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Nation: Federal prosecutor who advocated gun control slain in Seattle

Josey1Josey1 Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
edited October 2001 in General Discussion
Nation: Federal prosecutor who advocated gun control slain in Seattle Copyright APonline Washington Ceasefire By PEGGY ANDERSEN, Associated Press SEATTLE (October 12, 2001 8:39 p.m. EDT) - A federal prosecutor who headed a prominent gun control group in his spare time died early Friday after he was shot in his home reportedly from a gunman outside.Thomas C. Wales, 49, died about 1:15 a.m. Friday at Harborview Medical Center. He had been shot in the neck and the side late Thursday, a hospital spokeswoman said.Authorities believe Wales was targeted, and not a victim of random violence, Police Capt. Brent Wingstrand said Friday."Any number of personal, business or professional issues," could have prompted the slaying, he said.The FBI is offering $25,000 for information leading to a prosecution.The Seattle Times quoted unidentified federal sources saying the shots were fired from outside, through a basement window into a home office.A neighbor, Emily Holt, said she heard the shots Thursday night and saw a man walking away."He wasn't running, just walking real fast. He got into his car," parked about a block away under a tree and a streetlight, Holt said.Wales was a member of the fraud unit in the U.S. attorney's office here, specializing in prosecution of banking and business crime, spokesman Lawrence Lincoln said. He had been in the office since 1983.He also was board president of Seattle-based Washington Ceasefire, a gun-control group that sponsored a failed initiative in 1997 that would have required handgun owners to undergo safety training and use trigger locks on their weapons.Attorney General John Ashcroft mourned the "tragic death in the Justice Department family."Gov. Gary Locke said he respected Wales' "tireless gun-control advocacy and work to prevent violence."His death was "a terrible loss to our movement," said a statement from Michael D. Barnes, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.The National Rifle Association mounted a $2 million campaign against Initiative 676, which had the support of Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and other prominent state residents."We don't know who killed Tom, or why, but we know that our community has lost a kind, compassionate man and ... our nation has lost a courageous leader in the movement against gun violence," said a statement from Bruce Gryniewski, Ceasefire's executive director.Neighbors in the wealthy Queen Anne Hill neighborhood said they heard shots shortly before 11 p.m. Thursday. The neighborhood was sealed off by police tape Friday.Wales' former wife, Elizabeth, a former Seattle School Board member, was in Europe with the couple's adult son and daughter, The Times reported, quoting federal sources. The couple divorced a few years ago but were on friendly terms, neighbors said. The ex-wife continued to maintain an office in the home. http://www.nandotimes.com/nation/story/135620p-1377795c.html

Comments

  • LowriderLowrider Member Posts: 6,587
    edited November -1
    It's too bad he was killed with a gun. I'd have much rather seen him taken out by some crazed axe murderer.The Seattle TV news said last night that he was shot with a rifle. At least they didn't use one of those wicked handguns.
    She was only a fisherman's daughter,But when she saw my rod she reeled.[This message has been edited by Lowrider (edited 10-13-2001).]
  • BlueTicBlueTic Member Posts: 4,072
    edited November -1
    Maybe it was a dreaded "assault rifle" in a major sniper configuration. It's very bad of me - one half wants to pat the perp on the back as he goes to jail, the other hates the fact that the perp resorted to violence to solve his problems and possibly making another martyr to their sick agenda...tough call for me.
    IF YOU DON'T LIKE MY RIGHTS - GET OUT OF MY COUNTRY (this includes politicians)
  • badboybobbadboybob Member Posts: 1,658 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Good riddance to bad rubbish. Too bad this will give the socialists more statistics.
  • beantolebeantole Member Posts: 1,086 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    sOMETIMES BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO PEOPLE WHO TRY TO TRASH THE CONSTITUTION. I don't feel sorry for them.
  • mudgemudge Member Posts: 4,225 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    It probably had nothing to do with his anti-gun position. The guy could have been messing around with somebody's wife or girlfriend. Too bad the perp had to use a gun. Just more fodder for the gun-grabbers and they'll play it to the hilt. I hope they find the perp and he tells the cops that he thought the guy was someone else.Brace yourselves folks.....Schumer, Feinstein, et.al. are gonna LAUNCH on this one.Mudge
    I can't come to work today. The voices said, STAY HOME AND CLEAN THE GUNS!
  • stanmanstanman Member Posts: 3,052
    edited November -1
    I'm afraid I must vehemently disagree with this train of thought! What ammo for the antis. Let's not forget gentlemen that all we say on this forum is displayed for the world to see! These anti 2nd ammendment bufoons may be mis-guided, foolish, ill-informed communists, but, they are no more Stalinist than those who would advocate for the execution of anyone who holds to a different opinion than his own!!Come on guys, am I the only one that sees a Timothy McVeigh mentality on this thread?I mean, I'm an extremist when it comes to the protection of our God given and constitutional rights but let's not become our own worst enemies!!
    My wife?.........Sure!My dog?..........Maybe!MY GUNS??........NEVER!!![This message has been edited by stanman (edited 10-13-2001).]
  • M.OpaliskiM.Opaliski Member Posts: 244 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Although this has no effect on my life, I'm sorry to see anyone killed, regardless of their politics. This was not a man convicted and sentenced to die in a court of law.To those that see this as good, because he had a different view than that of yours ... what does that make you ... for the Constitution?
    Support your RKBA ... MatthewNRA Life MemberTalk Radio Junkie opaliski@hotmail.com TheFirearmsEnthusiast
  • LowriderLowrider Member Posts: 6,587
    edited November -1
    I'm not glad he's dead. I'm just sorry they used a gun to do it. If he had to be killed it's too bad they didn't use an axe or a ball bat.
    She was only a fisherman's daughter,But when she saw my rod she reeled.
  • cbxjeffcbxjeff Member Posts: 17,597 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    BlueTic is right. The last thing we need is another martyr. Murder is murder. I hope the perp fries. I just would hate to see another anti-gun law with the victims name on it.Lowrider - You have the greatest sig!
    cbxjeffIt's too late for me, save yourself.
    It's too late for me, save yourself.
  • BlueTicBlueTic Member Posts: 4,072
    edited November -1
    Like I said - tough call for me - but I am still inclined to beleive that at some point we have to stand up against the liberal, socialistic, and facist people who would bastardise my constitutional rights. Those who think that they can just take away a right given to me by the constitution are an enemy/traitor to the country. There is a point at which you cross over from freedom of speach to saying you do not agree with the rights of the people. At this point anybody who wishes to spout off just to take away a right, given to us by blood, and insures our freedom should be tried in a court of law for treason. Or at the least should be deported to a country which has rights more according to their views....
    IF YOU DON'T LIKE MY RIGHTS - GET OUT OF MY COUNTRY (this includes politicians)
  • IconoclastIconoclast Member Posts: 10,515 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    If people were allowed to run amok killing everyone who disagreed with them, I doubt anyone posting here would be alive to be writing . . . . Of course that presumes the liberal mushbrains could actually do something besides peeing their pants. Nevertheless, as odious as the victim's views were to us, it is a basic priniciple of our culture that he had the right to express them. We lose that, we lose it all. So I hope they catch the bastid. I also hope they find it was a professional hit because the guy was actually doing some work for a criminal organization, or doing a Klinton, not because of his attacks on our rights.
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