Category: Security

In a recent development surrounding the tragic shootings in Lewiston, Maine, the U.S. Army has issued a clarifying statement regarding the alleged shooter’s military background, differing from earlier reports by Maine State Police.

The tragic shootings occurred on Wednesday night when Robert Card, the suspected shooter, reportedly opened fire at Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley and Schemengees Bar & Grille Restaurant. The incident, resulting in reportedly 18 fatalities and at least 13 injuries, has shocked the local community and garnered national attention.

Initially, Maine State Police described Card in a police bulletin as “a trained firearms instructor believed to be in the Army Reserve stationed out of Saco, ME.” However, this statement was refuted in the U.S. Army’s latest statement, which outlined Card’s military role.

According to a U.S. Army statement obtained by The Daily Wire, “SFC Robert Card is assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 304th Infantry Regiment in Saco, Maine. While his unit supported West Point summer training in July of 2023, there are no records to indicate he instructed or participated in any training. The Army did not train SFC Card as a firearms instructor, nor did he serve in that capacity for the Army.”

READ MORE: GOP lawmakers’ proposal tells media what to say in news on mass shootings

The Army’s commitment to uphold its standards in light of these events was evident in their statement. “We take matters such as this very seriously, and our primary concern is ensuring that all legal and appropriate actions are taken in accordance with our commitment to upholding the highest standards of conduct among our Soldiers and civilian personnel,” the Army emphasized.

The police bulletin also mentioned Card’s mental health issues, including reported auditory hallucinations and threats to target a National Guard Base.

“Card was also reported to have been committed to a mental health facility for two weeks during summer 2023 and subsequently released,” the police bulletin stated.

The revelation that Card was committed to a mental health facility for a period of two weeks likely indicates that it was involuntary, according to The Daily Wire. As a result, Card would not have been permitted to own or possess a gun by law.

Under Federal law, as outlined by the ATF, anyone “committed to a mental institution” is prohibited from owning or possessing firearms.

This news article was partially created with the assistance of artificial intelligence and edited and fact-checked by a human editor.

Popular conservative and former California gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder announced the end of his 2024 Republican presidential campaign on Thursday, throwing his support behind former President Donald Trump.

“I want to begin by expressing my deepest gratitude to all of you who have supported me throughout this presidential campaign. I have been truly honored by the enthusiasm and dedication of all the grassroots support as we held the establishment party bosses accountable,” Elder said in a statement announcing the suspension of his campaign for president.

Elder went on to endorse Trump for president, saying his leadership “has been instrumental in advancing conservative, America-first principles and policies that have benefited our great nation.”

“We must unite behind Donald Trump to beat Joe Biden and fight back against Biden’s unprecedented election interference and the left’s destruction of America,” Elder continued.

Elder said that while he’s suspending his campaign, he remains committed to “addressing the crisis of fatherlessness, promoting conservative ideals, and supporting the MAGA movement.”

“I will continue to work tirelessly to advocate for the issues that matter most to the American people,” Elder added.  

Elder launched his campaign for president in April, making the announcement on then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s popular show.

“The reason I’m doing this is because, you know, my father was a World War II vet. He served on the island of Guam. He was a Marine – first black Marines, they were called ‘Montford Point Marines.’ My late older brother Kirk was in the Navy during the Vietnam era and my little brother Dennis actually served in Vietnam in the Army. I’m the only one that didn’t serve and I don’t feel good about that,” Elder explained at the time. “I feel I have a moral, religious and patriotic duty to give back to a country that’s been so good to my family and to me. That is why I’m doing this, Tucker.”

 A series of declassified satellite images from the Cold War era have revealed hundreds of undiscovered Roman forts in Iraq and Syria.

A total of 396 new sites have been identified from the images taken in the 1960s and 1970s, with the findings, published in the journal Antiquity, changing the perception of how the region functioned.

A previous 1934 aerial survey, conducted by French explorer Antoine Poidebard, recorded 116 Roman forts across the region.

