WASHINGTON — The nation’s top military officer said yesterday that he expects suicides by service members, already alarmingly high, and other family crises to increase in the coming months as large numbers of troops return to their bases after years of multiple deployments.

 “I think we are going to see a significant increase in the challenges that we have in terms of our families,’’ Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at a breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor.

 With the drawdown of US forces in Iraq accelerating, service members are finally beginning to receive a respite from frequent back-to-back tours of duty since 2003 — particularly for Army and Marine Corps units.

 For bases such as Lewis-McChord, an Army and Air Force installation in Washington state, that means an influx of soldiers and aviators. “I was taken aback that at Fort Lewis by the end of October, 36,000 troops will be back,’’ Mullen said. “We have never had that many troops there, certainly not since 2003.’’

 Yet that also means commanders must deal with a large number of troops with significant personal challenges who are back for the first extended period with their families.

 Mullen remains particularly concerned about suicide rates, which have gone up in every branch of the military since 2004 and have hit record highs in the Army, which has borne the brunt of repeated deployments.

 “The emergency issue right now is suicides,’’ Mullen said. “We had five suicides in the Army last weekend.’’

 And there are a variety of other well-documented problems facing a ground force that has been stretched thin in recent years, including post-traumatic stress disorder and other problems that have not yet manifested themselves, he said.

 “I think we are going to see a growth in that before we see a decline,’’ Mullen said.

 Military officials have worked to increase the length of time between deployments, both to promote greater stability among families and to provide more training for threats beyond the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 That is now starting to happen as the US military commitment in Iraq winds down, even as troop levels have grown in Afghanistan.

 © Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company. ||||| By

 AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

 — On Friday, a 24-year-old accounting specialist who returned from Iraq in December was found dead from a gunshot wound in Temple. On Saturday, a 29-year-old mechanic who had deployed four times to Iraq and Afghanistan died of a gunshot wound in Copperas Cove. That same day, a 39-year-old artilleryman who had deployed twice was found dead at his on-post home.

 Then, on Sunday, Sgt. Michael Timothy Franklin and his wife were found dead of gunshot wounds at their on-post home in an apparent murder-suicide. The couple's 6-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son are in the care of Fort Hood's child protective services.

 On Wednesday, Fort Hood commanders announced that they were conducting an exhaustive review to identify soldiers who are at risk for suicide as this massive Army post reels from a record number of them — including the four suspected suicides over the past weekend. Fort Hood officials said they would also conduct a review of the post's privately owned weapons registration and visit soldiers living off post in hopes of stemming the alarming rise in suicides.

 Since the beginning of the year, there have been 14 confirmed suicides and six suspected suicides of Fort Hood soldiers. That would put Fort Hood on a pace to shatter its annual record for suicides since the beginning of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Fort Hood had 14 suicides in 2008 and 11 last year.

 "This is a very frustrating issue," Maj. Gen. William F. Grimsley, Fort Hood's senior commander, said Wednesday. "It's all about leadership."

 Grimsley said that on Monday he gave orders to post commanders to send him their review of at-risk soldiers by Friday. Grimsley also ordered visits of all soldiers at the rank of sergeant and below who live off post, saying those soldiers could be at risk of falling through the cracks. About 70 percent of Fort Hood soldiers live off post.

 More than 38,000 soldiers are stationed at Fort Hood, where the population has swelled this year with the return of thousands of soldiers from Iraq.

 So far, Fort Hood officials say they are at a loss to explain the surge, saying post-suicide reviews have failed to show any definitive trends among the soldiers who have killed themselves. Grimsley said Wednesday that there has been no correlation between the surge in suicides and the Nov. 5 shooting attack at Fort Hood that left 13 dead.

 Instead, suicide prevention experts at the post say a host of stressors , including family situations, financial problems, substance abuse and multiple deployments have played a role in the suicides.

 Fort Hood's surge in suicides comes as the Army battles a suicide rate that doubled between 2005 and 2009.

 Fort Hood has sought to reduce the stigma against seeking mental health help within the Army, introducing a host of programs and campaigns aimed at convincing soldiers to watch out for warning signs among their comrades and get counseling if they need it.

 Sgt. Cassandra St. Amand, 27, of New York, called the recent increase in suicides a blow to the soldiers at Fort Hood.

 "It kind of hurts a little bit," she said Wednesday as she took part in a class to help her unit, which is deploying to Afghanistan, learn the warning signs of suicide.

 "We shouldn't interfere in their lives, but it's OK to ask (troubled soldiers) what's wrong," she said. "Everybody's a battle buddy."

 jschwartz@statesman.com;

 912-2942 |||||

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– Expect more servicemen and women to take their own lives in the months ahead, Admiral Mike Mullen warned today, in the wake of four such suicides over the weekend. “I think we are going to see a significant increase in the challenges that we have in terms of our families,” Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said at a press breakfast this morning, reports the Boston Globe. “The emergency right now is suicides.” Troops are returning rapidly from Iraq, but many will have difficulty returning to civilian life, Mullen explained. The weekend saw a glut of such tragedy, with a 24-year-old accounting specialist who’d served in Iraq killing himself Friday, followed by a mechanic and an artillery specialist on Saturday, and an Army sergeant on Sunday. The latter also appears to have shot his wife in a murder-suicide, the Austin American-Statesman reports.


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Democrats hailed President Obama's move Thursday to halt deportations for millions of immigrants living in the country illegally.

 But the lawmakers were quick to frame the executive actions as merely the first step on a much longer path toward overhauling the immigration system, a move they say only Congress can take.

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 "It's bold, it's courageous, it's as good as it can be under the law," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). "But that doesn't mean we wouldn't like to have a bill, and some of the provisions will have to take a little time to be implemented," she quickly added. "So there's plenty of time for the Republicans — in fact even two weeks when we come back [in December] — to pass an immigration bill."

 A wave of Democrats issued statements Thursday night echoing that message.

 Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), the incoming head of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said Obama's action is "a bold step in the right direction" but "not a permanent solution." Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said the changes mark "a turning point for the nation" but "are not all-encompassing." And Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.), Capitol Hill's most vocal proponent of an immigration overhaul, praised Obama's "courage" but quickly emphasized the need for a more permanent fix.

 "We all must recognize that no executive action is a substitute for legislation," he said, "so the fundamental challenge of getting legislation through the Republican-controlled House remains the same."

 The Democrats' strategy is clear: As much as they're welcoming Obama's actions with open arms, they also don't want it to become an impediment — political or otherwise — to Congress's efforts to enact a more permanent comprehensive reform law over the next two years.

 The Senate had passed such a reform bill in June 2013 with broad bipartisan support, but House Republican leaders refused to consider it. Obama said his announcement this week is simply designed to help keep families together in the face of that congressional inaction, and he urged Congress to take the steps that would make his unilateral moves dispensable.

 "The day I sign that bill into law, the actions I take will no longer be necessary," Obama said during Thursday's speech.

 Such statements, however, have done nothing to appease Republicans, who are furious with what they consider an unconstitutional power grab by a president they say has habitually abused his executive power.

 Scores of Republicans issued statements Thursday night suggesting that Obama, by his action, just made it harder for lawmakers to reach a deal on broader reforms.

 "By ignoring the will of the American people, President Obama has cemented his legacy of lawlessness and squandered what little credibility he had left," Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said in a statement. "His ‘my way or the highway’ approach makes it harder to build the trust with the American people that is necessary to get things done on behalf of the country."

 Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), a former federal prosecutor, said Democrats' argument that past presidents have taken similar actions simply doesn't fly with GOP lawmakers.

 "Attempts to undermine the law via executive fiat, regardless of motivation, are dangerous," Gowdy said in a statement. "Whether previous administrations acted outside of constitutional boundaries is not license to do the same."

