January 28, 2016


News Clips For The Day


http://news.yahoo.com/apnewsbreak-racial-disparities-connecticut-stun-gun-053433188.html

APNewsBreak: Racial disparities seen in police stun gun use
Associated Press
DAVE COLLINS
January 27, 2016

Photograph -- FILE - In this Oct. 28, 2004 file photo, an officer holds a stun gun used by his police department in a Farmington, Conn. Police across Connecticut disproportionately fired stun guns at blacks and Hispanics in 2015 while whites were the main beneficiaries when officers only threatened to use the weapons, according to preliminary data from the nation’s first accounting by a state of law enforcement stun gun use. State officials cautioned against making quick conclusions about the figures, saying they have just begun to analyze them after the Jan. 15, 2016 deadline for police departments to submit the reports. Civil liberties advocates also said the data appear to show racial disparities on the surface, but more analysis is needed. (AP Photo/Bob Child, File)


"HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut officers who drew their stun guns on the job last year were more likely to fire when the suspect was black or Hispanic, according to a first-of-its-kind set of statistics that could stoke the nation's debate over race and police use of force.

The raw, preliminary data was obtained by The Associated Press ahead of an official analysis expected in the coming weeks. While police and state officials cautioned against passing judgment until then, at least one criminal justice expert said he would not be surprised to see similar findings elsewhere around the country.

Some civil rights groups said the statistics confirm what they suspected for years.

"We feel we're vindicated," said Scot X. Esdaile, president of the Connecticut State Conference of NAACP Branches. "The NAACP has huge issues with how law enforcement use Tasers in communities across our state. We get a lot of complaints."

State and municipal police in Connecticut reported a total of 641 incidents involving stun guns last year: 437 actual firings and 204 instances in which officers threatened to use their weapon but held their fire, according to the data.

Officers were more likely to hold their fire when the suspect was white.

They fired their stun guns 60 percent of the time in confrontations involving whites, 80 percent of the time in those involving blacks and 69 percent of the time in those involving Hispanics.

The figures come as police across the U.S. face heavy scrutiny over their use of deadly force against blacks. Although stun guns have been billed as non-lethal alternatives to firearms, they have resulted in deaths, and reliable information on how police use them has been lacking.

A 2014 law made Connecticut the first state to require all police departments to report every instance in which an officer discharges or threatens to use a stun gun. The NAACP and American Civil Liberties Union pushed for the legislation after the 2011 death of 26-year-old Marcus Brown, a handcuffed black man who was shot with a stun gun in the back of a Waterbury police cruiser.

Researchers at Central Connecticut State University are reviewing the data and will issue an analysis, perhaps by the end of February.

Although data from other states isn't available, it would not be surprising if similar findings were found in other parts of the country, said Eugene O'Donnell, a lecturer at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York.

"It is not surprising because the police occupy the front line of a criminal justice system that is designed to target minorities," O'Donnell said. "Because of the design of the system, the police end up in more fraught situations with minorities since their adversarial interactions are so heavily overlaid in poorer places and poorer and working-class people."

Of those who were shocked with stun guns in Connecticut in 2015, 43 percent were white, 35 percent black and 21 percent Hispanic. Thirty percent of the people involved in the more than 600 incidents studied were black and 21 percent were Hispanic.

Connecticut's population of 3.6 million is 11.5 percent black, 15 percent Hispanic and 81 percent white, according to the Census Bureau. (The percentages add up to more than 100 percent because Hispanics can be counted in both the white and black categories.)

State and police officials noted that many of the stun gun incidents happened in urban areas, where minority populations are higher. Those include Hartford, New Haven and Bridgeport.

The figures don't include data from several smaller towns that have yet to submit reports.

State officials and others cautioned that while the data appear to show racial disparities, deeper examination if needed.

"It seems like in the cases where it was threatened but not used, there were far more white people involved," said Michael Lawlor, Connecticut undersecretary for criminal justice policy and planning. "Why that is and whether there is some other explanation, we're going to go through the data and try to figure it out."

