Editor’s note: Fe Bongolan sent on this link…a gunman in Santa Barbara, CA has shut down traffic at La Cumbre overpass. Witnesses have heard him shouting anti-Obama slogans, and police have yet to determine what the man wants. –RA
SANTA BARBARA — A portion of Highway 101 is closed in both directions in downtown Santa Barbara after a masked gunman was spotted on a freeway overpass.
Witnesses say the gunman, wearing brown fatigues and a black ski mask, was spotted waving a gun around on the La Cumbre overpass around 7:10 a.m. Monday.
Sergeant Lorenzo Duarte with the Santa Barbara Police Department says the man is armed with a revolver and is also waving an American flag. Some witnesses say the man is shouting anti-Obama slogans.
Dozens of police officers, including members of the Santa Barbara SWAT team, have surrounded the area and are attempting to begin negotiations with the gunman. Police officers are using a bullhorn in an attempt to make contact with the man, but no one knows who he is or what he wants. Officials have also sent a robot into the area, hoping to get the man a cell phone so he can communicate with officers.
The freeway was shut down in both directions at La Cumbre as a precaution and traffic is being diverted through downtown Santa Barbara. The California Highway Patrol reports the freeway closure has caused a massive traffic backup throughout the area. The roadway will remain closed until further notice, according to the CHP.
A man, claiming to be a friend of the gunman, says he is an Iraqi War veteran.
No shots have been fired.
I sure appreciate all the re-assurance that brother-man will be alright. But i just want to emphasize the point that fearing for his life is not at all some media-induced or otherwise manipulated fear tactic–the lives of people who stand up against the status quo have always been in jeopardy, and when dealing specifically with the last 3 centuries of this country’s history, this is particularly true for black men and any one of any color who stood beside them (Schwerney, Chaney & Goodman). I wait for the moment when i bring up this point and am not met with that silence. It’s odd to me. It’s odd that my saying that isn’t something completely believable. Especially since it has happened time and time again. And i don’t even know the names of all the non-famous men who weren’t leaders, but just fathers, husbands, brothers and sons who were killed for just walking alone on the wrong road at night.
I’m thinking, and maybe more like feeling, in my heart, that most of these nazi/skin-heads, and whatever else we want to call them probably all have some form of PTSD. From being raised by hate mongering racist fathers and mothers. Frederick Douglas made such a good point that slavery diminished slave and master. He watched his white mistress turn from a kind person to becoming angrier and more abusive as the years went on. Remeber that gold thread? We’re all connected . . .
Folk may not be able to say the N word any more, but they are thinking it . . .
And can i just say, this is bigger than skin color. I’ve been saying for years that the color that seems to be the most important when factoring in war and violence is GREEN. It ain’t even backed by gold anymore . . .
The masses, for the most part, will turn toward the team they think is winning……
People will die but not Obama…..
Is there ANY group that exists today that has members who have not at one time or another been oppressed?
White, Black, Yellow, Red Wo/Man need to “be careful” at this moment with regard to what they say out loud…..even McCain was careful to say “That” and not the “N” word that was pressing on his lips…… (there are those of us that wish he would and spark the rage – but we MUST ‘Be Gandhi’…..)
Oatmeal cookies ….. if only everyone knew how to bake a batch of oatmeal cookies……and share them with the neighbors…….I propose a PW sponsored Oatmeal Cookie recipie exchange……..
Blessings, Fairness, Love, Shalom…..
Rahmana:
You know, you’ve got to hand it to those right wing pundits and radiologues. They sure can inspire a whole cadre of para-military boy-men whose guns are gonna prove something. Anything. And those pundits need our fear–particularly the fear of people of color, to keep us under leash.
But this instance on the freeway looks like PTSD personified.
Actually today’s movement of the planets has got even me a twitter, and I consider myself somewhat un-stressed. And I don’t own a gun. Don’t worry though. The most damage I could do is bake a batch of oatmeal cookies.
I used to say this too about Obama. I’d see him on TV being so poised and elegant and brilliant and think ah, geez,they are so going to shoot him.
Since I’ve seen his correct chart, though, I wouldn’t be surprised if that kid wasn’t shot and actually *came back to life* and started floating around downtown DC saying intelligent, soothing things.
Don’t worry, Rahmana. They can’t shoot him. They can try, but they’re going to miss.
~j
Peace to you, too, Rahmana. I want so much to see all those beautiful images, too!
I am an African-American woman, and i always experience a moment of frustration and pain when i see the look on people’s faces after i say something to the effect of “Obama has to be careful what he says, cause they will kill him.” If there was merryment and laughter before, it dissipates into a moment of silence and thoughtfullness. I read their minds: is she crazy? A bit of an extremist?
You know, it is almost impossible to truly understand the level of police and military violence and brutality if you aren’t a person of color in America. Black men have an extra bag that they carry silently around with them, and have for years now, filled with quiet dread and the knowledge that they could randomly be a victim of violence at any moment, any day. We are, sadly, in my community, constantly discussing the probability of Obama making it thru his first term if he wins. I am for the first time in my life considering the possibility of getting a gun (whew) which my Black Panther father had been trying to get me to do until his death.
I don’t even always know who the “they” is that kills people like Malcom X, Martin Luther King, George Jackson, Ghandi, John Lennon, Emmitt Till, but for arguments sake let’s just say, they are all RACISTS. And these people are very much alive and they own guns. Let’s not be too hippie and let our tree-hugging instincts blind us.
My mother has a book of every lynching that occured in America up untill now–it is a very thick book . . .
The best thing i can say at this moment, is for us all to have as many positive thoughts and beautiful images in our heads as we can for Michelle’s little girls to have their father at their highschool and/or college graduations, weddings, plays, dance recitals . . . .
Peace