 Democrats, for their part, reject the notion that Obama's actions reduce the odds that Congress can pass legislation. They're quick to note that Boehner and the Republicans had the entirety of the 113th Congress to consider a bill before Obama acted Thursday but declined to do so.

 "They are trying to poison the well by saying the president shouldn't do this," Pelosi said.

 "But the fact is that I think many of our [Republican] colleagues here understand that we have to do this." ||||| Ahead of President Obama's prime-time address announcing his plans to take executive action on immigration policy, House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) released this message saying Obama actions are not "how our democracy works." (YouTube/John Boehner)

 Ahead of President Obama's prime-time address announcing his plans to take executive action on immigration policy, House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) released this message saying Obama actions are not "how our democracy works." (YouTube/John Boehner)

 Just two weeks ago, Republicans handed President Obama a humiliating defeat at the polls, winning full control of Congress. But already, party leaders fear that the conservative uproar over the president’s immigration actions will doom any hopes for a stable period of GOP governance.

 The moves announced Thursday night by Obama — which will protect millions of illegal immigrants from deportation — have sparked an immediate and widening rebellion among tea party lawmakers that top Republicans are struggling to contain.

 Despite expanded powers and some new titles, soon-to-be Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) remain sharply limited in their ability to persuade their most conservative members. The duo has been thrust back into the same cycle of intraparty warfare that has largely defined the GOP during the Obama years and that has hurt the party’s brand among the broader electorate.

 “It is the first real challenge for Boehner and McConnell together,” said Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.), a Boehner ally. “They’d like to wipe the slate clean for when they start up next year, with this situation behind us.”

 In his prime-time speech from the East Room of the White House, Obama blamed Republicans for forcing his hand by refusing to approve immigration reform and told them, “Pass a bill.” He also cast the issue in moral terms, quoting Scripture to bolster his case.

 During his speech on immigration reform, President Obama called on illegal immigrants to "come out of the shadows" and "get right with the law." (AP)

 But comprehensive immigration reform is unlikely to pass a Republican-held Congress, because of partisan hostilities in Washington. Still, GOP leaders badly want to show the country that the party can govern constructively, even if it is not clear whether they can keep their raucous conference united.

 McConnell and Boehner, for example, want to approve a long-term spending bill at least through the early part of next year — part of an effort to limit theatrical confrontations with Obama and focus on tax reform and other Republican-friendly issues.

 But conservatives inside and outside Congress want to use the budget process as a battleground to wage war against Obama and his immigration program. The proposed gambit raises the specter of another government shutdown, akin to the one that damaged Republicans last year.

 The debate is also a test of whether the party can contain the controversial and sometimes offensive comments that have often hindered attempts to bolster support for Republicans among Hispanics. After tea party firebrand Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) said on Wednesday that protected immigrants would become “illiterate” voters, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) winced.

 “Unfortunate, unfair, unnecessary, unwise,” said Graham, who is close to party leaders.

 Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.), a moderate from the Philadelphia exurbs, said the leadership is asking his colleagues to “not play into the president’s hands.”

 “The president wants to see an angry and intemperate response, thinking the Republicans will do something that leads to a shutdown,” Dent said. “Don’t take the bait, and don’t have a hysterical reaction. We can be strong, rational and measured.”

 Republican leaders are considering several moves they say would be forceful responses to the president while also keeping the government funded. Ideas being floated include filing a lawsuit over Obama’s executive authority, pursuing stand-alone legislation on immigration policy and removing funding for immigration agencies.

 Another option — funding the government until the end of the fiscal year and then rescinding parts of immigration-related funding — is favored by the leadership and championed by House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers (R-Ky.). His office has issued a memo urging members to avoid using government funding as the means of dissent and warning that some immigration agencies would not be affected since they operate on user fees.

 “We are considering a variety of options,” McConnell said Thursday in a floor speech. He suggested that his preference would be for Republicans to avoid becoming mired in a fiscal clash during the lame-duck session, shortly before the GOP takes control of the Senate in January.

 Many conservative lawmakers, however, are shrugging off pleas from leadership. Furious with the president, they are planning a series of immediate and hard-line actions that could have sweeping consequences. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) said Wednesday that Obama’s executive action should be met with a refusal to vote on any more of his nominees, and on Thursday, he compared the action with the ancient Catiline conspiracy, a plot to overthrow the Roman Republic.

 Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), likely the next chairman of the budget committee, has advocated for a series of stopgap spending bills with the intent of pressuring the president to relent. Sessions is the featured speaker at a Heritage Foundation event Friday morning in response to Obama’s moves, a couple of hours after a scheduled Boehner news conference.

 And Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) — one of the loudest voices on the right — has hinted at bringing up impeachment measures. “We have constitutional authority to do a string of things. [Impeachment] would be the very last option, but I would not rule it out,” King said Thursday on CNN.

 Amid the chatter over strategy, it is the tone of outraged rank-and-file members that most worries GOP elders. Ahead of the 2016 presidential election, they do not want to see Republicans tagged by Democrats as hostile toward Latinos and other minorities.

 “It only takes a couple” of comments for an unflattering narrative to build about the Republican response, said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). “That’s the trouble with having some of these new, young punks around here. They ought to listen to us old geezers.”

 In the House, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), who has been a prominent backer of comprehensive immigration reform, has been counseling House Republicans about the need to show empathy for undocumented workers as the party rails against the Obama administration, according to GOP aides familiar with his deliberations.

 Yet the firestorms have continued to flare, with some Republicans, encouraged by grass-roots activists and conservative media personalities, eschewing the party’s more incremental line and making contentious statements.

 Speaking with reporters, Bachmann had said the “social cost” of Obama’s immigration policies would be extensive, with “millions of unskilled, illiterate, foreign nationals coming into the United States who can’t speak the English language.”

 When pressed on why she used the term “illiterate,” Bachmann said, “I’m not using a pejorative term against people who are non-American citizens. I’m only repeating what I heard from Hispanic Americans down at the border.”

 On Friday, Bachmann and Steve King plan to travel to the U.S.-Mexico border to meet with officials to showcase their opposition to the president and cast themselves as leading Republican voices.

 Other Republicans have called for a proactive legislative response beginning early next year, rallying behind a strategy that would take away government funding as the main battleground and turning toward specific policy areas.

 Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a potential presidential candidate, said Republicans must signal that in spite of their disagreements with the president, they are committed to reform. “This country needs to deal with immigration,” he said in an interview. ||||| Immigration Mitch McConnell promises forceful immigration response The GOP leader did not specify what action his Republican Senate will take next year.

 Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell promised on Thursday morning that Congress will respond forcefully in 2015 to President Barack Obama’s imminent executive action that will defer deportation for millions of undocumented immigrants.

 In a blistering speech that quoted Obama’s past statements about his limited unilateral powers on the subject of immigration, the GOP leader did not specify what action that his Republican Senate will take next year, whether it be zeroing out funding for government agencies in a spending bill, taking the White House to court or taking a confrontational stance to the president’s nominees, as suggested by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

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 But the Kentucky senator vowed there will be a forceful response from Capitol Hill once his newly minted GOP majority takes over next year.

 (Also on POLITICO: Obama to shield 5 million from deportation)

 “He needs to understand something. If President Obama acts in defiance of the people and imposes his will on the country, Congress will act,” McConnell said ahead of a long Thanksgiving recess that begins Friday. “We’re considering a variety of options. But make no mistake. When the newly elected representatives of the people take their seats, they will act.”

