July 16, 2016


News and Views


http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36815956

Why Turkish stability matters to the region and beyond
By Jeremy Bowen
BBC Middle East editor
16 July 2016
From the section Europe

Photograph -- Turkey has become deeply polarised in recent years
Map of Turkey -- Image caption, Turkey sits at the crossroads between Europe and the Middle East
Photograph -- Recip Tayyep Erdogan (centre) in front of portrait of Kemal Ataturk (16/07/16)Image copyrightAP, Image caption

Turkey is a divided, unhappy country. It is not clear exactly what motivated the men who plotted the coup. But they tried to seize control at a time when Turkey is deeply divided over President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's project to transform the country, and hurting badly by the contagion of violence from the war in Syria.

The Turkish government has indirectly accused the exiled Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen of being behind the coup.

Mr Erdogan has in the past blamed Mr Gulen for a variety of Turkey's ills.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim threatened any country that would "stand by" Mr Gulen "won't be a friend of Turkey and will be considered at war with Turkey".

Mr Gulen lives in self-imposed exile in the United States. He was an ally of Mr Erdogan's, and was sometimes known as Turkey's second most-powerful man, before they fell out.

Strengthened president?

Turkey is important in the Middle East because of its geographic position, straddling Europe and Asia; because it is a leading member of Nato; and because the Islamist President Erdogan and his AK party have taken a strong interest in the Sunni Muslim-led governments in the region.

In a speech a Turkish newscaster said she was forced to read at gunpoint, the plotters claimed that they were aiming to restore Turkey's secular democracy.

President Erdogan's powers have become increasingly concentrated

The ruling AK party has become expert at winning elections, but there have always been doubts about Mr Erdogan's long-term commitment to democracy.

Once, he compared democracy to a bus you take to your destination, and then get off.

President Erdogan is a political Islamist who has rejected modern Turkey's secular heritage.

He has been increasingly authoritarian, locking up troublesome journalists and others.

Now that he has crushed an attempted coup he might try to impose an even tighter regime on the country.

Mr Erdogan served as prime minister for many years. Now he is trying to change the constitution to turn himself into a strong executive president.

Key player

Mr Erdogan and his governments have been deeply involved in the war in Syria since it started in 2011, backing mainly Islamist militias fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

But violence has spread across the border, helping to reignite the fight with the Kurdish PKK, and turning Turkey into a target for the jihadists who call themselves Islamic State.

The West sees Turkey as part of the solution in the Middle East. That requires stability, and without it a simple equation applies.

Turmoil in the Middle East plus turmoil in Turkey equals trouble for everyone.

But it can be argued that Turkey has made a lot of trouble on its own in the region and is deeply tied up in the conflicts of its neighbours.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan's governments have shown a much keener appetite about getting involved in the Middle East than the Turkish people.

He has been a key backer of the mainly Islamist militias that have been fighting Syria's president since 2011.

Recently he has been patching up relations with Israel - but President Erdogan also has a natural affinity with Israel's enemy Hamas - which shares roots in the Muslim Brotherhood.

And Turkey is seen by the EU as a vital part of schemes to control the flow of migrants from the Middle East.

Turkey is facing increasing turmoil, and the attempt to over thrown President Erdogan will not be the last of it.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/turkey-military-coup-thousands-arrested-fired-roundup-erdogan/

"Cleansing" sweeps up thousands in post-coup Turkey
CBS/AP
July 17, 2016, 7:45 AM

22 Photos -- People kick and beat a Turkish soldier that participated in the attempted coup, on Istanbul's Bosporus Bridge, Saturday, July 16, 2016. AP PHOTO/SELCUK SAMILOGLU
Related: Fethullah Gulen CBS NEWS, In a televised speech, Erdogan called on the United States to extradite Gulen.
Play VIDEO -- Why Turkish president can emerge stronger after quashing coup
Play VIDEO -- Attempted coup fails in Turkey
Photograph -- Soldiers involved in a coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge on July 16, 2016, in Istanbul, Turkey. GOKHAN TAN/GETTY IMAGES


ISTANBUL - A nationwide purge following a failed military coup in Turkey has led to the roundup, arrest and firing of thousands of people.

Turkey's justice minister says some 6,000 people have been detained in a government crackdown on alleged coup plotters and government opponents.

The botched coup, which saw warplanes fly over key government installations and tanks roll up in major cities briefly, ended hours later when loyal government forces including military and police- regained control of the military and civilians took to the streets in support of Erdogan.

At least 265 people were killed and over 1,400 were wounded. Government officials say at least 104 conspirators were killed. Already, three of the country's top generals have been detained, alongside hundreds of soldiers.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said Sunday in a television interview about the government response that "the cleansing (operation) is continuing. Some 6,000 detentions have taken place. The number could surpass 6,000."

The government has dismissed nearly 3,000 judges and prosecutors from their posts, while investigators were preparing court cases to send the conspirators to trial on charges of attempting to overthrow the government.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the perpetrators of Friday's failed coup "will receive every punishment they deserve,"

Justice Minister Bozdag also weighed in on the tension over a U.S.-based Islamic cleric. He said he was confident that the United States would return Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen to Turkey. The Turkish president has blamed Gulen and his followers for the failed military coup on Friday night, but Gulen, who was profiled by "60 Minutes" in 2012, has denied any involvement in or knowledge about the attempted coup. The U.S. has said it will look at any evidence Turkey has to offer against Gulen, and judge accordingly.

Bozdag said "the United States would weaken itself by protecting him, it would harm its reputation. I don't think that at this hour, the United States would protect someone who carried out this act against Turkey."

