A man armed with a shotgun was prevented entry into a predominantly Black Pennsylvania church, possibly thwarting a racially motivated mass shooting.
Police officers received a criminal complaint at 9 a.m. that morning about the incident between the two women and Harris and went to investigate.
Related: ‘Straight from Satan’s Back Pocket’: Angela Rye Blasts Anna Duggar’s Father In Video for Delivering Sermon Claiming Enslaved People Failed to Protest Slavery and Were Saved By Church Leaders on Plantation
The officers, in an interview with church Bishop Kenneth Crumb, were told that Harris was denied entry to the church because the service was too packed. Crumb told the officers that had he just come an hour later, he would’ve been allowed entry and was grateful this did not happen.
“When you just think about how close we came to having the same kind of horrific situation that we had at the synagogue in Pittsburgh, it’s like the Grace of God. Thank God for his grace, for his covering over us, because this could have been a total different way,” Crumb told WTAE-TV.
“There is a whole lot of mass murders going on, there is shootings, particularly in the African-American community, people targeting our communities,” Crumb said.
Harris would eventually be confronted by Ambridge police and would point his gun at the officer on the scene. The officer called for backup and, with some assistance, managed to arrest Harris, who now faces several charges, such as aggravated assault and terrorist threats.
Crystal meth was discovered on Harris’ body after the arrest.
Police later searched Harris’ home and discovered that his porch was covered in slippery lubricant.
Officers even found a weapons case with a drilled hole “creating a tactical position from which the occupant would fire at the front door from a protected position,” according to the report.
A bomb squad was called to Harris’ home to deactivate a device suspected to be an explosive. Later, officers found even more crystal meth, a cache of weapons and a handwritten note detailing plans for a mass shooting.
Harris’ failed attempt was less than 24 hours after a white man in tactical gear killed three Black people inside and outside a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, Florida, before turning one of his guns on himself.
In Harris’ case, the bond was set at $975,000. A preliminary hearing is set for Sept. 5.
6 notes
·
View notes
He doesn’t know how they got here, but Jason’s thankful for it. It’s not often that he speaks to Cass, when Jason’s passions are words and righteous murder and Cass’s passions are distinctly not that, but when they do speak, they manage to get along. Somehow.
“So, why don’t you kill?” Jason leans back on the couch, his favorite mug filled with Alfred’s hot chocolate.
Cass is curled against the arm of the sofa. She looks at him, head tilted. Jason knows she’s reading him, but he’s not sure what she’s finding. It’s humbling, and intimidating, to know she sees more than what he allows to show.
“I can see,” she says. “That one time… I killed. I saw. Pain. Fear. Desp- des- not wanting to die.”
“Desperation?”
Cass nods. One of her fingers fiddle with the material of the couch. Jason knows she’s allowing him to see the motion. He knows it’s her silent way of showing him trust.
“There is more. To dying. Like… like they see their lives-They think- remembers. Loves. Their life- regret, love, everything. It goes through-” Cass taps her temple.
“Their lives are flashing through their heads?”
“Yes. Good. Bad. Everything. I see.” Quieter, Cass adds “I know. I know them, then. I killed a life that I know. They love. Everyone, have something they love. I kill, I kill that love.”
“That must suck.”
Cass leans back. She nods, neck releasing their tension and eyes less hunted, more accepting.
“Yes. I don’t want to- I don’t want to be the end.” Cass swivels her shoulders towards him, now. “Why… why do you?”
“Me?” Jason… hasn’t thought about it for a while, nor too deeply. But this is Cass. And her honesty deserves an honest reply. “I kill because some people shouldn’t be left alive to hurt and kill others”
“Not about… Bruce?”
Jason took a sip of his hot chocolate. Cass settled more into the couch, her eyes clear and watchful.
“It used to be,” he admitted. “About him, I mean. It used to be about vengeance. But then I came back to Crime Alley, and then I saw the kids getting hurt instead of being protected. They’re innocent. And then, it wasn’t about Bruce anymore. Killing is just the means to an end now, for me.”
“Do you- not regret?” She makes a gesture at his leg, where on a normal day, his holsters would be.
“I try to make sure I don’t kill people I’d regret, no. Like, you know how sometimes you guys arrest muggers?”
Cass nodded.
“Sometimes,” Jason said, remembering the days of digging through trash for food and the lingering hunger that rumbled through his younger self’s stomach. “They mug people because they’re desperate. I don’t kill those guys. But people deal to kids? Who hurt sex workers? Rapists? They’re doing irreparable harm, with full knowledge of their actions. For profit, mostly. If they’re willing to ruin lives, then they should be ready for their own to be ruined. It’s justice, for people like me.”
Cass studied him. “Justice…?”
“The only kind us Alley kids could ever appreciate. Arresting an abuser, a threat, and having that stick is for the privileged. Having that threat removed completely is relieving.”
“Can’t trust the world to be fair. But death, is fair.”
