Liam Kent, a Maine resident who is familiar with Robert Card, the person of interest in the Lewiston shootings, said that Card and his family are "gun fanatics." He also went on to claim that people around town knew to "stay away" from the family.

Robert Card is now officially a suspect.

Liam Kent, a Maine resident who is familiar with Robert Card, the person of interest in the Lewiston shootings, said that Card and his family are “gun fanatics.” He also went on to claim that people around town knew to “stay away” from the family.

  • FlowVoid@lemmy.worldEnglish
    68·
    1 year ago

    Maybe they knew who to ask first, but I think it would be inappropriate for government officials to publicly point fingers at the “crazy guy” without first asking some questions. Like, for instance, was the crazy guy somewhere else at the time? Nobody wants a repeat of the Richard Jewell fiasco.

    • Nougat@kbin.socialOP
      15·
      1 year ago

      If that were the case, they would have said that there were identified persons of interest that they needed to talk to, without releasing those identities publicly.

      No, they knew who these well-known local armed right-wing militia people were, and decided to slow walk it for at least 24 hours several hours.

      Some of those who work forces are the ones who burn crosses.

      • FlowVoid@lemmy.worldEnglish
        45·
        1 year ago

        They immediately released a photo, so it’s not true that they “had no idea” who did it. Everyone knew it was a white middle-aged male. And I don’t recall them saying “we have no leads on this man’s identity”. They simply didn’t want to publicly identify the person in the photo without corroborating evidence.

        decided to slow walk it for at least 24 hours

        Even as we discuss this, it’s been less than 24 hours since the shootings.

        Card was publicly identified by 11pm, about four hours after the shootings.

        • Nougat@kbin.socialOP
          6·
          1 year ago

          You’re right, and I have corrected my comment appropriately. Its point still stands.

      • bioemerl@kbin.social
        11·
        1 year ago

        Police can’t just jump to wild ass conclusions like this. You’re asking for police state tactics here.

      • SheeEttin@lemmy.worldEnglish
        10·
        1 year ago

        That doesn’t mean they knew where they were after the shooting. That’s why they release identifying info.

        • Nougat@kbin.socialOP
          3·
          1 year ago

          That’s not the point. What the police said, when there’s a mass shooter at large and a shelter in place order, was “We have no idea who did this, call with tips.” What they did not say was “We have identified persons of interest that we are seeking to talk to in relation to these incidents.”

          Remember that very early on, reporting was that there was a third shooting location at a WalMart distribution center (which seems to be off the table now, not sure why), and that there could be multiple perpetrators. They knew who they needed to talk to, and they chose not to ease the public concern at all by communicating that.