The Dana Pretzer Show – Thursday, August 16, 2018 – Please Join Dana Pretzer Tonight at 9 PM ET with Special Guest: Dawna Kaufmann & Diane Dimond

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Tonight’s Guests:

• Author Dawna Kaufmann discussing the book she and Dr. Cyril Wecht wrote, ‘Final Exams’

Dawna Kaufmann is an accomplished true crime journalist whose work has been heralded by law enforcement and the media. She’s covered many hundreds of celebrity deaths, high-profile homicides, sex crimes, and missing person cases, usually from the first hint of a crime through the trial and sentencing phase.

• Diane Dimond, award winning investigative journalist, author and syndicated columnist discussing her new Investigation Discovery TV special on the Pamela Smart case.

Full Bio: Diane Dimond is one of the few journalists to have mastered the art of her craft across all platforms – radio, television, books and as a syndicated columnist. As such she defies a single category.Dimond’s greatest talent may be her ability to communicate complicated stories in an understandable, common-sense way. Her reputation as a fearless investigative reporter has won admiration from her peers but she never lost the ethical and moral lessons learned growing up as an only child in a middle class home in the Southwest.

Accused Capital Gazette Newsroom Shooter’s Stalking Victim Says She Warned Police About Jarrod W. Ramos … “He Will Be Your Next Mass Shooter” … Also Made Threats Against the Capital Gazette

COULD ANOTHER MASS SHOOTING HAVE BEEN PREVENTED?

As reported at the UK Daily Mail, the gunman, Jarrod W. Ramos, who murdered five people at the Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland was known to police, had a vendetta against the newspaper with a previous defamation law suit, had made threats against the newspaper and was exposed in the past for his perverted campaign of harassment. The women who was the victim of Jarrod Ramos’ harassment and stalking told police that he would be “the next mass shooter.” The unidentified women told WBAL reporter Jayne Miller that she had become so frightened of Ramos that she had to move three times and now sleeps with a gun, and added, he is a “f*cking nut job”.

I guess we can now say, that was an understatement as this predatory lunatic with a vendetta murdered 5 members of the Capital Gazette newspaper on Thursday. This sicko was flagged as “the next shooter” by an individual who had been unmercifully harassed to police and guess what … Jarrod Ramos became maybe not the next, but one of the next mass shooters. The question is was Jarrod W. Ramos legally allowed to own a gun after having plead guilty to criminal harassment? Should more have been done? Because of this man’s history and threats, should his home have been checked? We hear that Annapolis, MD is a close fit community, where law enforcement and the local news paper were always in contact. Previously, individuals from the news paper feared Ramos would do something ad they didn’t feel safe.

The gunman who murdered five people at a newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland, had been flagged up to police as ‘the next mass shooter’ by a woman he obsessively stalked – and had a vendetta against the publication because they exposed his perverted campaign of harassment.

Jarrod W. Ramos’ harassment of the woman, one of his former high school classmates, had been the subject of a 2011 article in the Capital Gazette, which would later see him sue the newspaper.

After the unsuccessful lawsuit, and years of posting threats against the newspaper and its staff on social media, the 38-year-old opened fire in their newsroom on Thursday afternoon, killing five and injuring two.

Ramos’ initial stalking of his former classmate had begun with a Facebook message of thanks for being ‘the only person ever to say hello or be nice to him in school’, and escalated into a harassment campaign which saw her forced to change her name and leave the state.

The woman told a WBAL TV reporter that she had become so frightened of Ramos that she had to move three times and now sleeps with a gun, adding that he is a ‘f***ing nut job’.

The beginning of Ramos’ vendetta against the Capital Gazette. Ramos had a long time feud with the newspaper. In 2012, Ramos filed a defamation lawsuit against the paper and a columnist over a July 2011 article that covered a criminal harassment charge against him. After his lawsuit was dismissed by the Courts because he failed to prove what the newspaper printed was untrue. As we have always stated, its hard to defame one’s character, when one has no character. Thus, a mental case became even more of a mental case, complete with threat after threat against the paper. His twitter account is reported to have regularly commented on Anne Arundel County news and referred to a deadly shooting at the French newspaper Charlie Hebdo in 2015. The account had been dormant since January 2016 and then at 2:37 p.m. Thursday, just moments before the Capital Gazette shooting, the account posted a message that read: “F— you, leave me alone.”

The 2011 Capital Gazette article about Ramos harassment of the woman was headlined ‘Jarrod wants to be your friend’, and was published after he pleaded guilty to criminal harassment.

The article, quoted in its entirety in the 2013 defamation lawsuit, described how Ramos had sent the woman numerous emails spanning several months, calling her vulgar names and telling her to kill herself.

The Capital reported that he also contacted the woman’s job; she was suspended by a supervisor the same month and then let go several months later, which she believes was due to Ramos.

‘When she blocked him from seeing her Facebook page, he found things she wrote on other people’s pages and taunted her with it, attaching screenshots of the postings to some of his emails.