They were previously thought to form a defensive line against incursions from Arabia and Persia along the Roman Empire’s eastern flank.

The latest findings, however, suggest Rome’s borderlands were more fluid than previously thought, as the forts are arranged along what appear to be strategic routes running east to west. This is leading researchers to suggest each marks a stage along a road network, with the outposts supporting caravan-based trade and communication lines as well as serving military purposes.

The lead researcher into the new findings, Prof. Jesse Casana, wrote: “Since the 1930s, historians and archeologists have debated the strategic or political purpose of this system of fortifications. But few scholars have questioned Poidebard’s basic observation that there was a line of forts defining the eastern Roman frontier.”

The images were recorded as part of an early spy satellite program during the height of the Cold War, and have only now been declassified.

Casana said the pictures “preserve a high-resolution, stereo perspective on a landscape that has been severely impacted by modern-day land-use change.”

He added that the findings prove the value of using satellite imagery for archaeological work before prospective sites are lost.

The images studied formed part of the world’s first spy-satellite program conducted at the time of geopolitical tension between the US and Soviet Union and their allies, the western bloc and the eastern bloc.

“We were only able confidently to identify extant archeological remains of 38 of Poidebard’s 116 forts,” Casana said. “In addition, many of the likely Roman forts we have documented in this study have already been destroyed by recent urban or agricultural development, and countless others are under extreme threat.”

He added, though, that as more previously hidden data and images are declassified, there is hope more progress can be made in identifying sites. “Careful analysis of these powerful data holds enormous potential for future discoveries in the near east and beyond,” he said.

___

(c) 2023 the Arab News

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Air Force security fired multiple shots in self-defense when a driver breached the main entrance to Joint Base San Antonio-Camp Bullis on Saturday.

A 502nd Air Base Wing Public Affairs press release stated, “At approximately 4:22 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023, security forces personnel responded when a person did not stop at the access control point at Joint Base San Antonio-Camp Bullis in Northwest San Antonio.”

According to the press release, the Air Force “security forces” attempted to pursue the unidentified driver and “took defensive measures” when the intruder attempted to exit the base “via the inbound lane traveling at an excessive rate of speed.”

The press release noted that the vehicle left the base and traveled on Northwest Military Highway while the base’s security forces contacted the San Antonio Police Department and the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.

“No injuries to Air Force personnel or damage to Air Force property were reported in the installation breach,” the press release stated.

Despite Air Force security personnel firing multiple shots at the suspect, the suspect was also not injured, according to officials.

READ MORE: Trump slams Air Force leaders, ‘defective’ F-35 after crash

According to Military.com, the unidentified driver was able to break through the base’s access control point and was on the base for several minutes prior to turning the vehicle around and attempting to quickly leave through the gate.

Air Force officials told Military.com that the unidentified individual did not reach any training locations on the base. The driver was arrested the same evening by the San Antonio Police Department, roughly nine miles from the base, for a different incident.

According to Military.com, Camp Bullis is located on over 27,000 acres in Bexar County, Texas. Camp Bullis serves as a training base for Air Force, Army, and Marine Corps units, as well as a field medical training site for service members stationed at Brooke Army Medical Center. In addition to Camp Bullis, Joint Base San Antonio has three other locations, including JBSA-Randolph, JBSA-Lackland, and JBSA-Fort Sam Houston.

On Tuesday, Joint Base San Antonio temporarily closed another gate and initiated a lockdown of multiple buildings after gunshots were heard near the Schofield Gate at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, according to a press release.

The press release noted that the incident did not involve any injuries or damage to the base. According to Fox News, it is not clear whether the two incidents had any connection.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and the Marine Corps are currently investigating a TikTok video that claims to feature a Marine confessing to the murder and burial of an individual at Camp Lejeune.

