Hostage Held At Discovery Channel By Gunman With Explosives

[Sionnach Glic]

msnbc.com and NBC News
updated 2 minutes ago

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BREAKING NEWS

SILVER SPRING, Md. - A gunman with a possible explosive device strapped to himself entered the Discovery Communications building in Silver Spring, Md., Wednesday afternoon and was holding an undetermined number of hostages, police said.

Police said they were dealing with an "active hostage situation" at the building but said they would not talk about the nature of the negotiations. No injuries were known, they said, and they would not confirm reports that a shot or shots had been fired.

People on the eighth and ninth floors of the building in the close-in suburb of Washington were safely evacuated, as were children in the Discovery Kids Place day care center, police said, adding that nobody was known to have been injured.

Law enforcement authorities said they were talking to the man, whom they said they believed was James Jay Lee, 43, a longtime protester at the building who was sentenced to six months of supervised probation for disorderly conduct in March 2008.

"The good thing is we have the outside of the building secure, we're talking with him, and he wants to talk with us," Montgomery County police Capt. Paul Starks said.

'The planet does not need humans'
Lee appears to have posted environmental and population-control demands online, saying humans are ruining the planet and that Discovery should develop programs to sound the alarm.

"I want Discovery Communications to broadcast on their channels to the world their new program lineup and I want proof they are doing so. I want the new shows started by asking the public for inventive solution ideas to save the planet and the remaining wildlife on it," the alleged manifesto reads, adding:"Nothing is more important than saving ... the Lions, Tigers, Giraffes, Elephants, Froggies, Turtles, Apes, Raccoons, Beetles, Ants, Sharks, Bears, and, of course, the Squirrels. The humans? The planet does not need humans."

At the time of his conviction in March 2008, Lee was identified as being from San Diego. Court records said he was arrested Feb. 21, 2008, on the sixth day of a protest at the Discovery building. Police were called when a crowd that had gathered began growing "unruly" as Lee threw thousands of dollars of cash into the air, some of it still in shrink-wrapped packages, police said at the time. (Lee was found not guilty of littering.)

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Lee said he experienced an ''awakening" when he watched former Vice President Al Gore's environmental documentary ''An Inconvenient Truth."

Court records show that Lee moved into a homeless shelter after he was released from jail in March 2008. His movements since then could not immediately be determined.

'Chaotic' scene described
Julienne Gage, who works in the building, told msnbc TV that she didn't hear any shots fired. She described security at the building as including cameras, as well as a receptionist and a security guard at the front entrance.

Roads in the normally busy urban center at the intersection of Colesville Road and Georgia Avenue on the edge of Washington were closed and police cars and emergency vehicles blocked access. Witnesses said SWAT teams and law enforcement from several areas were at the scene.

"It's pretty chaotic," Tariq Warner, a photographer for NBC station WRC-TV, said on msnbc. He said a woman ran past him screaming.

Discovery Communications reaches about 1.5 billion subscribers in more than 180 countries with the Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Science Channel and Planet Green networks.

Here

[SolkaTruesilver]

NOOOOOO!!

Not Discovery!

[Tyyr]

Just tell me Mike Rowe is ok...

In other news why don't people like this guy off themselves? Seriously. If humans are so horrible why don't they take charge immediately and reduce the population by one?

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

God, I hope things turn out okay.

[SolkaTruesilver]

Just tell me Mike Rowe is ok...

In other news why don't people like this guy off themselves? Seriously. If humans are so horrible why don't they take charge immediately and reduce the population by one?

I wonder why Jamie and Adam haven't broken out the explosives yet.

"Now, on Mythbusters! Can a grenade provide a good ennough distraction to stop a hostage crisis?"

[Sionnach Glic]

Ger Bear Grylls in there! He'll sort it all out faster than you can ask him for tips on surviving a hostage encounter.

Seriously though, here's hoping that this ends without loss of life. Though I can't imagine anyone doing something like this with the intention of allowing themselves to be arrested by the police.

I really have to wonder why he targetted Discovery. While they're not as good as they used to be on nature programs, they're still miles ahead of most other networks.

[SolkaTruesilver]

Ger Bear Grylls in there! He'll sort it all out faster than you can ask him for tips on surviving a hostage encounter.