Amnesty International has reported that at least 540 people in the U.S. died after being shocked with stun guns from 2001 to 2012. In Connecticut, 17 people have died since 2005, according to the ACLU.

David McGuire, legislative and policy director for the Connecticut ACLU, called the new statistics alarming.

"I think this data will be helpful for policymakers and police chiefs in Connecticut to get a handle on the issue," he said.

Steve Tuttle, a vice president at Taser International Inc. in Scottsdale, Arizona, a leading maker of stun guns, said it is too early to draw conclusions about the Connecticut data. He said the numbers need to be evaluated with other data, including arrest rates and what offenses spurred stun gun use.

Similarly, Norwalk Police Chief Thomas Kulhawik cautioned: "The officers don't pick and choose who's going to resist arrest or flee."

Tuttle wrote in an email to the AP that when used properly, a Taser is a highly effective way to "halt violent situations that pose a safety risk to an officer, suspect or innocent citizens."



“Connecticut officers who drew their stun guns on the job last year were more likely to fire when the suspect was black or Hispanic, according to a first-of-its-kind set of statistics that could stoke the nation's debate over race and police use of force. The raw, preliminary data was obtained by The Associated Press ahead of an official analysis expected in the coming weeks. While police and state officials cautioned against passing judgment until then, at least one criminal justice expert said he would not be surprised to see similar findings elsewhere around the country. Some civil rights groups said the statistics confirm what they suspected for years. …. … 437 actual firings and 204 instances in which officers threatened to use their weapon but held their fire, according to the data. …. Of those who were shocked with stun guns in Connecticut in 2015, 43 percent were white, 35 percent black and 21 percent Hispanic. …. Amnesty International has reported that at least 540 people in the U.S. died after being shocked with stun guns from 2001 to 2012. In Connecticut, 17 people have died since 2005, according to the ACLU. David McGuire, legislative and policy director for the Connecticut ACLU, called the new statistics alarming. "I think this data will be helpful for policymakers and police chiefs in Connecticut to get a handle on the issue," he said. …. He said the numbers need to be evaluated with other data, including arrest rates and what offenses spurred stun gun use. Similarly, Norwalk Police Chief Thomas Kulhawik cautioned: "The officers don't pick and choose who's going to resist arrest or flee."


“Officers were more likely to hold their fire when the suspect was white.” This doesn’t surprise me, but the item above saying “Of those who were shocked with stun guns in Connecticut in 2015, 43 percent were white, 35 percent black and 21 percent Hispanic.” I hate to be cynical, but is it possible that the blacks and Hispanics who made up lesser percentages of taser damage than whites could be in that category because they were shot by bullets instead? One article since Ferguson said that blacks were more likely to be shot than tasered. I would like to see someone look at the statistics again to see what that difference is. Personally I’m glad to see tasers being used if that means that guns were not used. True, some people do have a heart attack or die for other reasons after being the target of a taser, but more die from bullets.




http://www.cbsnews.com/news/veterans-groups-to-donald-trump-dont-hide-behind-us/

Veterans groups to Donald Trump: Don't use us to hide from Megyn Kelly
By REENA FLORES CBS NEWS
January 28, 2016


"Some veterans groups are pushing back against Donald Trump's veterans fundraising event scheduled for Thursday night, condemning the billionaire's feud with Fox News and his decision to opt out of the Republican primary debate hosted by the cable network.

One organization, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, pledged to refuse any funds that Trump may try to donate from his Iowa event, to be held at Drake University at the same time the Republican frontrunner was originally scheduled to appear on Fox News' debate main stage.

Founder Paul Rieckhoff took to social media Wednesday and said his group did not want to be part of Trump's "political stunts":

Trump announced his decision to hold the event Wednesday night, after Fox News refused to replace GOP debate moderator and anchor Megyn Kelly, who Trump complained was "really biased" against him.