“Yeah. I think if I saw as much as you do, it’d be harder to do. But I think I’d still kill, because one person’s suffering after a life of being evil is worth the safety of so many others. To know… well, I guess I’m glad I don’t know what that’s like.”
“I see.”
“I know you do,” Jason grins at her. “But not killing is an act of courage too. Even if B makes it seem like it should come instinctually.”
“Yes. He does not connect, with Damian. Does not understand, fully, how hard. To unlearn.”
“Yeah.”
They sit in silence for a while after that, listening to the sounds of their family clambering around in other rooms.
“Hey, Cass?”
Cass turned back to him.
“I would kill David Cain for you.”
He would. It makes the Pit seethe when he thinks about how much David Cain and Lady Shiva hurt Cass for her to get this insanely good at reading people. He hopes she sees the pure honesty and sincerity he feels at that declaration
Cass puts a hand on his shoulder and squeezed once. Twice.
“Okay. Thank you.”
“No objections?”
“… would not feel too bad.”
Jason snorted.
“Yeah. You and me both.”
He doesn’t know how they got here, but he’s thankful for it anyways, because he understands his sister just that much more now.
339 notes
·
View notes
my friend wrote a message to a youtuber she likes after seeing her comments regarding the recent war between israel and hamas, explaining why supporting hamas is wrong. i wanted to share it with you all so as many people as possible see it.
"Hi, my name is Hila, I live in Israel, and for the past few years I've followed your content and loved watching your videos. Your content has cheered me up in difficult times, which is why it's important for me to write this message. I have been debating whether or not to write this to you for some days now, so I hope you take the time to read it.
I want to start off by saying something that sadly isn't as obvious as it should be these days- I am against the killing of innocent men, women and children in Gaza. I am against most actions that my own government, which I did not vote for, has taken in the past years toward Palestinians. I believe that while the Israel-Palestine conflict is an extremely complex one, it can and must be solved peacefully and with as little loss of life possible.
The problem right now is that Hamas, the terrorist organization that started the war that is happening in my country now, has nothing to do with the Israeli Palestine conflict.
I want to explain this further with the next few very important points.
The first, is the way Hamas treats Palestinians and the Gaza strip, and while I assure you that the facts I'm stating here are true and proven, I urge you to read for yourself upon these issues. Throughout the years, all the donations sent to Gaza for humanitarian purposes, food and medicine, has been taken by Hamas and used to fund weapons.
Every time Hamas fires rockets at Israel, around 15 percent of them land inside Gaza, killing people who live there.
Hamas place their rocket launchers inside schools and hospitals, and surround them with children, so that if the launchers are attacked it will result in the death of children and injured innocent people.
These facts have created the saying known in the middle east- most countries use rockets to protect their citizens, Hamas uses it's citizens to protect their rockets.
The second point, is that because Hamas is a terror organization, they have never been involved in any discussion about the conflict, and as they stated many times that are only interested in the killing of the Jewish people, they can never be involved in these discussions.
The third point is that even in the eyes of countries and activists who are pro Palestine, Hamas has crossed a moral line. They are the same as ISIS, they are the same as the people who are responsible for the bombing in Manchester and the same as the people responsible for 9/11.
They are not an activist group who fight for the freedom of Palestine, they are murders and war criminals who use Gaza and it's innocent citizens as a base and cannon fodder.
I would like for you to know some of the things that Israel is doing right now.
In the IDF there is a protocol for bombing a building in Gaza called "Knock on Door". It means that as soon as a building is targeted, the IDF sends a message to evacuate the building and it's surrounding, as to minimize the loss of life.
Right now, as Israel is in an all out war with Hamas, the IDF has sent out a public announcement in all possible platforms to Gaza to evacuate the area which will be bombed 24 hours before the attack.
While we know that this is war and loss of life is inevitable, the IDF is doing the most it can to minimize Palestinian casualties, while Hamas is telling citizens not to evacuate, and use their own people, who they claim to fight for, as a human shield.
I don't know if you are aware of exactly what Hamas is doing in Israel right now, and I hope for your sake that you have not seen some of the terrible photos and videos that I have seen, but I must tell you what supporting Hamas means right now. It means supporting the killing of families in their homes, lighting houses on fire so the family hiding inside will have to run outside so they can be shot, the killing of children in front of their parents and the killing of parents in front of their children. It means supporting the massacre of people in a music festival. It means supporting the raping and kidnapping of around 130 men, women and children, and the literal beheading of 40 innocent civilians, some children younger than 5 years old. It means supporting the holding of entire families and children hostage. It means supporting sending a mother a video of her son being slaughtered through a message from his own phone which they have. It means supporting the killing of more than 1,300 people.
It means supporting pure evil. Even Palestinians and social activists are saying that this is not what they want, you do not fight for freedom with the blood of innocent people on both sides.
Almost all Israeli citizens, myself included, are extremely aware of the problematic way our country has treated innocent people, but if after reading all I have written here you can still say that you support Hamas, I suggest that you take a look into your own moral values.
One last thing, more than half of Israelis and Jewish people are brown and black."
19 notes
·
View notes