Seriously though, here's hoping that this ends without loss of life. Though I can't imagine anyone doing something like this with the intention of allowing themselves to be arrested by the police.

I really have to wonder why he targetted Discovery. While they're not as good as they used to be on nature programs, they're still miles ahead of most other networks.

Kinda the same reason a conservative nut is more likely to protest Fox News. you will go protest @ the news network you watch. So, if you are an environmental-nut, you will go take stupid actions @ Discovery.

[Griffin]

Tis over now, the police shot him, and it appears no-one else was injured.

SILVER SPRING, Md. - Police shot and killed a gunman who held three hostages for several hours Wednesday at the Discovery Communications building in Silver Spring, Md., authorities said. They said the hostages were safe.

At least one explosive device went off when he was shot, and other explosive devices could still be in the building in Montgomery County in suburban Washington, D.C., they said. It was not clear whether there was any damage.

Montgomery County police Chief Thomas Manger said no one was believed to have been injured beyond the gunman. The building in the close-in suburb of Washington was safely evacuated, including the Discovery Kids Place day care center, police said.

Law enforcement authorities told NBC News they believed the man was James Jay Lee or James Jae Lee, 43, a longtime protester at the building who was sentenced to six months of supervised probation for disorderly conduct in March 2008.

from SiG's source, it's been updated.

[Sionnach Glic]

Seems like the best resolution we could hope for.

For those interested, I've found what are supposedly the gunman's list of demands, taken from a site he runs.

The Discovery Channel MUST broadcast to the world their commitment to save the planet and to do the following IMMEDIATELY:

1. The Discovery Channel and it's affiliate channels MUST have daily television programs at prime time slots based on Daniel Quinn's "My Ishmael" pages 207-212 where solutions to save the planet would be done in the same way as the Industrial Revolution was done, by people building on each other's inventive ideas. Focus must be given on how people can live WITHOUT giving birth to more filthy human children since those new additions continue pollution and are pollution. A game show format contest would be in order. Perhaps also forums of leading scientists who understand and agree with the Malthus-Darwin science and the problem of human overpopulation. Do both. Do all until something WORKS and the natural world starts improving and human civilization building STOPS and is reversed! MAKE IT INTERESTING SO PEOPLE WATCH AND APPLY SOLUTIONS!!!!

2. All programs on Discovery Health-TLC must stop encouraging the birth of any more parasitic human infants and the false heroics behind those actions. In those programs' places, programs encouraging human sterilization and infertility must be pushed. All former pro-birth programs must now push in the direction of stopping human birth, not encouraging it.

3. All programs promoting War and the technology behind those must cease. There is no sense in advertising weapons of mass-destruction anymore. Instead, talk about ways to disassemble civilization and concentrate the message in finding SOLUTIONS to solving global military mechanized conflict. Again, solutions solutions instead of just repeating the same old wars with newer weapons. Also, keep out the fraudulent peace movements. They are liars and fakes and had no real intention of ending the wars. ALL OF THEM ARE FAKE! On one hand, they claim they want the wars to end, on the other, they are demanding the human population increase. World War II had 2 Billion humans and after that war, the people decided that tripling the population would assure peace. WTF??? STUPIDITY! MORE HUMANS EQUALS MORE WAR!

4. Civilization must be exposed for the filth it is. That, and all its disgusting religious-cultural roots and greed. Broadcast this message until the pollution in the planet is reversed and the human population goes down! This is your obligation. If you think it isn't, then get hell off the planet! Breathe Oil! It is the moral obligation of everyone living otherwise what good are they??

5. Immigration: Programs must be developed to find solutions to stopping ALL immigration pollution and the anchor baby filth that follows that. Find solutions to stopping it. Call for people in the world to develop solutions to stop it completely and permanently. Find solutions FOR these countries so they stop sending their breeding populations to the US and the world to seek jobs and therefore breed more unwanted pollution babies. FIND SOLUTIONS FOR THEM TO STOP THEIR HUMAN GROWTH AND THE EXPORTATION OF THAT DISGUSTING FILTH! (The first world is feeding the population growth of the Third World and those human families are going to where the food is! They must stop procreating new humans looking for nonexistant jobs!)