According to Law and Crime, the 59-second video was posted by user546389747 on Tiktok on Oct. 19. The video caption states, “Sgt. Fehr of Camp Lejeune confessing to a heinous crime, along with his coworker Gunny Swaffer of Parris Island & his fellow Marine Kempher.”

In the video, the man can be heard saying, “There’s a frikkin’ right turn. Then you take a left turn. And there’s, like, an open LZ [landing zone]. At the very end of that LZ if you walk into the woods, like 20 to 30 feet into those woods, ’cause nobody ever uses that LZ, you dig like 10 feet down. And there’s a f-cking dead body.”

Later in the video, the man explains that the “dead body” was an unidentified biker that two of his Marine friends did not like. After encountering the biker behind a restaurant near Camp Lejeune one night, the man said the Marines “ended up f-cking killing him” during a fight.

Law and Order reported that it is not yet clear whether the alleged murder and burial of the unidentified victim discussed in the video took place.

READ MORE: Migrant smugglers using TikTok, YouTube to sell illegal transportation into US: Report

According to ABC7 Chicago, the NCIS has announced that it is aware of the TikTok video and has initiated an investigation into both the video and the allegations discussed in the video.

Additionally, First Lt. Olivia Giarrizzo told Law and Crime, “The 2d Marine Division is aware of the TikTok video alleging criminal misconduct. NCIS is investigating this matter at this time. We will continue to assist the investigating agency to the fullest extent possible.”

Major Joshua Pena also noted that the U.S. Marine Corps Training and Education Command is “aware of the content” that was uploaded to TikTok. Pena explained, “There will be an investigation into the matter in cooperation with appropriate commands and organizations. No additional information is available at this time.”

NCIS spokesperson Jeff Houston noted that the investigative service “will not comment further” while the investigation into the video confession “remains ongoing.”

Three-time Olympic gold medalist Shaun White is listing his luxury Utah cabin for a special promotion on Vrbo, and the lucky vacationers will get some one-on-one time with the snowboarding champion.

Located at Eagle Point Resort, the five-bedroom, six-bathroom private cabin has stunning views of the Wasatch Mountains. It’s an ideal vacation spot for large families, as it can accommodate up to 12 guests. And the rental comes with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take snowboarding lessons with White.

“The group will also receive private snowboarding lessons from White along with $5,000 worth of snowboards, gear and other merch from his company Whitespace. The experience also includes all lift fees and rental equipment, access to the resort’s bar and grill, and other on-site amenities,” says Travel &. Leisure.

The listing goes live at 1 p.m. EST on Friday, Oct. 27, and a few lucky guests can book the cabin for just $13. The booking is based on a first-come, first-served basis via Vrbo.

Additional features include a gourmet kitchen, a spacious living room with a fireplace, a game room and a home theater. The cabin also has a private deck with a hot tub and a fire pit.

“Vrbo specializes only in private vacation rentals, so we’re driving, or skiing, home the point with the ultimate private escape,” Melanie Fish, Vrbo’s travel expert, said in a statement shared with Travel + Leisure. “This once-in-a-lifetime stay includes a luxury ski-in/ski-out cabin, an entire mountain and ski resort to yourselves, and 1:1 time with none other than the Olympic legend himself, Shaun White.”

The cabin is also a ski-in/ski-out, so guests can easily access the slopes for snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and snowmobiling. During the summer months, it’s the ideal location for hiking, biking, fishing or swimming in the lake. The cabin is also close to several golf courses.

___

© 2023 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

A group of unidentified North Koreans crossed the inter-Korean maritime border in a boat in the East Sea on Tuesday morning, marking the first case since 2019.

The four North Koreans traveled across the inter-Korean border in a small wooden vessel and initially expressed their intent to defect to South Korea when they were discovered by South Korea’s Coast Guard, government sources told The Korea Herald.

The initial assessment by the South Korean government suggests that the four individuals — one man and three women — are a family, The Korea Herald learned from a conversation with a government source.

