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When Gov. Ed Rendell was asked this week about Richard Poplawski, who is accused of shooting and killing three Pittsburgh police officers, he said he would sign a death warrant for the 22-year-old Stanton Heights man "without a moment's thought." Today, in a court filing, Mr. Poplawski's attorney said she wants Mr. Rendell to take a few moments to think before he speaks publicly about her client. Lisa G. Middleman, a public defender, is requesting that a judge extend a gag order in the case to the governor and all public officials. "Should the District Attorney of Allegheny County elect...

Let's dig in deeper into how the "policewoman" J. Naolitano views the Poplawski case. (the neo Nazi that has posted under multiple names (multi-spam) on hate sites such as "stormfront" http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0904/08/acd.01.html. How on earth did she connect this lunatic to all "right wingers"? Can she point to anyone here on FR with these "conspiracy theories" on "de joos"? speaking of conspiracy theories, will she go now after the Daily Cos where those fantasy-theorists there lurking at every corner? and why not? What po earth does pro NRA have to do with this nut case? What's next, because of Poplawski, Unabomber...

-snip- About a year ago, Mr. Poplawski stopped working to have knee surgery, according to Ms. Devine. Later he took to walking two pit bull mixes, now 7 months old, that the family adopted from the Animal Rescue League of Western Pennsylvania. After the shootings, city Animal Control returned them to the shelter. Charlotte Grimme, the shelter's executive director, described them as healthy and good-tempered. But it was one of those dogs urinating on the carpet that apparently prompted the argument between Mr. Poplawski and his mother that spawned her 911 call and brought unsuspecting police into an apparent ambush....

Richard Poplawski, the man charged with gunning down three Pittsburgh police officers Saturday, posted dozens of racist and anti-Semitic messages on a far-right Web site, decrying race-mixing and predicting chaos as the economy collapsed at the hands of "Zionist occupation," investigators said. "It seems to me that our enemies would like nothing more than to see us retreat peaceably into the hills so that they could continue raping the remainder of the land without having to worry about any 'kooks' putting up a fight," reads one post dated Nov. 1, 2008. "I'll subscribe to the camp that believes we are...

Liberal blogs have been tying Richard Poplawski's shooting rampage to the escalating hyperbole of right wing critiques of Obama. The Anti-Defamation League reports that Polawski, in addition to frequenting white supremacist communities online, was a fan of Glenn Beck and believed that Obama was "ramping up the police state." One right wing blogger actually threatened TBogg after he put up a post suggesting a connection between recent conservative hyperbole about Obama and violence. He did so without irony. First of all, I'm really skeptical of efforts to link the violent acts of people who are obviously mentally ill to political...

PITTSBURGH – The mother of a man charged with killing three Pittsburgh police officers told a 911 dispatcher he had weapons, but the dispatcher didn't relay that information to officers, the official in charge of county dispatchers says. The dispatcher should have asked more questions about the weapons, but didn't, and certainly should have told officers so they could take necessary precautions, Allegheny County Chief of Emergency Services Robert Full told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "There is no excuse. It could have been handled better, without a doubt," Full said in Tuesday's editions. Richard Poplawski's mother, Margaret, had dialed 911 Saturday...

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The mother of a man charged with killing three Pittsburgh police officers told a 911 dispatcher he had weapons, but the dispatcher didn't relay that information to officers, the official in charge of county dispatchers says.

An insidious new meme is being propagated following the Pittsburgh slayings--that rhetoric from conservatives, gun rights activists, the "right wing"-- is responsible for Richard Poplawski's alleged fear that Obama was going to take away guns. The first thing we need acknowledge is this is but one more case of the media rushing to judgment before the facts are in. There's a whole lotta speculation going on. As we've noted before, Obama's own words taken from the official White House website reveal his goal of banning an entire class of semiautomatic firearms. His attorney general has revived the call. And he's...

Friends described a Richard Poplawski far different from the 22-year-old man accused of gunning down three police officers today -- a partier sometimes, a guy in search of an understanding of politics, even a walking comedian. He was also convinced that the government wanted to take away his guns and his freedom. Richard Poplawski"I've known this kid my entire life and he was a good kid. He never had bad intentions. He never spoke about harming anybody," said Edward Perkovic, a lifelong friend who had known Mr. Poplawski since the two paired up at a daycare. Mr. Poplawski attended Immaculate...

...Another friend, Aaron Vire, 23, said Mr. Poplawski strongly opposed Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's candidacy. He'd had "very spirited debates" with Mr. Vire, who is black and an Obama supporter. "He wasn't a racist. He was a cool person. He thought he was losing some of his rights," said Mr. Vire. He said he knew Mr. Poplawski owned an AK-47 assault-type rifle, a .357 Magnum revolver, a .380-caliber handgun and a .45-caliber handgun.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A 911 call that brought two police officers to a home where they were ambushed, and where a third was also later killed during a four-hour siege, was precipitated by a fight between the gunman and his mother over a dog urinating in the house. The Saturday argument between Margaret and Richard Poplawski escalated to the point that she threatened to kick him out and she called police to do it, according to a 12-page criminal complaint and affidavit filed late Saturday. When officers Paul Sciullo III and Stephen Mayhle arrived, Margaret Poplawski opened the door and...

PITTSBURGH, April 4 (UPI) -- Friends said Richard Poplawski, 22, suspected of gunning down three Pittsburgh police officers Saturday, feared President Barack Obama would take his guns. They also described him as a young man with an interest in politics who liked to party. Edward Perkovic, who said he first met Poplawski in daycare, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette his friend was a "good kid." Aaron Vires, 23, said he sometimes worked with Poplawski and Perkovic on a radio show they broadcast on the Internet that focused on "politics, girls and life." Vires, who is black, said he and Poplawski had...

The boss has noted the tragedy in Pittsburgh, where a lone gunman killed three police officers trying their best to defend their community:

Here is a video report on the killing of three Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania police officers today, as they responded to what they thought was a domestic disturbance. But it now appears they were drawn into a trap by a gunman who was waiting for them and wearing a bullet-proof vest. Two other officers were wounded and the shooter has been taken into custody. Neighbors claim he had been let go from a local factory recently, and had been worried that President Obama would try and take away his guns. . . . . . . (Watch Video Report)

Poplawski's friends at the scene described him as a young man who thought the Obama administration would ban guns. One friend, Edward Perkovic, said Poplawski feared "the Obama gun ban that's on the way" and "didn't like our rights being infringed upon." Another longtime friend, Aaron Vire, said he feared that President Obama was going to take away his rights, though he said he "wasn't violently against Obama."

man opened fire on officers responding to a domestic disturbance call Saturday morning, killing three of them, police said.

Shooting in Philadelphia. Three Police officers shot in Philly CNN Live No other word