 McConnell’s remarks also serve to underscore his and other Republican leaders’ effort to avoid any whiff of the threat of a government shutdown when funding runs dry on Dec. 11. Instead, top Republicans are urging measured responses from their rank-and-file, hoping to avoid impeachment and shutdown talk as they mull how precisely they will respond to Obama’s actions and balance the demands of conservative Republicans agitating for a fiery confrontation.

 “My belief is you can’t capitulate, but you need to push back smartly,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). “If you overreact, it becomes about us, not about President Obama.”

 (Video: President Obama's full immigration address)

 And by planning a response to the White House in 2015, McConnell also would accrue significantly more sway over Capitol Hill’s direction. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) still controls the floor until January — and both he and Republican leaders have said that in the current divided Congress they are essentially confined to considering whatever House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) can muscle through his chamber to keep the government funded. ||||| Thousands of immigrant-rights activists, families and elected officials cheered across the country as President Barack Obama announced on television his plan for relief from deportations for about 5 million people.

 Miriam Lopez,left, Faby Jacome and Dulce Saavedra console each other as they are brought to tears while watching President Obama's speech on executive action on immigration outside the Los Angeles Metropolitan... (Associated Press)

 Ana Patino, right, of Phoenix, kisses the hand of her daughter, Natalie Cruz, 5, as Ana's husband and the girl's father, Rafael Cruz, left, sits with Camila Cruz, during a watch party for President Obama's... (Associated Press)

 Near a makeshift memorial for immigrants, Christina Felix joins other immigrant rights supporters gathering at the Arizona Capitol to listen to President Barack Obama announce a new program to protect... (Associated Press)

 Isela Segovia hugs her two children Nivia, 7, bottom, and Elian, 6, while watching President Obama's speech as it is televised Thursday, Nov. 20, 2014, in Houston. Obama’s sweeping changes to the U.S.... (Associated Press)

 Andrea Miller, director of the Oregon immigrant-rights group Causa, talks about the speech given by President Barack Obama outlining plans for relief from deportation for up to 5 million immigrants, in... (Associated Press)

 Oregonians watch President Obama's announcement about immigration relief at the Center for Intercultural Organizing in Portland, Ore., Thursday, Nov. 20, 2014. Tens of thousands of immigrants who lack... (Associated Press)

 From left, Viridiana Carrizales of San Antonio, Texas, Jose Patino, of Phoenix, and his girlfriend Reyna Montoya of Mesa, react during a watch party for President Obama's speech on immigration at the... (Associated Press)

 But after the initial burst of emotion Thursday evening at hastily organized watch parties and in living rooms, many said Obama's plan was just the first step in the fight for comprehensive immigration reform. Immigrant families pointed out the plan would only cover about 5 million of the 11 million without legal status, leaving many families and individuals in limbo.

 Republicans slammed the president's action as an overreach, while advocates — including Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber and California Gov. Jerry Brown — praised Obama's plan.

 Not everyone was happy with Obama's action. A couple of protesters held "no amnesty" signs outside a New York union office where advocates of the president's plan watched the speech.

 A snapshot of reactions across the country:

 ___

 "This will definitely help our family no longer live in fear, fear that we will have to drop everything if our parents are deported. But there is still fear, because this is a temporary, and we need something permanent," said Isaura Pena, 20, of Portland whose father and mother lack legal status.

 ___

 "This is a great day for farmworkers. It's been worth the pain and sacrifice," said Jesus Zuniga, 40, who picks tomatoes in California's Central Valley and watched the speech at a union gathering in Fresno.

 ___

 "Simply stated, you're the only singular person in this entire country that can advance or adopt meaningful immigration reform. By that very definition then, it is your singular failure alone as to why we do not yet have reform, why America continues to be at risk, and new crimes and new victims are mounting each and every day in every single state," said Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones, addressing the president directly in a video posted by his office Wednesday on YouTube. Jones vowed to crusade against illegal immigration after the shooting rampage last month by a Mexican man with a long criminal history who was in the country illegally.

 ___

 "They're going to have a chance to be what they want to be and get an education," said Maria Perez, 41, of Fresno, California. She is documented, but she often worries about her nieces, ages 16 and 18, who aren't. With the president's speech, she feels hope that her nieces now can achieve her dreams.

 ___

 "I believe that is a good step forward, but again I look at the other side and I believe he is maybe acting too rash. I don't know why he is doing it without the consent of Congress. ... I think that is creating too much dissention in Congress where it is already, and I don't know if that is necessarily a good thing. I think for a lot of people — especially those who are here undocumented — it is great, but at some point we have to draw the line," said community activist Bob Hernandez of Wichita, Kansas.

 ___

 "I don't think it helps because it's going to create friction with the new Congress that's Republican. While I think it's probably the wrong thing for him to do, there's a possibility it starts a dialogue and pushes the Republicans to move more quickly," Overstock.com board chairman Jonathan Johnson said at his company's Salt Lake City, Utah, headquarters.

 ___

 "I am a mother of DREAMERS (the children who benefited from Obama's Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals program.) They are not citizens. It was a great disappointment to hear I won't benefit from it. It's bland. He gave us a little taste but it had no taste," said Rosa Mejia, an undocumented immigrant in El Paso, Texas, who has been living in the US since 1999.

 ___

 Abel Rodriguez, of Phoenix, said Obama's proposal could mean that he and his wife would be able to visit their family in Mexico without fear of not being able to return to the U.S. or getting separated from their daughters. "I have not seen my family for 10 years. I have two grandsons that I don't see," Rodriguez said.

 ___

 "We have a lot of unemployed Americans right now, and I don't understand why unemployed Americans can't be hired to do the jobs these illegals are doing," said John Wilson, who works in contract management in New York City.

 ___

 "This is not a partisan issue. When the bluest of blue states — like Oregon, for example — vote overwhelmingly to prohibit illegal aliens from obtaining drivers licenses, it speaks volumes about the widespread lack of support for President Obama's immigration policies. The American people have spoken, and time and again they have been ignored," said Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer. |||||

– President Obama unveiled sweeping actions on immigration reform last night, and while the civil unrest Sen. Tom Coburn warned of hasn't materialized, it's safe to say congressional Republicans are deeply unhappy. Obama criticized Republicans for failing to act and dared them to "pass a bill," but the forceful actions GOP congressional leaders have promised in response are not expected to include immigration reform. More: Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell promised a tough response when the GOP majority takes office next year, but he didn't spell out any specific actions, Politico reports. Obama needs to understand that if he "acts in defiance of the people and imposes his will on the country, Congress will act," McConnell says. "We're considering a variety of options. But make no mistake. When the newly elected representatives of the people take their seats, they will act." Possible actions include a lawsuit against the White House or choking off funding to federal agencies. House Speaker John Boehner was among many Republicans who warned that Obama's order will make it tougher to reach compromise on other reforms. "By ignoring the will of the American people, President Obama has cemented his legacy of lawlessness and squandered what little credibility he had left," Boehner said in a statement. "His 'my way or the highway' approach makes it harder to build the trust with the American people that is necessary to get things done on behalf of the country." The immigration order not only sets the GOP against Obama, it raises the prospect of yet more intra-GOP conflict, with some conservatives demanding a government shutdown, reports the Washington Post. "The president wants to see an angry and intemperate response, thinking the Republicans will do something that leads to a shutdown," says Rep. Charlie Dent from Pennsylvania. "Don't take the bait, and don't have a hysterical reaction. We can be strong, rational, and measured." Democrats were broadly in support of the move to defer deportation for millions, but many called it just the first step in a process that should be completed by Congress, the Hill reports. The move is "a bold step in the right direction" but "not a permanent solution," says Democratic Rep. Linda Sanchez, the new head of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Among those affected by the move, there is some joy and relief, but some feel it didn't go far enough and hope for a longer-term solution, the AP finds. "This will definitely help our family no longer live in fear, fear that we will have to drop everything if our parents are deported," says a 20-year-old woman in Portland whose parents lack legal status. "But there is still fear, because this is ... temporary, and we need something permanent."


