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FBI Crackdown
Mass Shootings/Active Shooters
A National Problem - Domestic Terrorism - Some Inspired by El Paso

Over 40 People Have Been Arrested As Potential Mass Shooters Since El Paso
From Juvenile's Setting Parents on Edge to Well-Developed Walmart Plots/Threats
With Some Inspired by El Paso
Tips about potential acts of mass killings have spiked, and law enforcement appears to be paying close attention to threats.

In the four weeks since the shootings in Walmart in El Paso, Texas, law enforcement authorities have arrested more than 40 people as potential mass shooters - an average of more than one per day.

A HuffPost survey of these arrests likely didn't capture every one, but it offers a snapshot of the types of cases that law enforcement officials face in a country with easy access to weapons capable of killing a lot of people quickly. The cases range from allegations of vague social media threats from juveniles that set parents on edge to well-developed plots from people who had access to weapons and appeared to authorities to have been planning a mass murder. There were roughly a dozen cases involving right-wing ideology. There were at least a dozen alleged threats against schools. There were half a dozen cases involving alleged threats against Walmarts.

In the wake of El Paso, law enforcement is clearly paying very close attention to threats of mass violence. Our review of court filings reveals that federal law enforcement officials, after El Paso, took investigative steps against a few defendants who had been already been on their radar.

And some of those arrested were inspired by the El Paso attack, according to authorities. The public is paying closer attention as well, as evidenced by the spike in tips to the FBI after that Aug. 3 massacre.

A number of the alleged threats, if carried out, would have qualified as instances of domestic terrorism. A top FBI official told reporters this year that domestic terrorism cases were "challenging" for the bureau. The disparate handling of right-wing and Islamic terrorism has set off a debate over the need for a domestic terrorism law, and one prominent lawmaker has introduced such legislation, which has already raised objections from civil liberties advocates.

As of late July, FBI Director Christopher Wray told a Senate committee that the FBI had already been involved in 100 domestic terrorism-related arrests in the first three-quarters of the 2019 fiscal year, which began in October 2018. The rapid pace of new cases suggests that the number of domestic terrorism-related cases in the 2019 fiscal year could outpace the 2017 and 2018 fiscal year figures.

A detailed article outlining the arrests week by week. A must read. huffpost.com

Potential Six Flags Mass Shooter Stopped in Holmdel, NJ
'Quick Thinking Security at Six Flags Averts Fright Fest'
According to a news release from the Jackson Police Department, at approximately 11:00 am on Thursday August 29, 2019 while working a security detail assignment at Six Flags Great Adventure, Sgt. Michael Kelly and P.O. Andy Falzarano were alerted by SFGA Security in reference to Jonathan Fruchter, age 38 of Allentown NJ.

He was at the employee training center and had reportedly come to the park seeking a job and was acting irrationally and asking questions about the park's security protocols.

The officers responded to the location and were advised that he had been previously escorted out of the park due to his behavior but had returned and began to allegedly harass employees because he had not been hired.

The officers learned that he was in possession of a handgun in his vehicle, parked in the SFGA parking lot. When searched officers found a Glock 9mm handgun, three loaded 15 round magazines, several knives, a SOG machete, a SOG tactical tomahawk, handcuffs and a hat with NYPD logo. At his home they found an AR-15 and several 30 round magazines for the rifle and a Sig Sauer 40 caliber handgun and more ammunition. Police arrested the suspect.  privateofficerbreakingnews.blogspot.com

Police Short Circuit Burris Food Warehouse Killers Plans to Kill
Assaults Supervisor - Promises to Return & Kill Everybody
After unleashing an assault on a manager and damaging property inside a food warehouse facility a Delaware man fled the scene, "promising to return and kill everyone," say police.

Maryland State Police received a 9-1-1 call from an employee at Burris Logistics, a food distribution warehouse on Fletchwood Road in Elkton, MD. The caller reported an irate individual inside the building damaging property and threatening to kill everyone in the building. Troopers were immediately dispatched to the area.

A Delaware man has been arrested after allegedly assaulting a supervisor and making threats of mass violence at the food distribution warehouse where he worked, Maryland State Police said. Brian Knight, 26, was charged with threat of mass violence, second-degree assault and malicious destruction of property after he was arrested without incident Friday at his home in Newark, Delaware, according to the state police. thechesapeaketoday.com

Armed Man killed in officer-involved shooting following foot chase outside
St. Louis Galleria Mall
Police said a 23-year-old man was killed after he ran from a Richmond Heights officer near the St. Louis Galleria Mall Saturday afternoon.

St. Louis County Police said this all started when a mall security officer noticed an armed man inside the mall around 3 p.m. The security officer contacted a Richmond Heights police officer who observed a handgun on the man's waistband. The officer approached the man to tell him about the Galleria's no guns policy. Police said the man ran away while the officer was speaking to him.

The officer chased him on foot and reached the parking lot across the street from the Galleria and then shot and killed the man while at the parking lot. Police said the handgun was recovered on the scene and did not provide any information on why the officer discharged his weapon. St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell promised transparency throughout the investigation. kmov.com

West Texas Shooting Spree Terrorized Two Towns and Killed 7
The 36-year-old man who terrorized two West Texas towns with an assault-style rifle Saturday had been fired from his trucking job a few hours before he led the authorities on a chaotic high-speed chase that ended with his death and the deaths of seven others. Along a 15-mile stretch between the sister cities of Midland and Odessa, the aftermath of the gunman's rampage - in which he indiscriminately fired on motorists and police officers with an AR-15-style rifle while driving - clashed with the typically serene and dusty rural landscape of the region.

Military-style assault weapons were largely banned from 1994 until 2004, and remain at the center of a continuing national conversation about gun control.

A total of 22 people were wounded, officials said, including three law enforcement officers and a 17-month-old toddler who was recovering Sunday from injuries that included shrapnel in her chest. nytimes.com

Passing a Domestic Terrorism Federal Law?
Politicians pushing for laws to address domestic terrorism
"Domestic terrorism is in our backyard, and we need to call it and treat it under the law the same as other forms of terrorism," said Senator Martha McSally, an Arizona Republican who intends to introduce legislation when Congress returns in September.

McSally's proposal would allow federal law enforcement to charge suspects with acts of domestic terror and add punishments for those crimes, including the death penalty.

Congressman Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, introduced legislation on August 16 that he described as a "very high priority."

"It is an epidemic. There is no question there's a rise in anti-Semitism, racism," Townsend said. "What we need to understand is many of the lessons learned about fighting international terrorism apply here domestically." cbsnews.com

Congress's Publication - 'The Hill'
Gun debate to shape 2020 races
Lawmakers return to Washington next week with both sides vowing a robust debate on gun reform following a pair of deadly mass shootings in Texas and another in Ohio.

Experts say, the outcome could have far-reaching effects on the 2020 elections, as liberal gun control advocates warn of a voter backlash if Congress sits idle and conservative gun rights proponents caution against any new restrictions on the Second Amendment.

Whatever the outcome, the debate is likely to play an outsize role in races for the House, where Democrats are hoping to make gun violence prevention a major campaign issue. The political consequences could be especially profound in the suburbs, where Republican campaign operatives are starting to sound early warnings against doing nothing.

"A lot of suburban voters, especially college-educated women, don't understand why we can't do something in the face of the obvious national problem of gun violence." thehill.com