman killed 12 people.

The Navy installation re-opened at 6 a.m. Thursday. Traffic was blocked from reaching the main gate for a time because a tractor-trailer tried to make a U-turn, and its load shifted.

Navy spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Sarah Flaherty said Thursday will be a regular work day, except for Building 197, where the shootings occurred, and the base gym. She says the gym is being used as a staging area for the FBI to investigate Monday's rampage in which former Navy reservist Aaron Alexis gunned down 12 people before being killed by police.

Employees retuning to work Thursday said they still felt unsettled about what happened.

"It's a little surreal I guess," said Brooke Roberts, an engineer who works across the street from the building where the shooting happened.

"You don't think this sort of thing can happen to you at your workplace, so you're just not prepared for it, regardless," he said as he walked by a blocked off gate he is accustomed to using to enter the Navy Yard. He described himself as feeling "still unsettled," noting the blocked off entrance.

"It's still not quite normal, and it probably won't be for some time," Roberts said.

Via: Breitbart

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Probe launched over claim that elite Capitol Police unit blocked from Navy Yard massacre

The board that oversees the U.S. Capitol Police has opened an investigation into whether a tactical team of officers that was one of the first on the scene during the Washington Navy Yard shooting was ordered to stand down. 

Several sources confirmed the probe to Fox News. The investigation follows reports that a highly trained and specialized Capitol Police team arrived soon after the shooting started, but was told by a supervisor to leave the scene. 

The BBC, which first reported on the allegation, quoted a Capitol Police "source" as claiming "lives may have been saved" if the team could have intervened. 

Aaron Alexis killed 12 people at the Washington Navy yard before he, too, was killed. The emerging allegations raise questions as to whether the tactical team could have stepped in earlier to stop the violence. 

U.S. Capitol Police Chief Kim Dine said the force "offered and provided mutual support and assistance" on Monday, and that there is a "preliminary investigation into the allegations presented." 

House Administration Committee Chairwoman Candice Miller, R-Mich., also said she's been advised "there is currently an active investigation into the allegation." 

Via: Fox News

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WARNING: Our government is a threat to public safety by Michelle Malkin

Forget gun control. America needs government control. Have you noticed the common thread among several mass killings and homeland security incidents lately?

Time and again, it’s the control freaks in Washington who have fallen down on their jobs, allowing crazies, creeps and criminals to roam free and wreak havoc while ignoring rampant red flags. Let’s review:

Washington Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis: Despite gun-grabbing Democrats’ best efforts to blame a nonexistent “AR-15″ for this week’s horrific Navy Yard massacre, the truth is seeping out about shooter Aaron Alexis. The 34-year-old Navy veteran had been treated since August by the Veterans Administration for a host of mental problems that plagued him for up to a decade.

Officials say Alexis was paranoid, had a sleep disorder, suffered from schizophrenia and was “hearing voices.” He told Newport, R.I., police after an altercation just last month that he believed a “microwave machine” was sending vibrations through a wall into his body. Friends say he was a heavy drinker and violent video game addict. A ticking time bomb, he had racked up a string of misconduct incidents during his military stint ranging from absenteeism to insubordination to disorderly conduct. He was arrested in Seattle in 2004 and in Fort Worth, Texas, in 2010 for separate anger-fueled shootings that terrorized neighbors and innocent bystanders.

Yet somehow Alexis passed several military background checks, gained high-level security clearance and had access to multiple military installations. The civilian contractor who employed Alexis blasted the feds on Tuesday for failing to fully disclose his history. “Anything that suggests criminal problems or mental health issues, that would be a flag,” Thomas Hoshko of The Experts told The Washington Post. “We would not have hired him.” And 12 innocent people might still be alive today.

Via: Michelle Malkin

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The New York Times’s Imaginary Gun Law

As I noted yesterday, the victims of the Aaron Alexis at the Washington Navy Yard had hardly hit the floor before the gun control lobby had started using the tragedy as a clarion call for new, better gun control laws.

The tool they attempted to use was the AR-15 which is an “assault weapon.” Dozens of news organizations reported that this was the weapon used in the massacre, but it turned out to be a false report. The shooter actually used a modified 12-gauge shotgun (the stock had reportedly been sawn off at the handgrip to shorten it) and 00 (double aught) sized buckshot.

When video surfaced of the gunman test firing an AR-15 at a Northern Virginia gun store, a narrative had to be developed as to why the gunman did not but the AR-15. As to be expected, the New York Times was in the forefront:

The suspect in the killing of 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard on Monday test-fired an AR-15 assault rifle at a Virginia gun store last week but was stopped from buying one because state law there prohibits the sale of such weapons to out-of-state buyers, according to two senior law enforcement officials.