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 (Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune) Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski announces that findings have been made... (Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune) Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski announces that findings have been made... (Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune) Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski announces that findings have been made... (Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune) Karra Porter, attorney for Nurse Alex Wubbels, comments about the document p... (Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune) Karra Porter, attorney for Nurse Alex Wubbels, comments about the document p... (Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune) Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski announces that findings have been made... (Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune) Karra Porter, attorney for Nurse Alex Wubbels, looks over the document provi... (Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune) Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski announces that findings have been made... (Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune) Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski announces that findings have been made... ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Nurse Alex Wubbels was following hospital protocols when she was arrested in Utah

 Two US police officers who forcibly arrested a nurse who refused to draw blood from an unconscious patient violated police codes of conduct, a report says.

 An internal affairs investigation into the actions of the Salt Lake City officers is considering possible misconduct relating to lawful arrests and the police code of ethics.

 The incident, involving nurse Alex Wubbels, was recorded on a body camera.

 The hospital said she acted correctly.

 Bodycam footage showed Detective Jeff Payne dragging and handcuffing Ms Wubbels after she said his request for a blood sample was against policy.

 Ms Wubbels screamed "I've done nothing wrong!" as she was dragged away.

 Mr Payne was heard saying he would retaliate against the hospital when he said: "I'll bring them all the transients and take good patients elsewhere."

 Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski said the footage of Ms Wubbels' arrest, which was captured on 26 July but emerged some weeks later, was "unacceptable".

 "This incident is not reflective of who we are as a city or as a police department," Ms Biskupski said on Wednesday.

 Sharing the findings of the investigation, Ms Biskupski said that a number of policy violations against the officers were being considered.

 She said that the violations stipulated in the report included "conduct unbecoming by a police employee" and "policy regarding arrests".

 Mr Payne and his watch commander Lt James Tracy have been placed on administrative leave and have up to 20 days to respond to the allegations.

 Image copyright Reuters Image caption The hospital said that nurse Alex Wubbels had correctly followed its policy

 Ms Biskupski said that Wednesday's announcement was "not the final step" in the investigative process.

 The findings of the report, she said, would be sent to Salt Lake City police chief Mike Brown to make a decision on whether any further action should be taken.

 The police department said that its policy in relation to requesting blood samples in such circumstances had since been amended to match that of the hospital.

 University of Utah Hospital policy stipulates that blood can only be handed over without a patient's consent if they are under arrest or the police have a warrant - neither of which was the case in the incident in July, the hospital said.

 Ms Wubbels later said in a statement that the city's mayor and police chief had both apologised over the treatment she had received, and that she had accepted their apologies. |||||
What is a summary?

– The Salt Lake City police detective who arrested a nurse for following hospital rules may be losing his job on the force as well as his paramedic job. An internal affairs report released Wednesday is extremely critical of both Detective Jeff Payne, who carried out the arrest, and watch commander Lt. James Tracy, who ordered it, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. Investigators said the men, who were placed on administrative leave Sept. 1, violated five departmental policies, including courtesy in public contacts and conduct unbecoming of an officer. Payne's behavior was "inappropriate, unreasonable, unwarranted, discourteous, disrespectful" and showed "extremely poor professional judgment," investigators wrote. Payne and Tracy have 20 days to respond to the report, after which Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown will decide on possible further action, which could include firing both men. At a press conference Wednesday, Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski said the incident, which has led to a change in policies, is not "reflective of who we are as a city or as a police department," the BBC reports. A separate report from the Police Civilian Review Board also found that Payne and Tracy violated policies in the arrest of nurse Alex Wubbels, who refused to let Payne draw blood from an unconscious patient without a warrant or consent. The FBI is involved in a criminal investigation of the July 26 incident.


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– A Chechen militant leader has claimed responsibility for the bombing that killed 36 people at Russia's biggest airport last month. Warlord Doku Umarov appears in a 16-minute video posted online in which he says the suicide bombing at Moscow's Domodedovo airport was carried out on his orders and warns of more attacks to come, AP reports. "You see this special operation carried out by my order. More special operations will be carried out in the future," Umarov says in the video. "Among us there are hundreds of brothers who are prepared to sacrifice themselves" in further attacks. "We can at any time carry out operations where we want," he adds. Chechen rebels, who seek to establish an independent Islamic state in the Caucasus, also claimed responsibility for the Moscow subway bombing last year.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Doku Umarov: "We can carry out these operations whenever and wherever we want"

 One of Russia's most wanted men, Chechen warlord Doku Umarov, has said he ordered the deadly bomb attack last month on a Moscow airport.

 The suicide attack on the arrivals area of Domodedovo international airport on 24 January left 36 people dead and 180 injured.

 In a video posted online, Mr Umarov said the attack was a response to "Russian crimes in the Caucasus".

 Similar suicide attacks would continue, he added, speaking in Russian.

 Mr Umarov is self-styled leader of the "Caucasus Emirate" and is considered the head of the Islamist militant insurgency in the North Caucasus. He is one of the few prominent Chechen rebels still active, having served as security minister in the Chechen separatist government from 1996-99.

 Another video of the rebel leader was posted online late on Friday last week in which he threatened a year of "blood and tears" but made no explicit reference to the airport bombing.

 Analysis Doku Umarov's claim that he ordered the Domodedovo bombing will not come as a surprise to Russians. The Chechen warlord has been linked to previous acts of terror. But his declaration that there are hundreds more suicide bombers ready to strike at any moment will spread fear across the country. Following the Domodedovo bomb, the authorities have taken measures to prevent similar attacks. As of 1 February, there are new security regulations at Russian airports. It means tighter controls outside airport buildings and more document checks. One Russian newspaper this morning warned passengers to arrive four hours before a flight. It also predicted that it would be harder for individuals without valid air tickets to get access to the terminals. What's more, a string of law enforcement officials have been sacked and a new head of transport security has been appointed in the Interior Ministry. But few Russians believe that these measures will prevent future terror attacks and provide them security.

 Doku Umarov has previously claimed the March 2010 suicide bombings on the Moscow Metro in which 39 people died, and is said to have ordered the November 2009 bombing of a train from Moscow to St Petersburg that left 26 dead.

 'On my orders'

 The video which appeared on the Kavkaz Tsentr website is dated 24 January, the day of the attack.

 Appearing alone, dressed in combat fatigues, Mr Umarov speaks to the camera: "This special operation was carried out on my orders and, God willing, special operations like it will continue to be carried out."

 He goes on to argue that Muslims are under attack all over the world, talking at length about the situation in Sudan, and condemns "Zionist and Christian regimes led by Israel and America".

 Mr Umarov says that he and his fighters "are waging jihad in the Caucasus today to establish the word of Allah", and there are "hundreds more brothers" ready to sacrifice themselves to that end, in the fight with Russia's "racist regime".

 Promising "regular, deeper and more aggressive operations", he says he wishes that so much blood did not have to be spilt for Russia to "leave the Caucasus".

 'Special operation'

 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Doku Umarov was flanked by two men in an earlier video. The younger man (R) is named "Seifullah"

 Russian investigators say the suicide bomber who struck at Domodedovo Airport was a 20-year-old man from the North Caucasus.

 Although the attacker has not been named officially, unnamed officials told the Interfax news agency on Sunday that he was believed to be Magomed Yevloyev from a village in Ingushetia in the northern Caucasus.