6. Find solutions for Global Warming, Automotive pollution, International Trade, factory pollution, and the whole blasted human economy. Find ways so that people don't build more housing pollution which destroys the environment to make way for more human filth! Find solutions so that people stop breeding as well as stopping using Oil in order to REVERSE Global warming and the destruction of the planet!

7. Develop shows that mention the Malthusian sciences about how food production leads to the overpopulation of the Human race. Talk about Evolution. Talk about Malthus and Darwin until it sinks into the stupid people's brains until they get it!!

8. Saving the Planet means saving what's left of the non-human Wildlife by decreasing the Human population. That means stopping the human race from breeding any more disgusting human babies! You're the media, you can reach enough people. It's your resposibility because you reach so many minds!!!

9. Develop shows that will correct and dismantle the dangerous US world economy. Find solutions for their disasterous Ponzi-Casino economy before they take the world to another nuclear war.

10. Stop all shows glorifying human birthing on all your channels and on TLC. Stop Future Weapons shows or replace the dialogue condemning the people behind these developments so that the shows become exposes rather than advertisements of Arms sales and development!

11. You're also going to find solutions for unemployment and housing. All these unemployed people makes me think the US is headed toward more war.

Humans are the most destructive, filthy, pollutive creatures around and are wrecking what's left of the planet with their false morals and breeding culture.

For every human born, ACRES of wildlife forests must be turned into farmland in order to feed that new addition over the course of 60 to 100 YEARS of that new human's lifespan! THIS IS AT THE EXPENSE OF THE FOREST CREATURES!!!! All human procreation and farming must cease!

It is the responsiblity of everyone to preserve the planet they live on by not breeding any more children who will continue their filthy practices. Children represent FUTURE catastrophic pollution whereas their parents are current pollution. NO MORE BABIES! Population growth is a real crisis. Even one child born in the US will use 30 to a thousand times more resources than a Third World child. It's like a couple are having 30 babies even though it's just one! If the US goes in this direction maybe other countries will too!

Also, war must be halted. Not because it's morally wrong, but because of the catastrophic environmental damage modern weapons cause to other creatures. FIND SOLUTIONS JUST LIKE THE BOOK SAYS! Humans are supposed to be inventive. INVENT, DAMN YOU!!

The world needs TV shows that DEVELOP solutions to the problems that humans are causing, not stupify the people into destroying the world. Not encouraging them to breed more environmentally harmful humans.

Saving the environment and the remaning species diversity of the planet is now your mindset. Nothing is more important than saving them. The Lions, Tigers, Giraffes, Elephants, Froggies, Turtles, Apes, Raccoons, Beetles, Ants, Sharks, Bears, and, of course, the Squirrels.

The humans? The planet does not need humans.

You MUST KNOW the human population is behind all the pollution and problems in the world, and YET you encourage the exact opposite instead of discouraging human growth and procreation. Surely you MUST ALREADY KNOW this!

I want Discovery Communications to broadcast on their channels to the world their new program lineup and I want proof they are doing so. I want the new shows started by asking the public for inventive solution ideas to save the planet and the remaining wildlife on it.

These are the demands and sayings of Lee.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Okay... I'm rather glad he's dead. A shame he had to endanger others, though.

[Deepcrush]

Sniper round, center mass and it was a beautiful shot no doubt.

[SolkaTruesilver]

Sniper round, center mass and it was a beautiful shot no doubt.

I have a hard time finding the act of killing beautiful..

I mean, I can admire the technology involved. But the killing itself?

The man deserved to be into a psychiatric hospital, not into an early grave...

[Tyyr]

If all he was was an angry nut writing idiotic manifestos I'd agree he needed a hospital. Once he strapped a bomb to himself and threatened others he needed the morgue.

[Deepcrush]

I have a hard time finding the act of killing beautiful..

Just means you're not good at it yet.

The man deserved to be into a psychiatric hospital, not into an early grave...

He was a threat to humanity and he was removed. Sounds like he got exactly as he deserved.

[SolkaTruesilver]

I have a hard time finding the act of killing beautiful..

Just means you're not good at it yet.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

The man deserved to be into a psychiatric hospital, not into an early grave...

He was a threat to humanity and he was removed. Sounds like he got exactly as he deserved.

He was hardly a treath to "humanity". So some people, definetly. Humanity? It wouldn't really have cared of his crazy actions.

I am not so quick to hand out judgement for who deserves to live and die.