Explosions and gunfire erupted throughout the night on Friday during the coup attempt. It quickly became clear, however, that the military was not united in the effort to overthrow the government. In a dramatic iPhone interview broadcast on TV early Saturday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged his supporters into the streets to confront the troops and tanks, and forces loyal to the government began reasserting control.

Before the chaos, Turkey - a NATO member and key Western ally in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) - had been wracked by political turmoil that critics blamed on Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule. He has shaken up the government, cracked down on dissidents, restricted the news media and renewed fighting with Kurdish rebels.

On Sunday, however, it appears Erdogan's popularity online increased. Chanting, dancing and waving flags, tens of thousands of Turks marched through the streets into the wee hours in half a dozen cities to defend democracy and support the country's long-time leader after a failed military coup shocked the nation.

It was an emotional display by Turks, who rallied in headscarves and long dresses, T-shirts and work boots, some walking hand-in-hand with their children. Rather than toppling Turkey's strongman president, the attempted coup appears to have bolstered Recep Tayyip Erdogan's popularity and grip on power.

"Just a small group from Turkish armed forces stood up against our government ... but we, the Turkish nation, stand together and repulse it back," Gozde Kurt, a 16-year-old student at the rally in Istanbul, said Sunday morning.

Flights resumed late Saturday into Istanbul's Anaturk Airport -- itself recovering from a recent devastating terrorist attack -- after being halted for nearly 24 hours and scores of government supporters gathered to make sure the airport was not a coup target again. The usually buzzing airport was eerily quiet.

In an unusual show of unity, Turkey's four main political parties released a joint declaration during an extraordinary parliamentary meeting Saturday, denouncing the coup attempt and claiming that any moves against the people or parliament will be met "with the iron will of the Turkish Grand National Assembly."

Officials claimed the judges and the coup plotters were loyal to moderate cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Erdogan has often accused of attempting to overthrow the government. Gulen, a staunch democracy advocate who lives in exile in Pennsylvania, is a former Erdogan ally turned bitter foe who has been put on trial in absentia in Turkey.

At a news conference Saturday in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, Gulen strongly denied any role in or knowledge of the coup.

"Government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force," he said. "As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations."

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States would entertain an extradition request for Gulen, but Turkey would have to present "legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny."

Turkey's NATO allies lined up to condemn the coup attempt. President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg urged all sides to support Turkey's democratically elected government.

Turkey's military staged three coups between 1960 and 1980 and pressured Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, a mentor of Erdogan, out of power in 1997.



http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/turkey-military-coup/turkey-coup-attempt-commander-u-s-linked-base-among-6-n611081

Turkey Coup Attempt: Commander of U.S.-Linked Base Among 6,000 Arrested
by REUTERS
NEWS TURKEY MILITARY COUP
JUL 17 2016, 10:12 AM ET

Play -- Full MTP Interview: Kerry on Turkey, Terrorism and the Tumultuous Week Abroad 6:37
Play -- U.S. Concerned About Turkey's Future in Wake of Failed Coup 0:59
Play -- Full MTP Interview: Kerry on Turkey, Terrorism and the Tumultuous Week Abroad 6:37
Related: Gulen said Saturday the attempted overthrow could have possibly been staged to justify a crackdown by Erdogan.


ISTANBUL — Turkey widened a crackdown on suspected supporters of a failed military coup on Sunday, bringing the number of people rounded up to 6,000 — including the commander of an airbase from which the U.S. launches airstrikes on ISIS fighters.

Amid the arrests, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Turkish television that life in the country was back to normal, announcing the central bank, capital markets board, banking system and stock exchange were all functional.

An official told Reuters that "a few important soldiers on the run and being sought" would likely be captured "shortly," in addition to the 6,000 people already detained.

An official who did not wish to be named told NBC News that among those arrested was General Bekir Ercan Van, commander of the Incirlik air base from which U.S. aircraft launch airstrikes on Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq. Ten other soldiers at the base were also detained, he said.

Operations at the base were briefly halted following the coup attempt, but resumed Sunday afternoon local time, according to the Pentagon.

"After close coordination with our Turkish allies, they have reopened their airspace to military aircraft. As a result, counter-ISIL coalition air operations at all air bases in Turkey have resumed," a defense department spokesman said in a statement.

Authorities have rounded up nearly 3,000 suspected military plotters, ranging from top commanders to foot soldiers, and the same number of judges and prosecutors after forces loyal to President Tayyip Erdogan crushed the attempted coup on Saturday.

The crackdown appeared to intensify a longstanding push by Erdogan to root out the influence of followers of U.S.-based Fethullah Gulen — a cleric who was at one point an ally of Erdogan's government.

Erdogan accuses followers of Gulen of trying to create a "parallel structure" within the courts, police, armed forces and media with an aim to topple the state.

The cleric denies the charge and says he played no role in the attempted coup, denouncing it as an affront to democracy.

Gulen said Saturday the attempted overthrow could have possibly been staged to justify a crackdown by Erdogan.

"As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations," Gulen said in a statement.

"Through military interventions, democracy cannot be achieved. Through military interventions, republican government cannot be strengthened. And through military intervention, Turkey's integration with the world cannot be strengthened or achieved," Gulen later told reporters.

Erdogan called on the United States to extradite Gulen. Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. would help in the investigation into who was responsible for the attempted coup and consider an extradition request, but only if there was solid evidence against Gulen.