 In the video of Doku Umarov posted last Friday, the rebel leader is flanked by two men, one of whom the rebel leader claims is preparing a "special operation". Russian media have suggested that the man in the video, named "Seifullah" by Mr Umarov, was Yevloyev.

 At least seven foreigners were killed in the bombing at the airport - the busiest serving the Russian capital. The arrivals hall was full of people as several international flights had just landed.

 Those killed included one person each from Britain, Germany, Austria, Ukraine, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. At least 16 Russians were also among the dead.

 Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sacked several officials - said to include a regional transport chief and a Moscow police deputy head - after the bombing, blaming them for poor security. ||||| A website affiliated with Chechen rebels has released a video in which insurgent leader Doku Umarov claims responsibility for last month's deadly suicide bombing at Russia's largest airport and threatens more bloodshed if Russia does not leave the region.

 The Kavkaz Center website says it received the video late Monday. It was not clear when or where the video was recorded.

 The Jan. 24 attack at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport killed 36 people. Russian investigators say the bomber was a 20-year-old man from the Caucasus region that includes Chechnya, but have not released his name or other details.

 "You see this special operation carried out by my order ... more special operations will be carried out in the future," Umarov says in the video, wearing a camouflage uniform and a skullcap.

 "Among us there are hundreds of brothers who are prepared to sacrifice themselves" in further attacks, Umarov says in the video. "We can at any time carry out operations where we want."

 Over the weekend, the website released another video in which Umarov also threatened more attacks, saying 2011 would be "the year of blood and tears."

 Chechen rebels have fought two full-scale wars against Russian forces since 1994. Major offensives in the second war died down about a decade ago, but the insurgency has continued with small clashes in Chechnya and in neighboring Caucasus republics.

 The rebels have claimed responsibility for an array of terrorist attacks, including last year's double suicide bombing of the Moscow subway system that killed 40 people.

 Umarov, who seeks to create a Caucasus emirate independent from Russia and governed by Sharia law, said in the earlier video that he could call on 50 to 60 suicide bombers if necessary.

 The blast at Domodedovo, south of the Russian capital, raised strong concerns about Russia's strategy against the insurgents and about its ability to protect against future attacks. The day after the bombing, President Dmitry Medvedev said that terrorist attacks in the country increased in 2010, although he did not cite figures.

 The bomb went off in the waiting hall of the international arrivals area at the airport. As in many other airports, there were no security procedures to go through in order to get into that area.

 Medvedev initially lashed out at airport management for poorly guarding the area, but the airport's operator responded that the Russian transport police are responsible for security in that part of the airport.

 In the next few days, Medvedev fired several top transport police officials and ordered heightened security measures at all the country's main transport hubs, including major railway stations.

 The attack took place as Medvedev was preparing to speak at the prestigious World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he hoped to reassure foreign investors that Russia was safe and attractive.

 The bombing forced him to make an abbreviated trip to Davos, where he declared that the attack would not crush Russia or its drive for investment. |||||


– His public push to end sexual violence against children was so significant it reportedly nabbed him a nomination for the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize. Joel Davis' private actions couldn't have been more contradictory, say police. The 22-year-old Columbia University student, who started Youth to End Sexual Violence before becoming chairman of a group of more than 5,000 human rights organizations, was arrested Tuesday in Manhattan on charges of child pornography and attempting to sexually exploit children, reports the Columbia Spectator. Davis allegedly responded to a post left by an undercover FBI agent on a "fetish" website, per the Washington Post. In a series of text messages, he admitted to past sexual experiences with children as young as infants, including a 13-year-old boy he met in June through the Grindr app, police say. Showing "the highest degree of hypocrisy," Davis also tried to arrange meetings with children supposedly in the care of undercover agents, says the FBI's William F. Sweeney Jr. "As if this wasn't repulsive enough, Davis allegedly possessed and distributed utterly explicit images of innocent infants and toddlers being sexually abused by adults." US Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman calls the development "as unfathomable as it is sickening" given that Davis has rubbed elbows with Angelina Jolie, served as a youth ambassador for the UN special representative on sexual violence in conflict, and is now leading the International Campaign to Stop Rape and Gender Violence. Davis, who last year described being "tormented by the recollection of my childhood sex abuse" and spoke out about child rape in war zones in a 2014 Huffington Post op-ed, could face up to 70 years in prison.

Expand this summary.

"It's difficult to me to kind of grapple with that, that on one hand, this is supposed to be our success point, but nothing has really changed. At least not enough for me," Davis said. ||||| Updated June 28, 2018 at 7:11 p.m.

 General Studies student Joel Davis was arrested Tuesday in Manhattan on charges of child pornography and attempting to sexually exploit children as young as two years old.

 Davis spent years as a sexual assault prevention activist both on and off Columbia’s campus, helping to found Youth to End Sexual Violence and serving as the chairman of the International Campaign to Stop Rape and Gender Violence.

 After being arrested, Davis allegedly confessed to officers that he had sexually abused a thirteen-year-old boy in the past, and that he kept child pornography on his phone.

 Davis was a columnist for Spectator in 2017, writing on topics including being a survivor of sexual assault (like most Spectator columnists, Davis was an outside contributor who was not a member of Spectator’s staff). In a 2014 op-ed in the Huffington Post, Davis condemned the sexual exploitation of children.

 Justice Department officials said that over the course of several weeks, Davis exchanged text messages with undercover officers, repeatedly asking that one officer send Davis sexually explicit photos and videos of his nine-year-old daughters.

 The Department’s criminal complaint also alleges that Davis described in detail the explicit sexual acts he intended to engage in with both the officer’s nine-year-old daughter and the two-year-old daughter of the officer’s girlfriend.

 “Having started an organization that pushed for the end of sexual violence, Davis displayed the highest degree of hypocrisy by his alleged attempts to sexually exploit multiple minors,” Federal Bureau of Investigation Assistant Director-in-Charge William F. Sweeney, Jr. said in a statement.

 Davis and the Youth to End Sexual Violence did not immediately respond to Spectator’s requests for comment. He could face up to 70 years in prison.

 Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Davis was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2015. In fact, the Nobel Committee does not publicize the list of nominees to either the media or the nominees themselves.

 khadija.hussain@columbiaspectator.com | @ColumbiaSpec ||||| At General Studies, life experience—however disturbing or exceptional—is de rigueur. It is neither theoretical nor symbolic, but at the very core of what it means to be nontraditional. Thanks to its profound mission of bringing students to Columbia, often from uncertain and challenging circumstances, GS has come to epitomize a school where academia is possible for people regardless of their trials and tribulations.

 But in its mix of good intent and cruel optimism, in its alchemy of authenticity, persistence, and intellectual sophistication, GS is a school in a transitional and oblivious environment. Like any university, Columbia contains a sprinkling of wealthy neophytes, raffish characters for Brooklyn grit, and a dash of people of color for unquestioned diversity. But unlike their CC/SEAS counterparts, most GS students matriculate after taking a break in their education, which can stretch anywhere from one year to several decades. I spent my own gap year working at the United Nations, and for the former Obama administration. When news broke that I was being considered for a Nobel Prize, I had a psychological breakdown—tormented by the recollection of my childhood sex abuse—and withdrew from Columbia. It was another year before I attended my first class.

 Without having established any roots, I returned to Columbia unnerved. Those of us who have experienced such trials usually have gravitated toward people like us for support, validation, and collective identity, but because the indicators of trauma are invisible, we’re often forced to cope with its psychological shadow alone. But in my conversations at GS I felt at ease. There, trauma is consciously, unavoidably, the lingua franca. Deeply personal histories, ranging from familial instability to combat post-traumatic stress disorder, are commonplace, notwithstanding race, age, or gender. So it’s probably unsurprising that I found a group of students at GS with whom I’m comfortable being my whole self.