"You know what we're going to do?" Trump asked supporters at a rally in Gilbert, South Carolina Wednesday. "We're gonna raise a lot of money for the vets. That's what we're gonna do."

Other organizations also shunned Trump.

Progressive advocacy group VoteVets.org said in statement that Trump should not "hide from Megyn Kelly behind us."

"Let me put this in language Donald Trump understands," Jon Soltz, Iraq War veteran and chairman of VoteVets.org said in a statement. "You're a loser. You're a third-rate politician, who clearly doesn't understand issues, and is so scared of Megyn Kelly exposing it, that you're looking to use veterans to protect you from facing her questions."

The Wounded Warrior Project, another veterans charity group, also said it was not aware that Trump would be raising any funds for their organization (a disclosure here: CBS News has been investigating this group's use of donation money)."



“One organization, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, pledged to refuse any funds that Trump may try to donate from his Iowa event … Founder Paul Rieckhoff took to social media Wednesday and said his group did not want to be part of Trump's "political stunts": Trump announced his decision to hold the event Wednesday night, after Fox News refused to replace GOP debate moderator and anchor Megyn Kelly, who Trump complained was "really biased" against him. …. "Let me put this in language Donald Trump understands," Jon Soltz, Iraq War veteran and chairman of VoteVets.org said in a statement. "You're a loser. You're a third-rate politician, who clearly doesn't understand issues, and is so scared of Megyn Kelly exposing it, that you're looking to use veterans to protect you from facing her questions."


One thing has occurred to me. Trump is used to addressing, especially with his hate mongering, a more uniformly right wing group than veterans as a whole probably are. Not everyone in the military is even a conservative. Some perfectly normal people go into the military. It’s a good way to make a living for a few years after high school or college, it offers health insurance, it will pay for future college or for a home loan. Many people who are patriotic enough to want to serve and protect their country are not actually Republican or “conservative” at all – most probably are, of course, now that it’s a voluntary enlistment. Most of the young people in the 60s and 70s who were seemingly against the military actually were against the draft or the Vietnam War -- or “Conflict,” as it is more properly called. War was never declared in either Vietnam or Korea. Hundreds of thousands of men were lost when we were not at war. If I remember correctly, that can diminish their pension and medical benefits also. There are a number of issues that veterans have been unhappy about as a result of their military service.

I’m delighted to see that the Vets are sticking up for their right to make up their own mind politically issue by issue, as a well-informed populace should do. They aren’t buying into the race baiting, antigay, anti-immigrant, anti-environment positions that he uses to rally a cruder and more hostile crowd, such as the Patriots (not to be confused with “patriots”). I again, after this article, do strongly suspect that Trump is not going to get the landslide victory that he keeps promising. Bluster doesn’t win over all constituencies, Mr. Trump.




http://www.cbsnews.com/news/oregon-militia-standoff-holdouts-offer-to-leave-with-one-condition/

Holdouts in Oregon standoff say they'll leave - with one condition
CBS/AP
January 28, 2016

Play VIDEO -- Oregon militia member killed in confrontation


"BURNS, Ore. -- One of the last holdouts in the armed takeover of an Oregon wildlife refuge said Thursday the remaining five occupiers will leave if they receive assurances none of them will be arrested.

In a video posted on the YouTube channel "DefendYourBase" that the group has been using to issue updates during the nearly 4-week-old siege, a speaker believed to be David Fry said the occupiers have been told by authorities that "out of five people left here, four of us are allowed to leave."

The FBI had no immediate comment on the demand. It has said only that it is trying to "empty the refuge of the armed occupiers in the safest way possible."

The FBI has set up checkpoints around the refuge that was taken over on Jan. 2 by ranchers and others demanding the federal government turn public lands over to local control.

The group's leader, Ammon Bundy, and 10 others have been arrested over the past couple of days, most of them in a traffic stop Tuesday night that erupted in gunfire and left one follower dead.