‘She called police, and for months he stopped. But then he started again, nastier than ever.

‘All this without having seen her in person since high school.’

In the years that followed the publication of the article, Ramos sued the newspaper, the reporter who initially wrote about the case, a judge and the woman who testified against him.

His defamation suit was thrown out on appeal in 2015 because Ramos failed to prove that what the newspaper had printed was untrue.

Ramos would go on to routinely harass journalists from the Capital Gazette on Twitter in scores of profanity laced posts.

One of Ramos’ tweets targeted one of the journalists killed on Thursday, Rob Hiaasen.

In another tweet, he discussed how he’d enjoy seeing the paper stop publishing, but ‘it would be nicer’ to see two journalists ‘cease breathing’.

Other tweets from his account referenced previous journalist shootings, including the 2015 terror attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris.

Sadly, we cannot 100% individuals who are hell-bent on murder. The Arundel County police and other first responders should be applauded for their immediate response to the crime scene. They saved lives. However, even with a 60 second response by law enforcement, five people were murdered. This means three things. One, people need to be able to arm and defend themselves. Two, because of the treats, businesses should have better security. Three, law enforcement needs to be more proactive with lunatics like this.

Shooting at Capital Gazette Newspaper in Annapolis, Multiple People Shot (Update: Shooter in Custody)(Update: 5 Confirmed Casualties)

BREAKING … SHOOTING AT CAPITAL GAZETTE NEWSPAPER!

According to reports, there has been a shooting at the Capital Gazette in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Reports from the Baltimore Sun is that a gunman shot through the glass door to the office and opened fire on multiple employees.

A shooting has occurred at the Capital Gazette in Anne Arundel County, a paper that is owned by The Baltimore Sun, according to reports from Gazette staff.

Anne Arundel County Police confirmed there was an “active shooter” at 888 Bestgate Road, where the newspaper’s offices are located. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives confirmed it was responding to a “shooting incident” at the Gazette.

Phil Davis, a Gazette crime reporter who was there at the time of the shooting, said that multiple people had been shot. Police did not immediately respond to requests for further information.

“Gunman shot through the glass door to the office and opened fire on multiple employees. Can’t say much more and don’t want to declare anyone dead, but it’s bad,” Davis wrote on Twitter as he waited to be interviewed by police. “There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you’re under your desk and then hear the gunman reload.”

Police said the building was being evacuated as officers continue searching it.

UPDATE I: Tweets from Phil Davis, the crime reporter of the Capital Gazette Newspaper as the shooting was taking place.

Shooting at Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, Md.

UPDATE II: CBS Baltimore is reporting that 4 Deaths Reported After Shooting At Capital-Gazette Building In Annapolis.

According to police, first shots were reported at 2:40 p.m. after the shooter entered the Capital-Gazette building.

Police say the building has been evacuated, and officers are continuing to search the building.

UPDATE III: Suspect reported in custody. The suspect was reported to be a white male. A law enforcement official tells CNN that one person is in custody, believed to be a shooter at the Gazette building. The source said there are multiple wounded.

BREAK!NING NEW TONIGHT 6/28/18 PRESS BRIEFING ON MARYLAND SHOOTING

UPDATE IV: President Trump, as well as the first lady, have been briefed on the shooting, White House officials confirmed. White House Deputy Press Secretary Lindsay Walters said “our thoughts and prayers are with all that are affected.”

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan tweeted that he was “absolutely devastated to learn of this tragedy in Annapolis.”

UPDATE V: From 4:38 Police Presser:

• Several people have died, several others injured.
• Shooter is in custody and being interviewed by police
• Officers got on scene with 60 to 90 seconds of call.
• Gov. Larry Hogan praised first responders and police
• The investigation has just started, there will not be many details.
• Many witnesses being interviewed.
• The building is secure, we feel there are no other shooters in the building. However, its being considered a crime scene.
• 5 fatalities confirmed.

UPDATE VI: CBS News reporting that suspect refusing to identify himself.

One law enforcement source says the suspect is a white male in his 20s and didn’t have identification in him. The suspect is refusing to identify himself.

UPDATE VII: 5:30 Presser:

• 60 seconds to respond to crime scene.
• Building is tactically secure, no more persons in building a threat to anyone else.
• They found what they think was one explosive devise.
• 170 people evacuated from building.
• Gun used described as a long gun
• There was no gun fire exchanged between suspect and officers.
• Another update will be at 8pm ET.
• 3 people estimated injured in hospital.

UPDATE VIII: Bizarre, Annapolis shooting suspect damaged his finger tips to thwart identification.

The suspect accused of killing five people in a shooting at a Maryland newspaper had damaged the tips of his fingers in an apparent attempt to thwart efforts by police to identify him by his fingerprints, a law enforcement officials tells CBS News. Authorities said the suspect is a white male in his 20s who they have not yet identified.