 One of the first friends I made at Columbia came to GS after escaping a life of religious servitude. She left home, knowing that she wasn’t going to be able to see her mother again, and made her way to the northern United States, where she took classes at a community college and lived out of her car. She was rejected by every college she applied to and was ready to give up until she met a GS rep at a recruiting event and decided to try Columbia.

 The prospect of drawing lessons and evoking richer dialogues at Columbia writ large from experiences like this is a complicated notion. For young GSers like myself who have experienced trauma and are the same age as traditional students, the difficulty of straddling two environments is apparent. Although no academic contradiction really exists between traditional and nontraditional students, our life experience engenders an irreconcilable tension. Inevitably, behind wanting to have a regular college experience, is the fear, conscious or not, that we’re more stratified by our backgrounds than anything else. And within the mélange of Columbia undergraduates, you’ll find a generous but not overwhelming portion of these students trying to strike an ephemeral balance between being nontraditional and having a traditional experience.

 I remember as my friend and I sat on the grass in front of Butler last year, listening to the thrum and chaos of Bacchanal, we both felt the same feeling of being woefully out of place. “Once you get exposed to a different reality and it becomes a part of you, you can’t just pretend like it doesn’t exist, or affects the way you think about everything,” she said. “Plus, seeing every experience I can’t relate to either as a product of this cult or a product of my [identities] (Latinx, first-gen, undocumented) is devastating. Even though I made it to Columbia, I’m still trying to rebuild my sense of self.” And that’s exactly where we exist, at the intersection of an imperishable reality and the lively intermingling of college life. “Did you hear that Michelle broke up with Brad? Fucking insane.”

 When you come right down to it, fostering a vibrant, diverse community at Columbia has little to do with how students flourish in their respective schools, but everything to do with a commitment to creating opportunities for traditional and nontraditional students to share rich perspectives and insight. Until that time comes, know that we exist: a conglomeration of mostly invisible, self-sufficient, and inward-looking young people. In spite of no clear belonging—even those of us in GS don’t fit neatly into one clique—we’ve taken to supporting those like us, extending a hand and building an ethic where former sex slaves and cult escapees can take intellectual responsibility for one another. We know we’ll never fully understand each other, and loving one another can be its own kind of cruel optimism, but to live well and thrive at Columbia we need those consistent—if golden—moments to break down and ensure a growth that is as personal as it is inevitable. My life felt saved by the friends who did this, and my initial unhappiness at Columbia was redeemed.

 Joel Davis is an ancient studies major in the School of General Studies, chairman of the International Campaign to Stop Rape, author of the upcoming novel Benevolence, and a Nobel Peace Prize nominee. Spotlit runs alternate Fridays. Follow him on Instagram at @supercoolkid212.

 To respond to this column, or to submit an op-ed, contact opinion@columbiaspectator.com. |||||


Article:
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 DENVER -- The teenager accused of killing a 7-year-old boy and hiding his body will be charged as an adult, the Denver District Attorney's Office said Monday.

 The girl’s identity will not be released because she is a juvenile, but the Denver Police Department said the victim was her nephew.

 Police said the 16-year-old girl intentionally killed Jordan Vong, then wrapped his body in a blanket and hid him in a portable closet in her basement bedroom.

 According to a probable cause statement, the suspect lived in the basement of the victim's home in the Montbello neighborhood.

 On the day Vong died, Aug. 6, the statement said the teen was upset after having a fight with her girlfriend. About 12:43 p.m., the child came downstairs and asked her to play video games with him.

 The teen told police that she instructed the child to go upstairs but instead he went to sit on her bed, upsetting her. She said she pushed the 7-year-old off the bed and he hit his face on the floor.

 When the boy began to cry, the child's aunt said she placed her hand over his mouth and plugged his nose, holding down the struggling child until he stopped moving.

 The 16-year-old told police she put the body under her bed before wrapping him in a blanket and placing him in one of the two portable closets in her room.

 Vong was reported missing about 4:30 p.m. from the 4900 block of Fairplay Street near Chambers Road and Bolling Drive.

 Police combed through neighborhoods. Hundreds of posters were put up and officers searched a 20-block radius around the home. The FBI was also called in.

 The next night, police revealed Jordan’s body was found. The 16-year-old was arrested the next morning.

 "It was intentionally concealed, and it took some time to find it," said Joe Montoya, division chief of investigations.

 The teen "didn't tell any of her family what she had done to Jordan because she was afraid," according to the statement. ||||| After a 16-year-old girl killed her 7-year-old nephew, she wrapped his body in a blanket and stored it in a portable closet in her basement bedroom in the family’s Montbello home, according to court documents released Monday.

 The teenage girl will be charged as an adult in Jordan Vong’s death.

 The Denver District Attorney’s Office said Monday that the girl, who was not immediately identified by name, is being charged on suspicion of murder in the first-degree after deliberation and child abuse resulting in death.

 Jordan Vong was reported missing the afternoon of Aug. 6, sparking an extensive search by police and neighbors.

 Two days later, after police obtained a search warrant for the house in the 4900 block of Fairplay Street, a Denver police detective found Jordan’s body in the closet. The coroner’s office was called to the home and the boy was pronounced dead at the scene.

 On Monday, the coroner’s office ruled his death a homicide, but the cause of death has not been determined.

 According to a probable cause statement, the teenage girl was in her basement bedroom on Aug. 6, upset about an earlier argument with a girlfriend. Jordan went to her room and asked if she wanted to play video games.

 “She told Jordan she didn’t want to play with him and told him to go upstairs,” the court document said.

 Jordan lay down on her bed. He refused to leave the room. Then, according to the document, the girl pushed him off the bed, causing him to strike his face on the floor.

 “Jordan began to cry,” the statement said. “She placed her hand over Jordan’s mouth and plugged his nose as Jordan began to struggle for a few minutes.”

 Jordan stopped moving and she slid his body under her bed. The suspect later took the body from under the bed, wrapped it in a blanket, and placed it in one of two portable closets in her room, the document said.

 “She didn’t tell any of her family what she had done to Jordan because she was afraid,” the statement said. “Nor did she tell any of her family where she had hid Jordan.”

 When a search warrant was executed at the home on Wednesday, a detective found the body at 8:46 p.m., according to the court document.

 Paramedics with Denver Health Medical Center at the home on Wednesday said in the statement that Jordan’s body had a towel and comforter wrapped around his head and “biological matter” and blood around his nose. An unknown imprint was on his chest.

 The defendant’s first appearance in district court has not yet been scheduled. |||||Summary:

– A 16-year-old girl killed her 7-year-old nephew, then concealed the secret and his body as a community frantically searched, according to police. Denver's Jordan Vong was reported missing around 4:30pm on Aug. 6, hours after his mother had last seen him, prompting officers to search a 20-block radius, reports KDVR. The boy's body was discovered in one of two portable closets in the basement bedroom of his 16-year-old aunt during a second search two days later, the Denver Post reports. Police say the teen admitted to pushing the boy off her bed, causing him to hit his head and start crying, then using her hands to cover his mouth and nose until he stopped moving, reports KUSA. Authorities say the teen was upset because Jordan came into her room and asked to play video games, and he wouldn't leave when she refused. The teen, to be charged as an adult with murder and child abuse, first hid the body under her bed before wrapping it in a blanket and moving it to the closet, authorities say.


Article:
As I announced last Tuesday, I’m considering taking Tesla private because I believe it could be good for our shareholders, enable Tesla to operate at its best, and advance our mission of accelerating the transition to sustainable energy. As I continue to consider this, I want to answer some of the questions that have been asked since last Tuesday.