Fry has been posting frequent online updates from the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. In the video, a speaker whose face was not visible said an FBI official told him one of the remaining occupiers faces a felony count of conspiracy to impede federal officers from carrying out their duties through force, intimidation or threats.

That's the same charge 11 people already arrested in connection with the occupation face.

The spokesman said he doesn't think the individual still at the camp should face charges because he had limited involvement in the standoff.

"We are willing to stay here" unless authorities agree not to charge anyone, the voice on the video said.

Armed militia takeover in Oregon

On Wednesday, three other members of an armed group surrendered to authorities after Bundy issued a statement urging his followers to end the standoff. "Please stand down. Go home and hug your families. This fight is now in the courts," he said.

Meanwhile, Bundy followers gave conflicting accounts of how Robert Finicum, a spokesman for the group, died in the confrontation Tuesday night on a remote highway.

One said Finicum charged at FBI agents, who then shot him. A member of the Bundy family said Finicum did nothing to provoke the agents.

Raymond Doherty, an Oregon man who said he witnessed the clash, told CBS affiliate KOIN-TV in Portland that he heard about a half-dozen shots over 12 to 15 seconds and couldn't see exactly who was shooting. But he added: "I saw them shooting at each other."

FBI agent Greg Bretzing defended the FBI-led operation: "I will say that the armed occupiers were given ample opportunities to leave peacefully."

Finicum's daughter called him a martyr.

"He loved freedom obviously more than his life," Challice Finch told Dallas-Fort Worth TV station KXAS.

A small candlelight vigil was held in Finicum's memory in Burns Wednesday night, KOIN reported.

Bundy is the son of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who was involved in a tense 2014 standoff with the government over grazing rights.

The group came to the frozen high desert of eastern Oregon to decry what it calls onerous federal land restrictions and to object to the prison sentences of two local ranchers convicted of setting fires.

In a criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday, federal authorities said the armed group had explosives and night-vision goggles and was prepared to fight.

The charges against Bundy and others say that the refuge's 16 employees have been prevented from reporting to work because of threats of violence."



“In a video posted on the YouTube channel "DefendYourBase" that the group has been using to issue updates during the nearly 4-week-old siege, a speaker believed to be David Fry said the occupiers have been told by authorities that "out of five people left here, four of us are allowed to leave." The FBI had no immediate comment on the demand. It has said only that it is trying to "empty the refuge of the armed occupiers in the safest way possible." The FBI has set up checkpoints around the refuge that was taken over on Jan. 2 by ranchers and others demanding the federal government turn public lands over to local control. …. In the video, a speaker whose face was not visible said an FBI official told him one of the remaining occupiers faces a felony count of conspiracy to impede federal officers from carrying out their duties through force, intimidation or threats. That's the same charge 11 people already arrested in connection with the occupation face. …. Meanwhile, Bundy followers gave conflicting accounts of how Robert Finicum, a spokesman for the group, died in the confrontation Tuesday night on a remote highway. One said Finicum charged at FBI agents, who then shot him. A member of the Bundy family said Finicum did nothing to provoke the agents. …. FBI agent Greg Bretzing defended the FBI-led operation: "I will say that the armed occupiers were given ample opportunities to leave peacefully." …. In a criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday, federal authorities said the armed group had explosives and night-vision goggles and was prepared to fight. The charges against Bundy and others say that the refuge's 16 employees have been prevented from reporting to work because of threats of violence.”