The vessel was around 7.5 meters in length and weighed less than 5 tons, a typical configuration used by the North Korean military for various operations, including fishing. At the time of the discovery, the four people on board were unarmed and not wearing military uniforms.

The border crossing, however, has led to accusations of a failure of military surveillance in the maritime border area.

The South Korean military initially detected unusual activity on the northern side of the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border in the East Sea, which included a search operation by the North Korean military, before 4 a.m. on Tuesday, senior officials from the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday on condition of anonymity.

Before 5 a.m., the South Korean Navy’s P-3 maritime surveillance aircraft and at least one vessel were dispatched near the NLL, but the military did not initially identify the North Korean vessel moving toward South Korea.

Subsequently, the South Korean Army’s ground-based radar system for maritime surveillance first detected the North Korean vessel at around 5:30 a.m. and continued tracking it. The Navy’s Thermal Observation Devices (TODs) later identified the vessel at approximately 6:30 a.m.

Before receiving the report from a South Korean fishing vessel, the South Korean military was unable to confirm that the unusual object it had tracked for over an hour was the same vessel.

The South Korean military was also unable to confirm the exact time the North Korean boat crossed the Northern Limit Line.

A South Korean fishing vessel, operating about 11 kilometers off the eastern coast of the city of Sokcho, Gangwon Province, initially spotted the North Korean boat at approximately 7:10 a.m. and reported it to the Coast Guard.

A Coast Guard patrol boat swiftly arrived at the scene, where they verified the presence of four North Koreans on board at around 8 a.m. The Coast Guard then handed the individuals over to the South Korean government’s joint investigation team.

The South Korean military secured the four North Koreans in coordination with the Coast Guard on Tuesday morning, according to the JCS.

JCS officials, however, denied claims that the military’s surveillance operation near the inter-Korean maritime border had failed.

Surveillance had detected the vessel moving diagonally toward Sokcho from the northeast. The JCS officials pointed out that the vessel’s route was similar to other South Korean vessels operating in the area.

“There are hundreds of fishing vessels out there. So, with constant comings and goings, there are established routes near the ports. However, beyond those areas, they maneuver freely for their fishing operations. So, it’s challenging to consider the movement (of the North Korean vessel) as an extraordinary situation; rather, it is more of a common practice,” one unnamed official said during a closed-door briefing.

“These situations occur with notable frequency, and when the Coast Guard and Navy must respond every time, it becomes an unmanageable circumstance from my point of view.”

However, the vessel is assumed to have originated in North Korea, intentionally traveled toward the far eastern region, crossed the inter-Korean border, and then proceeded to a South Korean port from the far northeastern area — potentially to evade South Korean monitoring.

The four North Koreans are currently subject to a joint government investigation aimed at understanding the motives behind their defection and assessing whether their desire to escape North Korea is genuine.

This is the first East Sea border crossing by North Koreans to evade surveillance since June 2019, according to the military.

During that incident, a North Korean fishing vessel, carrying four individuals, successfully docked at the port in Samcheok, Gangwon Province, catching the South Korean military off guard, and was only discovered after a civilian reported the border crossing to the police.

___

(c) 2023 the Asia News Network

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

A pair of teens accused of killing a former police chief laughed and flipped off the victim’s family in court this week.

Before the start of a hearing in Las Vegas on Tuesday, the widow and daughter of former Bell, Calif. police chief Andreas Probst said Jesus Ayala, 18, and Jzamir Keys, 16, laughed at them and flipped them off.

“It just makes him look bad,” wife Crystal Probst told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“These guys did not respect the court whatsoever,” the victim’s daughter, Taylor Probst, told News3LV. “They were just dicking around the entire time.”

Ayala and Keys are facing murder charges in connection with the fatal hit-and-run crash that killed Andreas Probst, 66, in August. They were also charged with attempted murder, failing to stop at the scene of a crash, battery, residential burglary, grand larceny of a vehicle and possession of a stolen vehicle.

Both have pleaded not guilty ahead of their mid-September trial.