Kerry also warned that suggestions of a U.S. role in the failed coup were "utterly false" and harmful to relations after Turkey's labor minister suggested there had been U.S. involvement in the plot.

Overnight, supporters of Erdogan rallied in public squares, at Istanbul airport and outside his palace in a show of defiance after the coup attempt killed scores.

With expectations growing of heavy measures against dissent, European politicians warned Erdogan that the coup attempt did not give him liberty to disregard the rule of law, and that he risked isolating himself internationally as he strengthens his position at home.

But Erdogan promised a purge of the armed forces even before the coup attempt was over. "They will pay a heavy price for this," he said. "This uprising is a gift from God to us because this will be a reason to cleanse our army."

A successful overthrow of Erdogan, who has ruled the country since 2003, would have marked another seismic shift in the Middle East, five years after the Arab uprisings erupted and plunged Turkey's southern neighbor Syria into civil war.

But the failed attempt could still destabilize the NATO member and U.S. ally, which lies between Europe and the chaos of Syria.

REUTERS
CONTRIBUTORS JIM MIKLASZEWSKI and ELISHA FIELDSTADT



http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/07/16/486291579/why-is-a-cleric-in-the-poconos-accused-of-fomenting-turkeys-coup-attempt

POLITICS & POLICY

Why Is A Cleric In The Poconos Accused Of Fomenting Turkey's Coup Attempt?
GREG MYRE
July 16, 2016 10:30 AM ET

Photograph -- Muslim cleric Fetullah Gulen (right) receives a vase from Israel's Chief Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi Doron during a meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1998. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday accused Gulen of involvement in a coup attempt, a charge Gulen denied. MURAD SEZER/AP


As Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan began re-establishing control Saturday, he immediately pointed the finger of blame for the failed coup attempt against him.

So who does he consider most responsible? A rogue general?

Nope. Erdogan directed his outrage at an elderly, reclusive Muslim cleric living in Pennsylvania's Poconos: Fethullah Gulen.

"I have a message for Pennsylvania: You have engaged in enough treason against this nation. If you dare, come back to your country," Erdogan said Saturday in reference to Gulen, not the entire Keystone State.

Erdogan and Gulen used to be buddies. Both were considered moderate Islamists. Gulen encouraged his many followers to support Erdogan, who in turn helped raise the profile of Gulen, who runs a vast network of Islamic schools worldwide, including more than 100 charter schools in the United States.

Both men benefited from the relationship. But they had a falling out in 2013 over a corruption investigation that targeted Erdogan and some of his closest allies. Erdogan apparently believed Gulen's allies in the judiciary were responsible for the inquiry, and responded by dismissing many in the judicial system considered close to Gulen, a powerful political force in his own right.

Gulen, who's in his mid-70s, denounced the coup attempt and said he had no role in it.

"As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt," Gulen said in a statement. "I categorically deny such accusations."

A Worldwide Following

He has many Sunni Muslim followers, estimated at anywhere from 1 million to 8 million worldwide, and his religious views are generally considered mainstream, though some in secular Turkey are suspicious of him.

Since 1999, Gulen has lived at the Golden Generation Worship and Retreat Center, a compound in Saylorsburg, Pa., which serves as the headquarters for his Alliance of Shared Values.

He rarely gives interviews, but spoke to The Atlantic in 2013. He was asked why he remained in Pennsylvania rather than return to Turkey, and gave this intriguing response:

"I am concerned that certain circles are waiting for an opportunity to reverse the democratic reforms that were started in the early 1990s and accelerated in the last decade. I am concerned that these elements will try to take advantage of my return by putting the government in a difficult position. ... Additionally, while in Turkey, I would seek corrections and possible legal actions against libel and slander. Here, I am away from such harassment, and I am less affected by them. I find this place more tranquil."

Gulen was already facing legal problems in his homeland before Friday's attempted coup.

An Istanbul court last October issued an arrest warrant for him following an indictment that charged him with "attempting to overthrow the government of the Republic of Turkey or obstructing it from conducting its duties by force," according to the Anadolu, the Turkish news agency.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday the U.S. would consider an extradition request for Gulen, but stressed that Turkey would have to present evidence of wrongdoing on his part, the Associated Press reported.

Kerry, who was in Luxembourg, noted that Turkey hasn't made such a request, though he anticipated that Turkey would raise the issue.


BBC EXCERPT -- “The ruling AK party has become expert at winning elections, but there have always been doubts about Mr Erdogan's long-term commitment to democracy. Once, he compared democracy to a bus you take to your destination, and then get off. President Erdogan is a political Islamist who has rejected modern Turkey's secular heritage. He has been increasingly authoritarian, locking up troublesome journalists and others. Now that he has crushed an attempted coup he might try to impose an even tighter regime on the country. Mr Erdogan served as prime minister for many years. Now he is trying to change the constitution to turn himself into a strong executive president. …. Mr Erdogan and his governments have been deeply involved in the war in Syria since it started in 2011, backing mainly Islamist militias fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. But violence has spread across the border, helping to reignite the fight with the Kurdish PKK, and turning Turkey into a target for the jihadists who call themselves Islamic State. The West sees Turkey as part of the solution in the Middle East. That requires stability, and without it a simple equation applies. …. Recently he has been patching up relations with Israel - but President Erdogan also has a natural affinity with Israel's enemy Hamas - which shares roots in the Muslim Brotherhood. And Turkey is seen by the EU as a vital part of schemes to control the flow of migrants from the Middle East. Turkey is facing increasing turmoil, and the attempt to over thrown President Erdogan will not be the last of it.”