Some updates over the January 26 and 27 articles are that, a total of 11 have been arrested and that a 12th is still in the compound awaiting arrest. The other 4 are trying to protect him from charges by saying that he was not one those who was centrally involved in the standoff. Finicum’s daughter is claiming that he is “a martyr,” and the FBI says that he charged FBI agents at the traffic stop and as a result was shot. I am glad to see that a firm and effective putdown of these individuals who are, in my view, criminals to a man. “Hippies” did several times occupy buildings on some college campuses in the Vietnam era, but they didn’t have guns, knives or bombs and didn’t attack officers, in a lethal way at any rate. They did appear in numbers that might be threatening, and they reportedly threw some disgusting things at officers. They were arrested for that, of course, as these ranchers were.




http://www.cbsnews.com/news/american-airlines-flight-109-passengers-sick-flight-attendant-faints/

American flight makes U-turn after mystery illness strikes
CBS NEWS
January 28, 2016


"American Airlines is investigating a mystery illness on a transatlantic airliner. At least six people became sick Wednesday on Flight 109 from London to Los Angeles.

Passengers say it began as a routine 10-hour flight, reports CBS News correspondent Kris Van Cleave. Then, about two and a half hours after takeoff, the crew turned on the cabin lights and asked if there was a doctor on board.

"It was probably as tense as anyone wants to be 30,000 feet in the air," passenger Eric Winter said.

He was one of the 172 passengers on the flight,

"I saw an older gentleman -- unfortunately, he had thrown up all over himself," Winter described.

British boy band Race the Horizon was also on board and said a flight attendant collapsed in the aisle.

"It was just a shock really. She was walking down the aisle, I don't know she just like sort of literally fainted in front of me," band member Kris Evans said.

The four-year-old Boeing 777 departed London's Heathrow Airport around noon on Wednesday for Los Angeles. Once in the air, the airline said two passengers and several flight attendants complained of lightheadedness. According to witnesses, two people fainted. Winter said a doctor and a medical student volunteered to help.

"They owned that cabin and made sure everyone was as safe or as comfortable as they needed to be," Winter said.

According to maps tracking the plane's flight path, the captain turned around just miles from Iceland's largest international airport.

"The pilot came on and spoke to everyone and said, 'Listen, the three of us are safe up front. We have zero problems, we're taking us back to London,'" Winter recalled.

Teams of first responders, including a hazmat unit, met the aircraft at the gate. London's ambulance service says it treated and released six patients at the scene who were not feeling well.

Winter commended the pilots and crew for their professionalism.

"In the absence of information, your mind can go crazy, but I think they did a tremendous job," he said. "They communicated to us every step of the way. And here we are. We're sitting on the ground and we're fine."

American says a hazmat team checked the plane and all of the luggage. Maintenance crews also inspected the entire aircraft. So far there's no sign anything was wrong, but the aircraft is being thoroughly cleaned.

The decision to return to London instead of diverting to Iceland would be up to the captain. Returning to London would make it easier to re-accommodate passengers."



“Winter commended the pilots and crew for their professionalism. "In the absence of information, your mind can go crazy, but I think they did a tremendous job," he said. "They communicated to us every step of the way. And here we are. We're sitting on the ground and we're fine."


“So far there's no sign anything was wrong, but the aircraft is being thoroughly cleaned.” This does remind me of a story some five or more years ago that took place on a K-12 school campus. I don’t remember how old the kids were, but I think they in the grammar school grades. One student detected “an odor,” the teacher was notified and then the principal. Many kids became “ill” in much the same way as the passengers here, but no chemicals or other problem was found. It was ruled “group hysteria.”

The human being is a strange critter. This may be the result of the instinct among herd animals to run in panic when one animal evinces fear. It has an obvious survival value, but it does make for much national timidity in the human case. People who won’t fight are natural victims, and that to me is not something I approve of, especially if it also means that a group such as ISIS, or Hitler in WWII, can “conquer” vast swaths of the societies nearby. I don’t want to be so “nice” that I am exploited or injured by some very angry, deceitful or aggressive person.