The suspect was taken into custody at the scene and is not cooperating with investigators, police said. CBS News’ Jeff Pegues reports that the suspect was caught hiding under a desk.
The gunman did not have identification on his person. He’s described as having long hair. A law enforcement source says authorities are using other means of identifying him, including facial recognition technology to search databases of passports and driver’s licenses.

Commanding Officer Initially Ordered Responding Deputies to ‘Stage’ and Not Enter Stoneman Douglas High School to Take on Shooter

ARE YOU KIDDING ME … COULD LAW ENFORCEMENT HAVE F’D THIS UP ANY MORE?

Now we are learning that the responding deputies to the mass murder shootings at Stoneman Douglas High School were ordered by the commanding officer to “stage” and not directly enter the school. Even though this directly goes against Broward County Sheriff’s office policy. UNREAL. Ass one more f*ck up by law enforcement to the long list of them that allowed this carnage to occur. If there was ever a real life example of the word clusterf*ck, it would be how all, from the FBI to Broward County Sheriff’s office handled the Nikolas Cruz matter. This also includes how the high school handled the problem as well. It is incredible, that if this report is true, the only individuals with guns legally at the school were waiting outside as innocent people were being killed and were dying. UNREAL.

Via FOX News:

Fox News has learned that in the critical moments as first responding deputies were searching for an active shooter on the property of Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school, a commanding officer on scene apparently ordered some of the initial responders to “stage” and set up a “perimeter” outside — instead of immediately ordering or allowing officers to rush in to neutralize the suspect, Nikolas Cruz.

“It’s atrocious,” a law enforcement source who was on the scene after the shooting told Fox News. “If deputies were staging it could have cost lives.”

The law enforcement source said responding deputies and officers were called to an active shooter scene in which they are trained to immediately “go, go, go” toward the direction of the shooter. “Every second is another life,” the source said.

The Broward County Sherrif’s Office policy on active shooters indicates responding deputies may enter the building to preserve life without permission. That remains the priority until various objectives are met such as the shooter being detained. The policy does not appear to list staging — setting up an area to keep first responders safe before police secure a violent scene — or a perimeter as an immediate priority. [...]

Fox News has repeatedly reached out to the Broward County Sheriff’s office — which was the commanding agency that day — for comment on the timeline of the shooting and also on the allegations of bad commands from any commanding officer. In an email, a BSO spokesperson wrote that the case remained active and ongoing and that no additional details were being released, per a Florida statute.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating all of the responding agencies and timeline of the day of the shooting. Fox News asked the FDLE about the specific allegations of bad commands or a pre-mature order to stage. In an email, an FDLE spokesperson wrote that its “review is active” and could not comment on the allegations.

CNN’s Jake Tapper Takes On Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel Over Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting … Sheriff Says He Has Provided “Amazing” Leadership Protecting Community (VIDEO)

AMAZING LEADERSHIP … WTF!!!

On Sunday in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel stated that he has provided “Amazing Leadership” and refused to take any responsibility for the deadly mass shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 dead. WHAT?!? Not only did the one resource officer not enter the building and waited for back up, but three other Broward County Sheriff’s deputies refused to enter the building and take on the shooter as the gunman killed innocent students. And this sheriff thinks he has provided amazing leadership, really? What kind of a cowardice department was this sheriff running?

You know its pretty bad for Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel when I find myself agreeing with Jake Tapper. The fact that this sheriff takes no responsibility for any of the actions of those beneath him show just how much of a lack of leadership he has provided. There comes a point where a leader admits their fault and looks to fix the problem and sometimes that even means resigning.  Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel needs to step down now. Not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 of his deputies acted the coward and refused to protect school children when they most needed the aid of law enforcement. That shows a systemic problem and that comes from a lack of leadership.

There is no way Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel survives this … he will either be forced to resign or fired from office. His amazing leadership aside, none of this would have ever have happened in the first place had his department done their job, let alone acted in doing their job to protect and serve. We support law enforcement; however, this is hardly it. All involved in the calamity of egregious errors that resulted in the deaths of 17 people must go and go now.

VIA RCP:

TAPPER: Are you really not taking any responsibility for the multiple red flags that were brought to the attention of the Broward sheriff’s office about this shooter before this incident, whether it was people near him, close to him calling the police–

ISRAEL: Jake, Jake — Jake, I can only take responsibility for what I knew about. I exercised my due diligence. I’ve given amazing leadership to this agency–

TAPPER: ‘Amazing leadership?’

ISRAEL: Yes, Jake. There’s a lot of things we’ve done throughout this — this is — you don’t measure a person’s leadership by a deputy not going in to — these deputies received the training they needed.

TAPPER: Maybe you measure somebody’s leadership by whether or not they protect the community. You’ve listed 23 incidents before the shooting involving the shooter and still, nothing was done to keep guns out of his hands, to make sure that the school was protected, to make sure you were keeping an eye on him — I don’t understand how you can sit there and claim amazing leadership?