CBS EXCERPT -- “The government has dismissed nearly 3,000 judges and prosecutors from their posts, while investigators were preparing court cases to send the conspirators to trial on charges of attempting to overthrow the government. …. The U.S. has said it will look at any evidence Turkey has to offer against Gulen, and judge accordingly. Bozdag said "the United States would weaken itself by protecting him, it would harm its reputation. I don't think that at this hour, the United States would protect someone who carried out this act against Turkey." …. . It quickly became clear, however, that the military was not united in the effort to overthrow the government. In a dramatic iPhone interview broadcast on TV early Saturday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged his supporters into the streets to confront the troops and tanks, and forces loyal to the government began reasserting control. Before the chaos, Turkey - a NATO member and key Western ally in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) - had been wracked by political turmoil that critics blamed on Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule. He has shaken up the government, cracked down on dissidents, restricted the news media and renewed fighting with Kurdish rebels. …. In an unusual show of unity, Turkey's four main political parties released a joint declaration during an extraordinary parliamentary meeting Saturday, denouncing the coup attempt and claiming that any moves against the people or parliament will be met "with the iron will of the Turkish Grand National Assembly." Officials claimed the judges and the coup plotters were loyal to moderate cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Erdogan has often accused of attempting to overthrow the government. Gulen, a staunch democracy advocate who lives in exile in Pennsylvania, is a former Erdogan ally turned bitter foe who has been put on trial in absentia in Turkey. At a news conference Saturday in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, Gulen strongly denied any role in or knowledge of the coup.”

NBC EXCERPT – “Amid the arrests, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Turkish television that life in the country was back to normal, announcing the central bank, capital markets board, banking system and stock exchange were all functional. An official told Reuters that "a few important soldiers on the run and being sought" would likely be captured "shortly," in addition to the 6,000 people already detained. An official who did not wish to be named told NBC News that among those arrested was General Bekir Ercan Van, commander of the Incirlik air base from which U.S. aircraft launch airstrikes on Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq. Ten other soldiers at the base were also detained, he said. Operations at the base were briefly halted following the coup attempt, but resumed Sunday afternoon local time, according to the Pentagon. …. Erdogan accuses followers of Gulen of trying to create a "parallel structure" within the courts, police, armed forces and media with an aim to topple the state. The cleric denies the charge and says he played no role in the attempted coup, denouncing it as an affront to democracy. Gulen said Saturday the attempted overthrow could have possibly been staged to justify a crackdown by Erdogan. …. Erdogan called on the United States to extradite Gulen. Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. would help in the investigation into who was responsible for the attempted coup and consider an extradition request, but only if there was solid evidence against Gulen. Kerry also warned that suggestions of a U.S. role in the failed coup were "utterly false" and harmful to relations after Turkey's labor minister suggested there had been U.S. involvement in the plot. …. With expectations growing of heavy measures against dissent, European politicians warned Erdogan that the coup attempt did not give him liberty to disregard the rule of law, and that he risked isolating himself internationally as he strengthens his position at home. But Erdogan promised a purge of the armed forces even before the coup attempt was over. "They will pay a heavy price for this," he said. "This uprising is a gift from God to us because this will be a reason to cleanse our army."

NPR EXCERPT -- “Erdogan and Gulen used to be buddies. Both were considered moderate Islamists. Gulen encouraged his many followers to support Erdogan, who in turn helped raise the profile of Gulen, who runs a vast network of Islamic schools worldwide, including more than 100 charter schools in the United States. Both men benefited from the relationship. But they had a falling out in 2013 over a corruption investigation that targeted Erdogan and some of his closest allies. Erdogan apparently believed Gulen's allies in the judiciary were responsible for the inquiry, and responded by dismissing many in the judicial system considered close to Gulen, a powerful political force in his own right. Gulen, who's in his mid-70s, denounced the coup attempt and said he had no role in it. …. Since 1999, Gulen has lived at the Golden Generation Worship and Retreat Center, a compound in Saylorsburg, Pa., which serves as the headquarters for his Alliance of Shared Values. He rarely gives interviews, but spoke to The Atlantic in 2013. He was asked why he remained in Pennsylvania rather than return to Turkey, and gave this intriguing response: "I am concerned that certain circles are waiting for an opportunity to reverse the democratic reforms that were started in the early 1990s and accelerated in the last decade. I am concerned that these elements will try to take advantage of my return by putting the government in a difficult position.”


Damning words from Erdogan – “a bus to a destination” .... "This uprising is a gift from God to us because this will be a reason to cleanse our army." I wonder if these statements were uttered privately to a trusted friend. Erdogan has a large and loyal following, but there are those who consider him to be much less than democratic. The falling out with cleric Gulen was over an inquiry over Erdogan’s possible corruption and Erdogan is convinced that he was complicit in it. I’m glad to see that Kerry is not promising to extradite the man to Turkey, because that will put us directly in the middle of a possible civil war there. It could cost us our airbase privileges, and Turkish cooperation in keeping more migrants out is important to Europe.

Erdogan’s statement that he suspects an apparently wider conspiracy, led by Gulen, to essentially infiltrate the entire governmental system with a “parallel structure” made up of untrustworthy elected officials is most interesting, if paranoid. As they say, “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t meant they aren’t out to get you!” I have feared that Hillary Clinton’s “vast rightwing conspiracy,” Charles and David Koch and the whole crowd, is right now doing exactly that in the US. That’s why things like Clinton’s Big Money connections frighten me as well as angering me. (Maybe she is one of “them”….) Still, in a way, our government is set up with our frequent elections to dislodge such people fairly regularly. Our Congress and Senate do not, I don’t believe, have any Term Limits, though. That’s something we need to fix if Trump is not elected.