 What has happened so far?

 On August 2nd, I notified the Tesla board that, in my personal capacity, I wanted to take Tesla private at $420 per share. This was a 20% premium over the ~$350 then current share price (which already reflected a ~16% increase in the price since just prior to announcing Q2 earnings on August 1st). My proposal was based on using a structure where any existing shareholder who wished to remain as a shareholder in a private Tesla could do so, with the $420 per share buyout used only for shareholders that preferred that option.

 After an initial meeting of the board’s outside directors to discuss my proposal (I did not participate, nor did Kimbal), a full board meeting was held. During that meeting, I told the board about the funding discussions that had taken place (more on that below) and I explained why this could be in Tesla’s long-term interest.

 At the end of that meeting, it was agreed that as a next step, I would reach out to some of Tesla’s largest shareholders. Our largest investors have been extremely supportive of Tesla over the years, and understanding whether they had the ability and desire to remain as shareholders in a private Tesla is of critical importance to me. They are the ones who believed in Tesla when no one else did and they are the ones who most believe in our future. I told the board that I would report back after I had these discussions.

 Why did I make a public announcement?

 The only way I could have meaningful discussions with our largest shareholders was to be completely forthcoming with them about my desire to take the company private. However, it wouldn’t be right to share information about going private with just our largest investors without sharing the same information with all investors at the same time. As a result, it was clear to me that the right thing to do was announce my intentions publicly. To be clear, when I made the public announcement, just as with this blog post and all other discussions I have had on this topic, I am speaking for myself as a potential bidder for Tesla.

 Why did I say “funding secured”?

 Going back almost two years, the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund has approached me multiple times about taking Tesla private. They first met with me at the beginning of 2017 to express this interest because of the important need to diversify away from oil. They then held several additional meetings with me over the next year to reiterate this interest and to try to move forward with a going private transaction. Obviously, the Saudi sovereign fund has more than enough capital needed to execute on such a transaction.

 Recently, after the Saudi fund bought almost 5% of Tesla stock through the public markets, they reached out to ask for another meeting. That meeting took place on July 31st. During the meeting, the Managing Director of the fund expressed regret that I had not moved forward previously on a going private transaction with them, and he strongly expressed his support for funding a going private transaction for Tesla at this time. I understood from him that no other decision makers were needed and that they were eager to proceed.

 I left the July 31st meeting with no question that a deal with the Saudi sovereign fund could be closed, and that it was just a matter of getting the process moving. This is why I referred to “funding secured” in the August 7th announcement.

 Following the August 7th announcement, I have continued to communicate with the Managing Director of the Saudi fund. He has expressed support for proceeding subject to financial and other due diligence and their internal review process for obtaining approvals. He has also asked for additional details on how the company would be taken private, including any required percentages and any regulatory requirements.

 Another critical point to emphasize is that before anyone is asked to decide on going private, full details of the plan will be provided, including the proposed nature and source of the funding to be used. However, it would be premature to do so now. I continue to have discussions with the Saudi fund, and I also am having discussions with a number of other investors, which is something that I always planned to do since I would like for Tesla to continue to have a broad investor base. It is appropriate to complete those discussions before presenting a detailed proposal to an independent board committee.

 It is also worth clarifying that most of the capital required for going private would be funded by equity rather than debt, meaning that this would not be like a standard leveraged buyout structure commonly used when companies are taken private. I do not think it would be wise to burden Tesla with significantly increased debt.

 Therefore, reports that more than $70B would be needed to take Tesla private dramatically overstate the actual capital raise needed. The $420 buyout price would only be used for Tesla shareholders who do not remain with our company if it is private. My best estimate right now is that approximately two-thirds of shares owned by all current investors would roll over into a private Tesla.

 What are the next steps?

 As mentioned earlier, I made the announcement last Tuesday because I felt it was the right and fair thing to do so that all investors had the same information at the same time. I will now continue to talk with investors, and I have engaged advisors to investigate a range of potential structures and options. Among other things, this will allow me to obtain a more precise understanding of how many of Tesla’s existing public shareholders would remain shareholders if we became private.

 If and when a final proposal is presented, an appropriate evaluation process will be undertaken by a special committee of Tesla’s board, which I understand is already in the process of being set up, together with the legal counsel it has selected. If the board process results in an approved plan, any required regulatory approvals will need to be obtained and the plan will be presented to Tesla shareholders for a vote. ||||| But the episode appears to have been much more extemporaneous.

 The tweet did not disclose the sum he had supposedly secured, its source, or any terms of the plan — the kind of transaction that would typically be detailed in documents of 200 pages or more.

 Two people familiar with the chain of events said that in a conversation with an informal adviser about the mess he had gotten himself into, Mr. Musk said he had taken to Twitter impulsively. He said he had done so because he was not the kind of person who could hold things in, and was angry at the company’s critics.

 A person with direct knowledge of the Tesla board’s thinking said some members of the board had been totally blindsided by Mr. Musk’s decision to air his plan on Twitter.

 On Monday evening, Mr. Musk took to Twitter again. Signaling that he remained serious about pursuing the potential buyout, he cited two financial firms and two law firms that he said he was “excited to work with” on the proposal. He named Silver Lake Partners and Goldman Sachs as financial advisers, and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Munger, Tolles & Olson as legal advisers.

 The pursuit of a buyout has come at a crucial time for the company, as it struggles to turn out its first mass-market automobile, the Model 3. Tesla has taken on a mounting debt load and has yet to turn an annual profit. And while Mr. Musk has always been synonymous with the brand, he has never been under greater scrutiny.

 In the past few months, he has mocked industry analysts for asking “bonehead” questions, pursued online tirades against investors betting against the company’s stock, clashed with a government agency investigating a fatal Tesla crash, and accused a disgruntled employee of sabotage.

 Then he suddenly announced the idea of taking the company private.

 In his blog post on Monday, Mr. Musk said he had notified the Tesla board on Aug. 2, five days before sending out the tweets, that “in my personal capacity, I wanted to take Tesla private at $420 a per share.” ||||| Elon Musk's market-moving tweet about possibly taking Tesla private is just the latest erratic move in a tumultuous year for the CEO. Photo illustration: Heather Seidel/The Wall Street Journal

 Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk’s revelations that he has talked to Saudi Arabia’s sovereign-wealth fund to provide the cash to take the company private gives regulators more ammunition to fault how he first disclosed it, securities law experts said.

 The Securities and Exchange Commission has inquired about Mr. Musk’s basis for writing on Twitter last week that he had “funding secured” for the deal. Mr. Musk’s Monday statement acknowledged that Saudi Arabia’s participation hinges on “financial and other due diligence... ||||| I’m excited to work with Silver Lake and Goldman Sachs as financial advisors, plus Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Munger, Tolles & Olson as legal advisors, on the proposal to take Tesla private |||||Summary:

– It sure has been an interesting week for Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and things might get worse before they get better. The controversy began last Tuesday when Musk startled his own company board by announcing that he might take Tesla private and, in fact, had "funding secured." Now the SEC is looking into how Musk handled the announcement, and one law professor tells the Wall Street Journal that "the probability that there will be an SEC enforcement action is, I think, quite high." Meanwhile, some bizarre accusations about Musk emerged from rapper Azealia Banks. Coverage: Musk's explanation: On Monday, Musk wrote in a blog that he's been in talks with Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund to provide the needed money to take the company private. The post appeared to be an attempt to quell the controversy over his initial tweet, notes the New York Times, which talks to people familiar with the Saudi fund who say a deal is nowhere close. In fact, the story asserts that Musk made his initial tweet with "little forethought." On Monday, Musk also tweeted that he was getting legal and financial advice on a deal from Goldman Sachs and others.