To make a little more sense of this airliner incident, I think we all have to use our conscious mind to clamp down on the fear produced by being (1) in a small overly crowded space with no way out and (2) suspended 30,000 feet above the earth. True, planes rarely fall out of the sky, but when they do there are no survivors. We do have to weigh our chances in life, of course, and some weigh the balance more toward the side of fear, some are excitement junkies, and others (most, hopefully) are rational and normal emotionally.




http://www.cbsnews.com/news/affluenza-teen-ethan-couch-arrives-in-texas/

Ethan Couch, "Affluenza" teen, arrives back in Texas
AP January 28, 2016

Photograph -- Ethan Couch, known as the "affluenza" teen after he killed four people in a drunk-driving incident in 2013, is seen getting into a Mexican government vehicle to be driven to an airport in this still image from a video provided by Mexico's National Institute of Migration in Mexico City Jan. 28, 2016. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MIGRATION/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS


"MEXICO CITY -- A commercial flight carrying "affluenza" teen Ethan Couch arrived Thursday morning at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, hours after uniformed Mexican immigration agents escorted the teen from a Mexico City immigration detention center.

Couch and his mother, Tonya, were detained in the resort of Puerto Vallarta in December. His mother was quickly sent back to the U.S. She was released after posting bail. But lawyers for Ethan Couch filed an appeal against deportation, delaying his return.

Video released by the immigration institute showed Couch, wearing a bluish camouflage-print hoodie, being escorted out of the detention center before dawn and being escorted onto the plane by four agents.

The agents did not appear to be armed. He had been in immigration custody for 28 days.

Couch is seen with a full, light-brown beard on the institute's video, showing little emotion as he is placed aboard a pickup truck and driven out of the gated detention center.

The institute said that upon arrival in Dallas, Couch "will be met by U.S. authorities and face various charges."

Couch's Mexican lawyer, Fernando Benitez, said Tuesday that Ethan Couch formally ratified his decision to drop the appeal on Monday.

"I gave him several options, but he decided to go to Texas to face whatever charges he faces," Benitez said.

While the appeal had centered on whether Couch should have been afforded a longer extradition process rather than deportation, in the end the Mexican government simply called it "an assisted return."

Tonya Couch's arrest affidavit alleges that she and her 18-year-old son fled the state in December as Texas prosecutors investigated whether he had violated his probation in the case of a 2013 wreck that killed four people. Mother and son were taken into custody later that month in Puerto Vallarta, after a call for pizza delivery tipped off authorities to their whereabouts.

Tonya Couch is charged with hindering the apprehension of a felon and could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

During Ethan Couch's trial, a defense witness said the teen was coddled into a sense of irresponsibility by his wealthy parents, a condition the expert called "affluenza." The condition is not recognized as a medical diagnosis by the American Psychiatric Association, and its invocation drew widespread ridicule.

Upon his return to Texas, Ethan Couch will be held in a juvenile detention center. A juvenile judge will hold a hearing to decide whether to continue to hold him there, book him in an adult jail or let him go, said Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson.

A separate hearing is scheduled for Feb. 19 to determine whether Couch's case is transferred to the adult system.

The advocacy group Mothers Against Drunk Driving, commonly known as MADD, earlier this month collected tens of thousands of signatures on a petition demanding that Couch's case be moved to adult court. In a statement Thursday, the group's president, Colleen Sheehey-Church, said Couch should be sent to prison.

"Ethan Couch is in route back to the U.S. and is expected to attend his February 19th transfer hearing in person - and so will MADD," Sheehey-Church said. "It's more than overdue for Couch to be held accountable after taking the lives of four people, and injuring several others."

If Couch's case is transferred to adult court and he violates his probation again, he could face up to 10 years in prison per death."



I’m thoroughly sick and tired of this “affluenza teen,” but I just want to make one point. We need a federal law prohibiting any concept resembling this – justice by privilege, in other words – to be used in the defense of any individual’s actions, such as the white male student yelling “Hippopotamus” at a group of black female students on a college campus within the last 10 years or so. No, I don’t remember when or what college it was, but it was way out of line as behavior, and the result of the boy’s “white privilege.” Perhaps the college did punish him. I don’t remember that, either, but he certainly should have been sanctioned in some way. We not only need for these incidents to stop, but they need to be punished appropriately.