The other possible threat mentioned above is Erdogan’s “natural affinity” with Hamas. Turkey is much too centrally located geographically and culturally with the complicated factors in the modern Middle East’s instability. I can’t help worrying about this situation almost as much as I do about the tens of thousands of ISIS refugees. It isn’t just that they really “aren’t wanted” in such numbers in Europe, but that as dear old Donald Trump says, they are a very mixed and unknown group, some of whom probably are indeed more loyal to Fundamentalist Islamists than to the nation which gives them shelter.

That situation will likely then be increased in its’ danger by the Anti-Western hatred that will come as European citizens begin to mistreat them – and I’m sure they already have started that. White Christians do tend to think that is their right and privilege. If the basic way that the human mind works could simply be changed, perhaps these intergroup problems would tend to disappear or at any rate diminish.

This whole situation is troubling and dangerous. I also dislike our tactical use of national leaders who are essentially beginning to resemble despots; but more people around the Islamic world, which isn’t just in the Middle East, may hate us even more than they already do if we side yet again with someone who is widely distrusted. The hatred against Israel today is partly because Israel is just not as kind, gentle, fair, compassionate, etc. etc. etc. to the Palestinians as they should be, and much of the Arab world has taken that up as their battle cry. As people often say, it’s truly a “powderkeg!”


SHOOTING DU JOUR


http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/baton-rouge-police-reports-multiple-officers-shot-n611101

Baton Rouge Police: Reports of Multiple Officers Shot
by JACQUELLENA CARRERO , ELISHA FIELDSTADT and GABE GUTIERREZ
DEVELOPING NEWS JUL 17 2016, 11:22 AM ET

Video -- Report: Multiple people shot in Baton Rouge 1:20


Multiple police officers in Baton Rouge were shot Sunday morning, a law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation told NBC News.

The scene, not far from the police department's headquarters, was contained just after 11 a.m. ET Sunday, according to Sgt. Don Coppola, a department spokesman. He couldn't say whether a suspect was in custody.

Coppola did not know the extent of the injuries or the precise number of officers injured.

A section of Airline Highway, blocks from the police department, was closed off "due to police activity," according to the Louisiana Department of Transportation.

The Baton Rouge Police Department has been on high alert since the fatal shooting of Alton Sterling by a police officer prompted protests in the city. Amid the turmoil, four people were arrested in an alleged plot to shoot and kill police officers.

This is a breaking story. Refresh for updates.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/baton-rouge-police-shooting-suspects-information/

Dead Baton Rouge shooter attacked police on his birthday
CBS/AP
July 17, 2016, 4:28 PM

Photograph -- Law enforcement officers block the entrance to the Louisiana State Police Headquarters in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S. July 17, 2016. REUTERS
Photograph -- 2016-07-17 t153041z2134413939s1aetqctwjaartrmadp3usa-police.jpg
Photograph -- Police officers block off a road after a shooting of police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, July 17, 2016. REUTERS/JOE PENNEY
Play VIDEO -- Three police officers killed in Baton Rouge
Play VIDEO -- Manhunt continues after Baton Rouge police shooting


BATON ROUGE, La. -- The deceased suspect in the deadly shooting of Baton Rouge law enforcement officers appeared to have attacked police on his 29th birthday, CBS News has learned.

The suspect has been identified as a black male named Gavin Eugene Long of Kansas City, Missouri, sources tell CBS News. He was born on July 17, 1987.

According to a military source, Long left the Marines in 2010 with an honorable discharge. His final Marine rank was E-5 (sergeant).

One suspect was killed and two others might still be at large, Casey Rayborn Hicks, a spokeswoman for the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office, previously said. However, Louisiana state police said Sunday afternoon there is "no active shooter" in Baton Rouge.

The Baton Rouge Advocate reported that two other men were picked up across the Mississippi River in Addis and were being questioned by police as "persons of interest."

Three Baton Rouge law enforcement officers were killed and three others wounded Sunday, less than two weeks after a black man was shot and killed by police here in a confrontation that sparked nightly protests across the city that reverberated nationwide.

Police involved in the shooting included officers with the Baton Rouge Police Department and deputies from the East Baton Rouge Sheriffs Office.

Police responded to a report of officers shot at a location on Airline Highway near Old Hammond Highway around 9 a.m., CBS affiliate WAFB reported.

A law enforcement source tells CBS News senior investigative producer Pat Milton that police were called to the location on Airline Highway, less than a mile from the Baton Rouge Police Department headquarters, after someone reported a suspicious man with a weapon.

A witness tells CBS affiliate WAFB that he saw a masked man in black shorts and shirt running from the scene where three Baton Rouge law enforcement officers were shot and killed.

Brady Vancel said the man looked like a pedestrian running with a rifle in his hand, rather than someone trained to move with a rifle.

Vancel said he'd gone to work on a flooring job on a street behind the gas station where authorities say the shooting occurred. He said he heard semi-automatic fire and perhaps a handgun.

He saw a man in a red shirt lying in an empty parking lot and "another gunman running away as more shots were being fired back and forth from several guns."

According to a WSJ source, the deceased suspect was affiliated with an anti-government group.

It is the fourth high-profile deadly encounter in the United States involving police over the past two weeks. The violence has left 12 people dead, including eight police officers, and sparked a national conversation over race and policing.

