Free Republic

The California camp ranger carjacked by ex-cop turned fugitive Christopher Dorner last month has filed a lawsuit seeking claim to the entire $1.2 million reward leading to his capture. Rick Heltebrake, who was robbed at gunpoint by Dorner while driving on a Big Bear-area road last month, has filed his suit against the city of Los Angeles claiming that it was his 911 phone call that led to Dorner's cornering. The full-time Boy Scouts ranger's life was spared during that carjacking while allowed to safely exit his truck and later call 911. According to his claim, it was that call...

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — There is no doubt who is responsible for the Newtown school massacre. The shooter is dead and the prosecutor handling the case has said he does not expect any charges. Yet authorities are continuing to keep search warrants and police records secret. Media outlets have pressed for the release of more records, which could shed light on a crime that has revived the national debate over gun control and could change the way guns are regulated. The massacre has led to proposals for universal background checks on gun buyers and bans on assault weapons and...

ABC News reporter Brian Ross committed what used to be a fatal mistake to a journalist’s career: He blurted out a wild, unsubstantiated, speculative observation that hadn’t been vetted by anyone and was explosively political at the same time. Via Breitbart: Here is the exchange between ABC News chief investigator Brian Ross and host George Stephanopoulos about apparent suspect James Holmes: Stephanolpoulos: I’m going to go to Brian Ross. You’ve been investigating the background of Jim Holmes here. You found something that might be significant. Ross: There’s a Jim Holmes of Aurora, Colorado, page on the Colorado Tea party site...

"snip..Los Angeles police officer and three bodybuilder friends.snip..arrested for..snip..punching and kicking a New York man.snip.on West Hollywood's Restaurant Row," the Los Angeles Times reported July 30, 1991. snip We're glad this was only a local story. Had it been a national one, ...reporter Brian Ross might have blamed us on national television. "Those arrested along with Defoe were Edward Spencer, 29, Ken Spencer, 27, and James Taranto, 27, all of Staten Island, N.Y.," the Times report added. That James Taranto, you will be relieved to learn, was not the one who became your humble columnist. snip Men named James Holmes...

As a classic case of national hysteria slowly peaks, still within 24 hours after the massacre of theater-patrons attending a premier of the latest "Batman" thriller in Aurora, Colorado, it's become increasingly difficult to maintain a rational perspective.Apparently without any shame whatsoever, an embattled White House still cannot hesitate to push itself out in front of the trickle of information coming out in the wake of these multiple murders.That as many or more people will die in "random" shootings on the streets of major U.S. cities, Chicago in particular, on an average weekend, this July, still escapes the notice of...