Browsing: Crime

A Brief History On October 24, 1871, a number of Chinese immigrants to the United States (perhaps 17 to 20) were lynched in Los Angeles, California, the victims hanged by the neck until dead by a mob of White and Hispanic Americans.  The mob had heard that a Chinese man or men had shot a lawman and killed a rancher assisting that lawman while trying to effect the arrest of a Chinese man in the Chinatown section of LA known as “Calle de los Negros” (Street of the Blacks).  We previously discussed lynching in the United States, but recent events…

A Brief History On October 22, 1983, the Federal Penitentiary at Marion, Illinois was the scene of a tragedy when inmates overpowered and killed two corrections officers in two separate incidents.  This terrible incident resulted in the concept of the “Supermax” prison, short for “super-maximum security” in the United States Federal prison system (Bureau of Prisons).  The idea is to provide secure housing for the “worst of the worst,” prisoners that are either so dangerous, represent such a tempting target to assassins, extreme escape risks, or ones that are a danger to national and/or international security. Digging Deeper The “supermax”…

A Brief History On October 10, 1933, a United Airlines Boeing 247 airliner was blown out of the sky over Chesterton, Indiana, the first known instance of an airliner being deliberately taken down by a bomb.  On this deadly flight, only 7 people died, the 3 crew members and the 4 passengers.  (Not a misprint, there were only 4 passengers on the then state of the art twin engine airliner!)  Apparently, terrorists and assassins have also embraced the idea of blowing up airliners to kill their target person or persons or to make their point, because in the years since…

A Brief History Twenty years ago, on April 20, 1999, 12 students and one teacher were killed during a school shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. It was one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history.  Since then, there have been more than 200 other school shootings that have taken place all across the country. From the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007 to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, school shootings have become all too common over the last two decades. As a result, it is not uncommon to see a classroom door lockdown device…

A Brief History On September 23, 2008, a Finnish murderer proved that mass shootings do occur in other “civilized” countries outside the United States, and you do NOT need a military looking or high powered weapon to commit such a heinous act.  The perpetrator, only 22 years old, was ironically a “Hospitality Management” student at the Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences in Kauhajoki, Finland.  (Note: Finland has much more restrictive gun laws than the US.  Click the Finland link for more information.)  The shootings took place at a university, meaning the mass shooting was also in fact a “school shooting,”…