President Barack Obama said the slayings were attacks "on the rule of law and on civilized society, and they have to stop." He said there was no justification for violence against law enforcement and that the attacks are the work of cowards who speak for no one.

The attack began at a gas station on Airline Highway. The slain shooter's body was next door, outside a fitness center. Police said they were using a specialized robot to check for explosives near the body.

Gov. John Bel Edwards rushed to the hospital where the shot officers were taken.

"Rest assured, every resource available to the State of Louisiana will be used to ensure the perpetrators are swiftly brought to justice," Edwards said in a statement.


On Sunday afternoon, more than a dozen police cars with lights flashing were massed near a commercial area of car dealerships and chain restaurants on the highway. Police armed with long guns stopped at least two vehicles driving away from the scene and checked their trunks.

That area was about a quarter of a mile from a gas station, where almost nightly protests had been taking place.

Five officers were rushed to Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Ashley Mendoza said.

Of the two who survived the shooting, one was in critical condition and the other was in fair condition. Multiple police vehicles were stationed at the hospital, and a police officer with a long gun was blocking the parking lot at the emergency room.

One officer was sent to Baton Rouge General Medical Center and was being treated for non-life-threatening injuries, spokeswoman Meghan Parrish said.

Officers and deputies from the Baton Rouge Police Department and East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office were involved, Hicks said.

Last week, police arrested and identified three young people who they say plotted to kill Baton Rouge cops using guns stolen from a pawn shop. Law enforcement said at a conference they believe it to be a substantial and credible threat on police officers in the Baton Rouge area.

Police-community relations in Baton Rouge have been especially tense since the death of 37-year-old Alton Sterling, a black man killed by white officers July 5 after a scuffle at a convenience store. The killing was captured on widely circulated cellphone video.

It was followed a day later by the shooting death of another black man in Minnesota, whose girlfriend livestreamed the aftermath of his death on Facebook. The next day, a black gunman in Dallas opened fire on police at a protest about the police shootings, killing five officers and heightening tensions even further.

Thousands of people have protested Sterling's death, and Baton Rouge police arrested more than 200 demonstrators.


Sterling's nephew condemned the killing of the three officers.

Terrance Carter spoke Sunday to The Associated Press by telephone, saying the family just wants peace and that his uncle would not want this violence.

Michelle Rogers said Sunday the pastor at her church had led prayers Sunday for Sterling's family and police officers, asking members of the congregation to stand up if they knew an officer.

Rogers said an officer in the congregation hastily left the church near the end of the service, and a pastor announced that "something had happened."

"But he didn't say what. Then we started getting texts about officers down," she said.

Rogers and her husband drove near the scene, but were blocked at an intersection closed down by police.

"I can't explain what brought us here," she said. "We just said a prayer in the car for the families."

CBS/AP


Excerpt -- “One suspect was killed and two others might still be at large, Casey Rayborn Hicks, a spokeswoman for the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office, previously said. However, Louisiana state police said Sunday afternoon there is "no active shooter" in Baton Rouge. The Baton Rouge Advocate reported that two other men were picked up across the Mississippi River in Addis and were being questioned by police as "persons of interest." …. someone reported a suspicious man with a weapon. A witness tells CBS affiliate WAFB that he saw a masked man in black shorts and shirt running from the scene where three Baton Rouge law enforcement officers were shot and killed. Brady Vancel said the man looked like a pedestrian running with a rifle in his hand, rather than someone trained to move with a rifle. …. He saw a man in a red shirt lying in an empty parking lot and "another gunman running away as more shots were being fired back and forth from several guns." According to a WSJ source, the deceased suspect was affiliated with an anti-government group. …. Police said they were using a specialized robot to check for explosives near the body. Gov. John Bel Edwards rushed to the hospital where the shot officers were taken.”


I’ve never seen a reference to a black anti-government group before. They’re almost all white supremacists of one kind or another. There are also the Sovereign Citizens, who literally don’t believe in any government at all. The Southern Poverty Law Center didn’t mention any, and Googling some half dozen word combinations didn’t produce much. The following HP website mentions the New Black Panther Movement, the Black Panthers, Nation of Islam, a radical Catholic group called Christ or Chaos.

There certainly are more policemen being shot in the last few weeks, but it doesn’t look “organized” yet, and if Casey Rayburn Hicks of the police department is referring to BLM, that’s not a fair characterization, in my opinion. The spokesman for the New Black Panther Movement said that the SPLC is incorrect to include them in the category, stating that a member had made an unwise statement that some took to be anti-government.

“www.infowars.com” below agrees with me. Maybe the WSJ source is simply wrong. Huffington Post does present a very interesting article on the incidence of anti-government groups in the US, however.



http://www.infowars.com/establishment-media-baton-rouge-shooter-affiliated-with-anti-government-group/

ESTABLISHMENT MEDIA: BATON ROUGE SHOOTER AFFILIATED WITH “ANTI-GOVERNMENT” GROUP

WSJ does not provide details
Kurt Nimmo - JULY 17, 2016

The Wall Street Journal tweets the gunman reportedly killed in Baton Rouge was affiliated with an “anti-government” group.


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Wall Street Journal ✔ @WSJ
Missouri man suspected in Baton Rouge shootings was affiliated with anti-government New Freedom Group—Live updates: http://on.wsj.com/2a3NlHT
4:25 PM - 17 Jul 2016

Photo published for Live Updates: Police Shootings in Baton Rouge
Live Updates: Police Shootings in Baton Rouge

Three police officers died after seven were were shot Sunday morning in Baton Rouge. Casey Hicks of the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office said the police may have been responding to an initial...
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WSJ does not provide details on this suspected group or does it name the source making the claim.