So if you can’t have an assault weapon used in a killing, you can at least go for the moral high ground in demonstrating that “common sense” gun control can mitigate loss of life.

Via: Red State

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DC'S STRICT GUN CONTROL IMPOTENT TO STOP NAVY YARD SHOOTING

Although Washington DC has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation, the Navy Yard shooter proved once again that even this amount of gun control cannot stop a criminal intent on carrying out his crime.

While Breitbart News and The Wall Street Journal indicate Aaron Alexis legally purchased his shotgun in Virginia, he only did so late last week. Which means he did not have the time to go through the process to register the shotgun and obtain the firearm registration certificate necessary to possess and/or transport the firearm legally in DC.

According to the Washington DC Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) website, Alexis had a 48-hour window from the time of purchase in which to let the Firearms Registration Section of the MPD know he needed to register his shotgun. After that, he would be required to bring his shotgun--unloaded--to the Firearms Registration Section along with the eligibility and requirement forms "necessary to complete the registration process." 

After filling out the paper work, getting fingerprinted, etc., Alexis would then be required to leave his unloaded shotgun with the Firearms Registration Section until his registration application was approved. Once approved the Firearms Registration Section would have contacted him to come pick up his registration certificate or have it mailed to him. Only then would Alexis get his shotgun back and be able to legally possess it.

The approval process alone normally takes five days, so there is simply no way Alexis went through the process to legally possess and transport the firearm. And why would someone go through all this trouble to legally possess a gun they intended to use in an illegal fashion? 

The bottom line--Criminals are not hindered by gun control laws.

Via: Breitbart

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Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis was 'not happy with America,' friend says

FORT WORTH, Texas — Aaron Alexis was so unhappy with his life in America — where he was beset by money woes and felt slighted as a veteran — that he was "ready to move out of the country" last year, a friend said Tuesday.

"He was tired of dealing with the government," said Kristi Suthamtewkal, whose husband owns the Thai Bowl Restaurant in Fort Worth, where Alexis worked in exchange for room and board.

But instead of leaving the U.S., the former Navy reservist relocated from Texas to Virginia, where an IT company called The Experts put him on a government contract at the Washington Navy Yard.

A day after Alexis, 34, gunned down 12 people at the yard, new details emerged of his troubled past — from his preoccupation with 9/11 to recent mental problems that included hearing voices in his head.

Investigators said Tuesday that a preliminary probe has turned up no evidence that Alexis participated in rescue operations at Ground Zero, as his father once told police.

He was, however, employed as a clerical worker at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, in the shadow of the Twin Towers, when they were destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001.

Via: NBC News

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Washington Navy Yard Already Suffers the Restrictions That Gun Control Advocates Favor

FBIYet another mass shooting, and flags fly across the country at half-mast to mourn the 13 dead at the Washington Navy Yard—well, 12 of them, anyway, since one of the bodies was that of the murderer. Gun control advocates wasted no time in demanding new restrictions on the means of self-defense. Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA), who used to carry a pistol for her own defense, responded to the crime by saying, "Congress must stop shirking its responsibility and resume a thoughtful debate on gun violence in this country. We must do more to stop this endless loss of life." But the unhappy truth is that the scene of the crime, the Washington Navy Yard, is subject to many of the restrictions that gun control advocates favor. And the perpetrator, Aaron Alexis, had passed a background check for a security clearance. Unfortunately, laws and databases don't create magic forcefields against criminal intent.

Navy public affairs officers have full voicemail boxes, today, for obvious reason, so it's difficult to learn if there were specific restrictions that applied to the Washington Navy Yard or to Naval Sea Systems Command Headquarters, where the shootings took place. But military installations, despite their obvious role in waging war, come pretty close to being gun-free zones, given the rules by which personnel and visitors must abide. Or, if not strictly gun-free-zones, they're subject to tight regulations that keep most (law-abiding) people largely disarmed.

Via: Reason

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FRIEND: NAVY YARD SHOOTER LIBERAL, SUPPORTED OBAMA

Tuesday, on CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper," Michael Ritrovato spoke at length about his friend, suspected Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis. After expressing his condolences to the victims and their families, Ritrovato then expressed his shock over the actions of a man he described as being "like a brother to me" and a "good-natured guy."

Ritrovato  went on to explain that two of them had a close relationship based in part on their differences, specifically race and politics. Alexis was black, Ritrovato is white. Ritrovato described himself as conservative and Alexis is "more of a liberal type" who supported Barack Obama:

I would say things like, 'You know, you are my brother from another mother.' And he would say things like, 'You're my Italian mafia guy from New York.' So we had things we joked about: Aaron wasn't conservative like I am. He was more of a liberal type; he wasn't happy with the former [Bush] administration. He was more happy with this [the Obama] administration -- as far as presidential administrations.