When our forefathers came here in the 1700s for justice and freedom, they wanted to escape situations like the local “lord of the manor’s” raping the beautiful daughter of the poor man who farmed his land, getting only a share of the crops. The lord, of course, was never charged with rape or assault unless some unusual pressure was put on the judge. That was England three hundred years ago, and it simply should NOT pop up here in our country of “the free and the brave.”




http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/coyotes-high-on-shrooms-blamed-for-highway-incidents/

Coyotes high on shrooms blamed for highway incidents
JANUARY 27, 2016, 10:18 PM

Note: this is a video only. Go to the website above and watch it.

"Coyotes behaving strangely on a California highway are believed to be tripping on shrooms. CBSN's Contessa Brewer has more on the trippy encounters."



I do love the immense variety that occurs in nature. Coyotes and dogs are not true carnivores, but omnivores like humans. I have noticed in my young days of walking around in the woods behind our house that some mushrooms have a disgusting “fishy” odor. My dog actually insisted on rolling in one of those, she was so fascinated with the smell. It’s possible that to a predator that can smell like protein which is beginning to rot, and believe it or not, dogs will eat carrion and worse. It is theorized that when a wolf or dog finds something edible like that they will roll in it to carry the scent back to the pack on their fur to announce the presence of a nice three day old kill. I think these coyotes were attracted by the odor and, perhaps at the point of starvation, decided to eat them. The video states that rabies has been ruled out as a cause of bizarre behavior.




http://www.cbsnews.com/news/man-arrested-with-handguns-at-disneyland-paris-hotel/

Man with handguns arrested at Disneyland Paris
CBS/AP
January 28, 2016

"PARIS -- A man with two handguns was detained Thursday at Disneyland Paris, Europe's most-visited tourist attraction, police said.

No one was hurt in the incident and the park remained open after the arrests. They come as France remains on edge and under a state of emergency after Islamic extremist attacks around Paris in November that killed 130 people.

The man, 28, was detained at the New York Hotel, part of the Disneyland complex, according to a police official who wasn't authorized to be publicly named. He was also found to have a Quran. The man's motives for trying to enter the hotel with weapons were unclear.

Earlier reports indicated a woman was also in custody. Police tell CBS News they do not have a woman in custody in connection with the man who was detained.

A hotel employee from the New York Hotel told CBS News that there are no Americans staying at the hotel. The employee said that both of the arrested individuals are French and they had a reservation for only one night at the hotel.

About a dozen police surrounded the hotel Thursday evening, and a car was towed away from the parking lot, though it's unclear whether the car was linked to the arrests.

Employees at the New York Hotel and several others around Disneyland Paris said they continued functioning as usual after the arrest.

"We continually review our comprehensive approach to security and are implementing additional security measures, as appropriate," a Disney Parks spokesperson said in a statement.

The park, east of the French capital, closed briefly after the Nov. 13 attacks."


“No one was hurt in the incident and the park remained open after the arrests. …. He was also found to have a Quran. The man's motives for trying to enter the hotel with weapons were unclear. Earlier reports indicated a woman was also in custody. Police tell CBS News they do not have a woman in custody in connection with the man who was detained.” …. "We continually review our comprehensive approach to security and are implementing additional security measures, as appropriate," a Disney Parks spokesperson said in a statement. The park, east of the French capital, closed briefly after the Nov. 13 attacks.”


Insane people are often drawn to religion, as they are to war, and in this case with ISIS it may be both. I don’t think a really sane person, even in a situation of indoctrination, will kill randomly like they have been doing in the last few years. I don’t blame Islam, but I do blame hysterical religious fanaticism and this philosophy called “fundamentalism.” Religious fundamentalists tend to view it as the height of faith, but I view it as the, at least partially willful, abandonment of rationality.