The establishment routinely uses “anti-government” in reference to constitutionalists, patriot groups, tax activists, and “militias.”


SEE: www.npr.org AND http://www.cbsnews.com/news/alton-sterling-alleged-plot-to-kill-baton-rouge-police-foiled/. I am quite concerned about genuinely organized plots to kill officers. This also states that there was “a heavy police presence” and “hundreds of protestors were arrested.” I know they probably feel under a huge pressure, but being unnecessarily heavy-handed in a situation of “protest” rather than “riots” can cause more negative reaction from Blacks, in a time we need to work for peace instead. Mayor Kip Holden’s observation is spot on!

From NPR is that quotation:

“WWNO's Tegan Wendland told our Newscast unit that the officers were shot near police headquarters. "It's the same area where several protests over the past week were met with heavy police response, and hundreds were arrested."

Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden spoke with WAFB: "If this is not a defining moment for us to bridge the divide and come out with a unified voice, then I don't know what is."

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards described the incident as an "unspeakable and unjustified attack on all of us at a time when we need unity and healing." He vowed to deploy "every resource available" to "ensure the perpetrators are swiftly brought to justice."


See also the Huffington Post article below:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/anti-government-patriot-groups_us_5689620ee4b06fa68882a0dd, Anti-Government Extremist Groups Are A Uniquely American Problem -- And it’s growing, by Kim Bellware, Reporter, The Huffington Post, 01/04/2016 11:58 pm 23:58:31 | Updated Jan 05, 2016.

In the days since gunmen took over a federal wildlife refuge in Burns, Oregon, the anti-federal militants have accomplished little more than exhausting the patience of locals.

At the same time, they have brought renewed scrutiny to American right-wing, anti-government extremist groups — a population whose numbers surged in the 1990s and are on the rise once again.

A tally released Monday by The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks extremist organizations, identified 276 anti-government militia groups in the U.S., a 37 percent jump from 2014. The militia groups are an armed subset of so-called patriot groups that “typically adhere to extreme antigovernment doctrines and subscribe to groundless conspiracy theories about the federal government,” according to the law center.

Heidi Beirich, who directs the law center’s Intelligence Project magazine, said the rise of the anti-government movement follows a predictable pattern of surging during a Democratic presidency and then falling under a Republican one. Extremists like the Posse Comitatus surged during Jimmy Carter’s presidency in the 1970s, while Bill Clinton led the country during a time when the militia movement was involved in high-profile confrontations that included the Waco seige, Ruby Ridge and the Oklahoma City bombing.

Extreme anti-government suspicion is a characteristic that Beirich said is unique to the United States.

“This country was founded on overthrowing a tyranny,” Beirich said. “This revolutionary fervor is kind of embedded in the U.S. — this idea if you don’t like the government, you grab guns and overthrow it.”

The militants vowed to resist any removal efforts with force, even though the ranchers, Dwight Hammond Jr. and his son Steven, turned themselves in Monday and rejected the occupation of the federal building.

To those like Ammon Bundy, one of the extremists occupying the building, the Hammonds came to symbolize oppression of citizens by the federal government — which owns more than half of all land in Oregon, according to the Congressional Research Service.

“Anti-government extremism is all over the country, but what’s unique about the West is that it’s a place where the federal government owns a lot of land,” Beirich noted. “And a lot of the anti-government extremists live in rural areas. The West lends itself to this.”

Beirich said groups like the one in Oregon were galvanized after a 2014 confrontation at the Bundy family ranch in Nevada between armed militants and federal law enforcement.

“The people who went to the Bundy ranch in April of 2014 were the energized members of these groups,” Beirich said. “They pointed weapons at federal law enforcement and got away with it.”

Brian Levin, an attorney and criminologist, said the overall risk posed by anti-government groups is growing. Levin, who directs the nonpartisan Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University, said it was a “material change” that the militants in Oregon have moved from “mere rhetoric to action, and from action to forceful action.”

“This is a significant milestone because we’re seeing now a coalescence of a grassroots organization, which is responding to events and trying to influence them through show of force,” Levin said. “We’re seeing aggressive and criminal conduct to make this point.”

The groups tend to lack central direction, sophisticated organization and recruiting networks. Some aren’t groups at all, but loners or partnerships. That can make them less of an overall threat than Salafi jihadist groups like ISIS and al-Shabaab, Levin said.

Patriot groups “don’t have the organization or hierarchal power that say, ISIS does,” Levin said. “Are they terrorists? As a technical matter, yes. But on the same hand, they’re not ISIS, and nor should our response to them” be the same.

Much like in the 2014 standoff at the Bundy ranch, federal officials in Oregon have thus far declined to take the bait by challenging the militants’ “kill and be killed” stance.

Levin, who described himself as third-generation law enforcement, said the “less is more” approach to handling the militants will avoid opportunity for martyrdom or further notoriety.

“When things go south, the first question is always, ‘Why didn’t you wait?’” Levin said. “A court order is still valid, and can be executed at a time and place of the government’s convenience. And no one gets killed. And we haven’t given these extremists fodder for their own recruitment efforts.”

While a threat exists as long as the militants remain armed, Levin noted federal officials can afford to give the occupants room, since they effectively “put themselves in their own jail” by holing up in a remote and empty building with few snacks.