Ritrovato said he hadn't seen Alexis in a while. The last time they spoke was by phone, where the Alexis talked about his frustration with the company he worked for. Apparently, the company was "slow to pay." There have been other media reports about Alexis being with upset his company regarding some expenses incurred during a trip to Japan.

Ritrovato said that Alexis' fondness for "violent video games" was the only red flag he saw in retrospect.

Via: Breitbart

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Security under scrutiny over vetting of U.S. Navy Yard gunman

(Reuters) - The U.S. Navy on Tuesday ordered a review of security at all of its facilities as questions arose about how a former serviceman with a history of violence and mental illness received clearance to work at a base where he killed 12 people before police shot him dead.

The suspect, Aaron Alexis, 34, a Navy contractor from Fort Worth, Texas, entered Washington Navy Yard on Monday morning and opened fire, spreading panic at the base just a mile and a half from the U.S. Capitol and three miles from the White House.

Alexis' employer said he worked in at least six installations in July and August without incident. Alexis was employed by a company called The Experts, a subcontractor for Hewlett-Packard that serviced computer equipment, the company said.

He had been given clearance to enter the base on the Anacostia River despite two gun-related brushes with the law and a discharge from the Navy Reserve in 2011 after a series of what a Navy official described as "misconduct issues."

CNN reported that Alexis had contacted two Veterans Administration hospitals recently and was believed to be seeking psychological help.

"It really is hard to believe that someone with a record as checkered as this man could conceivably get, you know, clearance to get ... credentials to be able to get on the base," Washington D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray told CNN.

In the wake of the latest mass shooting in the United States and questions about security at guarded buildings, U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus on Tuesday ordered a review of physical security at all Navy and Marine Corps installations.

A Navy official said authorities would first take a "quick look" at installations to ensure existing physical security standards are being met. The second review will be larger and more in-depth, the official said.

Via: Rueters

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Navy gunman had federal clearance despite disturbing history

Aaron Alexis, the Navy veteran who gunned down 12 people at a Washington military facility, had his federal security clearance renewed just two months before his rampage, despite a disturbing history of psychological problems and violent behavior involving guns.

Although Alexis was not a direct employee of the federal government, working as an IT subcontractor required that he obtain “secret” clearance, according to Thomas Hoshko, of The Experts, a Hewlett Packard subcontractor working at the Washington Navy Yards. Alexis had previously worked for the company under clearance, but when he returned in July, another background check was conducted, Hoshko said.

"We had just recently re-hired him,” Hoshko told Reuters. “Another background investigation was re-run and cleared through the defense security service in July 2013."

Alexis, 34, went on a shooting spree early Monday at the Naval Sea Systems Command headquarters in southeast Washington, killinng 12 and injuring eight before being killed by police. No motive had emerged as of Tuesday morning as to why he went on a rampage in the very complex where he worked.

It is not clear what that second background check consisted of, but just weeks earlier, Alexis’ roommate in Fort Worth filed a criminal complaint with the police after becoming suspicious that Alexis had tampered with his car’s fuel tank.

Via: Fox News

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Aaron Alexis, 34, is dead gunman in Navy Yard shooting, authorities say

By Carol D. Leonnig, Marjorie Censer and David A. Fahrenthold,

The dead gunman in Monday’s shooting at the Washington Navy Yard is Aaron Alexis, 34, a Navy veteran who was discharged after he was arrested in a shooting incident—but was later hired by a government subcontractor.

Police said it was unclear if Alexis acted alone, or how he accessed the tightly guarded Navy Yard. As of Monday evening, authorities also are still searching for another person: a black man in his 40s with gray sideburns, wearing an olive-drab military-style uniform.

Alexis, a native of New York City, worked for a company called The Experts, a subcontractor to Hewlett Packard on a federal contract to work on the Navy Marine Corps Intranet network, according to a statement from Hewlett Packard. It was unclear if Alexis was still employed by that subcontractor, or if his work took him to the Navy Yard.

Alexis died at the scene of Monday’s shooting, in which at least 12 other people died. D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray said no motive is known.

By Monday afternoon, a portrait of Alexis had begun to emerge. He lived until recently in Fort Worth, where he was seen frequently at a Buddhist temple, meditating and helping out. He was pursuing a bachelor’s of science degree in aeronautics as an online student at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

But Alexis also had been accused in at least two prior shooting incidents, one in Fort Worth and one in Seattle, according to police reports.

Via: Washington Post

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