According to police, the two teens stole several vehicles during a crime spree that they videotaped. One video shows Probst being mowed down while riding a bicycle in what appears to have been an intentional act.

“How can you sit there after taking a man’s life and act like such an entitled p—-k?” Taylor Probst said, regarding the teens’ behavior in court and in the videos.

The widow and daughter told the Review-Journal they would not be intimidated and planned to continue attending the court appearances.

___

© 2023 New York Daily News

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

An Ohio-based defense contractor said Tuesday it will develop a $15 million, state-of-the-art facility in Colorado Springs that will support space operations for the military and the space community, while it also will add 200 jobs at six-figure salaries to complement its existing 60-person workforce in the city.

The expansion announcement by Frontier Technology Inc., headquartered in the Dayton area and which provides engineering, information technology services and software products for the Department of Defense, federal agencies and commercial customers, is the latest in a series of economic development victories for Colorado Springs.

Since December and before Frontier Technology’s announcement, nine tech and defense-related businesses have said they plan to add nearly 3,000 jobs in the Springs over the next several years. They’ve also said they expect to invest nearly $2 billion in buildings, equipment and other purchases to support their expansions.

“The company’s decision to expand its operations to our city is a testament to our business-friendly environment, skilled workforce, exceptional quality of life, and strong defense economy to include space, aerospace, technology, and cybersecurity,” Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade said in a news release about Frontier Technology.

Frontier Technology, in conjunction with the Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC, said Tuesday the company has chosen the Springs for creation of its new Operational Research Bridge for Innovation & Technology or ORBIT Center.

The 46,000-square-foot ORBIT center, which is expected to begin operations by Dec. 31, 2024, will be developed as a secure and classified facility within leased space at an existing office complex at 2424 Garden of the Gods Road on Colorado Springs’ northwest side, the company said.

The facility will create what Frontier Technology calls “a center of excellence dedicated to space.” Its primary focus will be to support “key strategic imperatives identified by Space Force leadership and the broader space community,” the company said in the news release.

In effect, the center will provide a facility where Frontier Technology employees will work with the Defense Department and its partners on various space-related initiatives and strategies designed to support and enhance the mission of Space Force.

Space Force, established in December 2019 as a branch of the nation’s armed services and that operates under the Department of the Air Force, “organizes, trains and equips personnel in order to protect U.S. and allied interests in space and to provide space capabilities to the joint forces,” its website says.

“They are really focused on moving quickly in a few focus areas like Space Superiority, Space Security and Space Domain Awareness, with speed, rapid innovation and acquisition in mind,” Jose Hidalgo, Frontier Technology’s president, said via email of Space Force.

“This facility,” he said, “will also be an innovation hub for not only (Frontier) and the Space Force, but also for our industry partners and academia. As the Space Force undergoes its strategic evolution, identifying new missions and focal points, the ORBIT Center positions (Frontier) at the forefront, ready to rapidly meet the emerging demands and challenges.”

While it will serve Space Force, the ORBIT Center also is envisioned to serve Frontier Technology customers with similar needs in other branches of the military, Hidalgo’s email said.

Frontier Technology also is developing a similar center that will focus on cybersecurity at a facility in Huntsville, Ala. The company has just over 500 total employees in 34 states.

In Colorado Springs, Frontier Technology will hire 200 people over four years at average annual salaries of $131,000 to support its ORBIT Center, Hidalgo said. Those jobs will be in artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science, software engineering, advanced visualization and cybersecurity.

The company’s existing 60 employees, whose salaries also average $131,000, are based out of the downtown Plaza of the Rockies north office building at 111 S. Tejon St.; those workers will be consolidated at Frontier’s new northwest side facility.

Frontier Technology chose Colorado Springs for its ORBIT Center, in part, because of the availability of skilled employees.

“We see our expansion in Colorado Springs as a strategic investment (to) be part of a robust aerospace industry here in Colorado,” Hildago said. “There is a concentration of skilled talent with security clearance along the Front Range, who are well-versed in (Department of Defense), Space Force and Air Force work that enjoy what they do, are constantly learning/evolving and tend to thrive in culture-driven organizations like ours.”