“Do you want to eat frozen Spam over a half-lit fire in a desolate tundra? Knock yourself out,” Levin said. “It’s not like they occupied a resort in Maui.”


http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/07/17/486368681/sheriffs-office-multiple-officers-shot-in-baton-rogue-louisiana

Sheriff's Office: 3 Law Enforcement Officers Killed In Baton Rouge, Louisiana
July 17, 2016 11:38 AM ET
MERRIT KENNEDY

Photograph -- Baton Rouge police block Airline Highway after police were shot in Baton Rouge, La., Sunday, July 17, 2016. Authorities in Louisiana say several law enforcement officers are dead, and several injured in Baton Rouge after on-duty law enforcement officers were shot on Sunday morning.
Max Becherer/AP
Related: The local NAACP is calling for a boycott of Walmart and two local shopping malls.
THE TWO-WAY -- Baton Rouge Civil Rights Leaders Fashion A Model Response To Police Shootings


Three law enforcement officers were killed and three others injured in a shooting incident in Baton Rouge, according to the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Department.

It said in a statement that "one suspect is dead, law enforcement believes two others may be at large.

Public Information Director Casey Rayborn Hicks tells NPR that the scene is still active, and that they are advising the public to take alternative routes and "steer clear of the area."

"At approximately 9:00 this morning Baton Rouge Police officers and East Baton Rouge Sheriff's deputies were involved in a shooting incident on Airline Highway near Old Hammond Highway," the sheriff's department said. "Multiple officers from both agencies sustained injuries and were transported to local hospitals."

It's unclear whether recent unrest in Baton Rouge played a role in the shootings. Earlier this month, a man named Alton Sterling was shot dead by police officers in Baton Rouge, and video of the shooting led to days of protests in the city.

A memorial for Alton Sterling at the Triple S Food Mart in Baton Rouge. Sterling was fatally shot by a Louisiana police officer last week.
U.S.

In Baton Rouge, Simmering Mistrust Divides Police, Community
Louisiana state Rep. Patricia Haynes Smith speaks during a rally at City Hall on Friday in Baton Rouge, La.

WWNO's Tegan Wendland told our Newscast unit that the officers were shot near police headquarters. "It's the same area where several protests over the past week were met with heavy police response, and hundreds were arrested."

Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden spoke with WAFB: "If this is not a defining moment for us to bridge the divide and come out with a unified voice, then I don't know what is."

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards described the incident as an "unspeakable and unjustified attack on all of us at a time when we need unity and healing." He vowed to deploy "every resource available" to "ensure the perpetrators are swiftly brought to justice."


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Gov John Bel Edwards ✔ @LouisianaGov
#lagov on the shooting of law enforcement officers in Baton Rouge today:
12:06 PM - 17 Jul 2016
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In May, Louisiana passed legislation that classified attacks on police officers as a hate crime. This will result in stricter penalties for offenders. The so-called "blue lives law" takes effect on August 1st, so it would not apply in this case.

We'll update this story as we learn more.


SEE THE FOLLOWING FROM JULY 12 ON ORGANIZATION --

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/alton-sterling-alleged-plot-to-kill-baton-rouge-police-foiled/

"Credible" plot to kill Baton Rouge police officers foiled
By CRIMESIDER STAFF CBS NEWS
July 12, 2016, 5:08 PM

Play VIDEO -- Search warrants issued in Baton Rouge police shooting
Photographs -- 10970727g.jpg, Trashone Coats, Malik Bridgewater, Antonio Thomas EBRSO VIA WAFB
Photograph -- evebegnaud0712.jpg, Pawn Shop in Baton Rouge, La. CBS NEWS


BATON ROUGE -- Police have arrested and identified three young people who they say plotted to kill Baton Rouge cops using guns stolen from a pawn shop, officials said Tuesday.

Law enforcement said at a Tuesday press conference they believe it to be a substantial and credible threat on police officers in the Baton Rouge area.

Police arrested 17-year-old Antonio Thomas, 20-year-old Malik Bridgewater, and a 13-year-old juvenile in connection with the burglary at the Baton Rouge pawn shop, CBS Baton Rouge affiliate WAFB reports. A fourth suspect could still be at large, according to the station.

Trashone Coats, 23, was charged with Illegal Possession of a Stolen Firearm, according to the Baton Rouge Police Department. WAFB reports that Coats was released Tuesday.

The burglary at the pawn shop, which is in Baton Rouge, happened early Saturday morning, police say. WAFB reports that police believe the suspects broke in through the roof. Officials said eight handguns were stolen. Six guns have been recovered, and two are still missing, police said.

Seventeen-year-old Antonio Thomas was arrested at the shop after an "alert" Baton Rouge police officer responded, police said. The suspect was carrying a handgun and a BB pistol, Baton Rouge Police Chief Carl Dabadie, Jr. said Tuesday.

That suspect told police the suspects were "looking for bullets" for the handguns in order to harm police officers in the Baton Rouge area, Dabadie said.

Surveillance footage showed the alleged burglars breaking into the pawn shop through the roof using a ladder, WAFB reports.

"We took this as a very viable threat," Dabadie said.

Bridgewater was arrested at his home, and the juvenile was arrested Monday and charged with burglary and theft of a firearm, Baton Rouge police tell CBS News.

One of the suspects allegedly told police that the planned attack was in response to the death of Alton Sterling, who was shot and killed by police on July 5, WAFB reports.

Sterling's death has spurred days of protests in Louisiana, and led to a federal civil rights investigation.

Police are looking for an additional potential suspect, and ask that he or she turn themselves in. They have not yet identified the possible suspect.

On Monday, a raid was conducted at a Baton Rouge home in connection to the case, WAFB reports. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives assisted police in the investigation.