At the same time, the Colorado Springs City Council in September approved up to $102,590 in financial incentives for Frontier Technology’s expansion in the form of sales and use tax rebates on purchases of construction materials, machinery and equipment over 10 years. The incentives are contingent on the company meeting job creation and capital investment requirements.

“We’re pleased to have been awarded strong growth incentives by the city of Colorado Springs, and we look forward to increasing our investment and bringing hundreds of new, high-paying jobs to the local community over the next decade,” Hidalgo said.

In August, a month before the City Council approved incentives for Frontier Technology, city Senior Economic Development Specialist Shawna Lippert estimated the company’s project could create an additional 340 jobs indirectly or through induced demand over 10 years, which would boost the total of new permanent jobs related to its expansion to 540. Another 105 construction jobs also could be created.

Frontier Technology’s investment also would have a ripple effect and grow the local economy by about $455 million over a decade, Lippert said.

The company’s expansion will boost the area’s space and defense sector, which is “at the heart of national and global security,” Johnna Reeder Kleymeyer, president and CEO of the Chamber & EDC, said in the news release.

The Springs, she added, possesses one of the nation’s “most diversified and multidimensional economies” that’s supported, in part, “by a highly educated workforce and cutting-edge technologies.”

Republican Congressman Doug Lamborn, whose 5th District includes Colorado Springs, said in the news release that Frontier Technology and other companies provide “world-class support” for the Defense Department and intelligence community, while Frontier’s expansion “showcases the vital role Colorado Springs plays in our national security.”

___

(c) 2023 The Gazette

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

In a recent development, Boeing has reported a staggering loss of $482 million related to the retrofitting of two 747 jets for the next generation Air Force One, a project that has proven to be financially burdensome for the aerospace giant, resulting in a total loss of over $2 billion.

The latest figure adds to the mounting losses, now surpassing $1 billion per jet, casting a shadow over the prestigious but financially straining project. The company’s challenges in producing the two 747 jets for the next generation of Air Force One have been compounded by soaring supplier costs and continuous delays in delivery, according to CNN.

CEO Dave Calhoun expressed regret last year over the decision to sign the $3.9 billion contract with the Air Force, stating, “Air Force One, I’m just going to call a very unique moment, a very unique negotiation. A very unique set of risks that Boeing probably shouldn’t have taken. But we are where we are.”

CNN reported that the company’s most recent loss on the Air Force One program was caused by a combination of labor instability, changes in engineering, and negotiations with a supplier. While increased costs for defense contracts often result in more U.S. taxpayer dollars being given to companies, the Air Force One contract is unique because former President Donald Trump negotiated a fixed-price contract, which forces Boeing to cover the additional costs rather than taxpayers.

READ MORE: Biden using Air Force One’s ‘lower stairs’ to avoid more embarrassing falls: Report

In the face of current challenges, Calhoun has remained optimistic, telling investors, “In a fixed price environment, any unplanned hurdles can introduce unrecoverable costs. At the end of the day, we have two airplanes to build. We’re getting past these hurdles and are committed to delivering two exceptional airplanes for our customer.”

Despite Boeing’s financial setbacks with the Air Force One project and the company’s total loss of $25.5 billion since the grounding of its 737 Max jet in 2019, Boeing is reportedly navigating its way back to stability. The company’s resilience is highlighted by the 13% increase in revenue to $18.1 billion and the company’s plans to boost the production of 787 jets and increase 737 production.

The company’s shares, reflecting investor confidence, witnessed a 3% rise in premarket trading, according to CNN. Despite the third quarter’s core operating loss of $1.1 billion, the company hopes for a potential turnaround to occur with its strategic adjustments and plans for the future.

This news article was partially created with the assistance of artificial intelligence and edited and fact-checked by a human editor.