Summarize this article:

Image caption Michael Adebolajo is one of the suspects in the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby

 The UK government has defended security services against criticism they missed signs which might have helped prevent the murder of a soldier in London.

 The security services face a Commons inquiry after it was confirmed the two men arrested over the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby were known to MI5.

 But Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said it was impossible to control everyone all the time.

 Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale were named as suspects.

 Mr Pickles told the BBC: "Peers and MPs will do a thorough investigation in terms of what the security forces knew but I've seen experts on security explaining how difficult it is in a free society to be able to control everyone."

 Drummer Rigby, 25, was murdered on a street in Woolwich, south-east London on Wednesday afternoon.

 Shortly after the killing, a man, thought to be 28-year-old Mr Adebolajo, was filmed by a passer-by, saying he had carried out the attack because British soldiers killed Muslims every day.

 Armed police arrived on the scene 13 minutes after the first 999 call and shot the two suspected attackers, who had made no attempt to flee.

 Footage of shooting

 More than 30 people attended a prayer service in Drummer Rigby's hometown of Middleton, Greater Manchester on Friday morning. Residents on the Langley estate where he grew up are being urged to fly union jacks by community activists.

 Drummer Rigby had served in Afghanistan, Germany and Cyprus.

 The former head of counter terrorism at MI6, Richard Barrett, told the BBC how hard it could be to detect attacks of the type seen in Woolwich - despite the suspects having been known to MI5 for eight years.

 "I assume that these people are probably coming out of a small group without, necessarily, any overseas connections or any other broader connections in the United Kingdom which could come to the attention of the security services more than they did," he said.

 "When does a person who expresses radical views, who joins a radical group, flip over to be a violent extremist?

 "To find the signals, the red flags as it were, I think is enormously hard."

 Image copyright Daily Mirror Image caption This still from a video shows Mr Adebolajo after he was shot by police officers

 Former Metropolitan Police commissioner, Lord Blair, told BBC radio he hoped the committee investigating how the suspects were monitored "would act fast" to establish what might have gone wrong.

 "I think it's important for the public to have somebody say within the limits of legality that either something was mistaken, either decisions were badly taken or they weren't, because I think it's important for the public to know security services and the police are operating properly," he said.

 His comments came as video footage, obtained by the Daily Mirror, emerged showing the moment police shot Mr Adebolajo, originally of Romford, east London, and Mr Adebowale, 22, of Greenwich, south-east London.

 It shows one of the men charge at police sitting in a patrol car. He drops a knife as he is shot and falls to the ground.

 Drummers Drummers are musicians as well as fully trained fighting infantrymen

 Can be deployed to any area in the world within 24 hours

 Given drum training, and play drum scores relevant to their regimental tunes

 Some can also play the bugle

 The other man is shown aiming a gun at officers as he runs in a different direction. Police are heard firing eight shots in total at the two men.

 Both of the suspects remain under armed guard in separate London hospitals in stable conditions with non-life-threatening injuries.

 And police are said to be standing guard outside Mr Adebowale's home in Greenwich, according to BBC correspondent Tom Bateman.

 Detectives are also interviewing a man and a woman at a south London police station after they were arrested on Thursday night on suspicion of conspiracy to murder.

 'Solidarity against extremism'

 The BBC has uncovered its own footage of Mr Adebolajo taking part in an Islamist demonstration in April 2007 against the arrest of a man from Luton, holding a placard reading "Crusade Against Muslims".

 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Video has emerged of suspect Michael Adebolajo at an Islamist protest in 2007 (Left, in white clothes)

 He is shown standing next to then-leader of the now banned al-Muhajiroun organisation, Anjem Choudary, who has said Mr Adebolajo went his own way in around 2010.

 Mr Choudary appeared on Newsnight on Thursday and said Mr Adebolajo had made comments that "I think not many Muslims can disagree with".

 The radical Islamist preacher said he was "shocked" by what had happened. He also said: "One man killed in the street does not equate to the hundreds and thousands and millions, in fact, who've been slaughtered by the British and American foreign policy."

 Meanwhile, thousands of members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community are expected to gather in London to offer prayers for the dead soldier and his family and to "express solidarity against extremism".

 National president Rafiq Hayat said: "We hope that the perpetrators of this crime, that is based on a twisted and warped ideology, are brought to justice."

 On Thursday, Drummer Rigby's family paid tribute to "a loving son, husband, father, brother, and uncle, and a friend to many".

 They said in a statement that Drummer Rigby, who had a two-year-old son, "would do anything for anybody - he always looked after his sisters and always protected them". ||||| The footage obtained by the Daily Mirror reveals how, after beheading the soldier, they hatched a plot to ambush and murder the first police officers to come to his aid

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 The brave WPC first on the scene at the Woolwich beheading comes within inches of death, a dramatic Daily Mirror video shows.

 The driver, unable to draw her firearm, is saved by a male colleague in the back who fires his machine-gun through his window at a suspect who is charging at her.

 The callous Islamic extremists had lured police to the scene by dragging the body of the murdered fusilier – named yesterday as Lee Rigby, 25 – into the middle of the road.

 When they see the first police car arrive, the pair split up.

 Blade-wielding Michael Adebolajo, 28, runs at officers head-on and his accomplice, named locally as 22-year-old Michael Oluwatobi Adebowale, advances alongside, aiming his gun at them.

 The film of the 10 seconds of terror shows how Adebolajo got within two feet of the WPC who was driving the armed response BMW X5.

 As he is sent sprawling to the ground by the force of the two shots, two officers jump out to cover him.

 They appear not to see Adebowale aiming a handgun at them.

 But a third SO19 marksman from the specialist Trojan unit spots him and he is brought to the ground as six more shots ring out in the suburban South East London street.

 After seeing the Mirror’s exclusive video, Former Det Ch Insp Peter Kirkham, an expert in firearms tactics, said last night: “I have never seen anything like this before, or even heard of it happening.

 "For two suspects to carry out a brutal attack like this then stand around in plain sight waiting for the police is crazy.”

 The dramatic climax to the horrific attack – in which dad of one Lee, from Manchester, was hacked to death – was filmed by a resident in a tower block overlooking the scene in Artillery Road, Woolwich.

 The footage reveals how, after beheading the soldier, they set up their ambush bid to murder the first police officers to arrive.

 For eight minutes before that, the suspects are seen talking to passers-by and three women who try to help the victim.

 But as soon they see the patrol car turn the corner the suspects spring into action, in a move designed to give the gunman time to target officers.

 Cleaver: The suspect ran at the police BMW

 ITV News

 The 15-minute 50-second footage was filmed 100ft up from the windows of a flat as calls flooded in to police at 2.20pm on Wednesday.

 Scotland Yard assigned an armed response unit four minutes later. And it arrived 10 minutes after that.

 At one point an ambulance drives towards Lee’s body and swerves round him when the two armed suspects are seen standing nearby.

 Eight minutes 21 seconds into the video, the men sprint towards the police BMW X5 which comes round the corner and skids to a halt.

 Adebolajo, in a charcoal hooded top and black woolly hat, charges head-long towards the driver’s side of the marked silver patrol car, in an apparent attempt to attack officers.

 He drops one of his blades and moves the other into his right hand as he rushes wildly at the vehicle.

 Pistol: The second suspect had the gun

 Twitter/@dannymckiernan

 Just as he is within touching distance, two shots ring out and he is sent sprawling.

 The officers took a split-second decision to open fire with hollow point bullets while they were sitting in the car, either through open windows or partially opened doors.

 Adebowale immediately takes off with a handgun, running past the three officers as they emerge from the car.

 In his light-coloured trench coat he can be seen pointing the revolver at the officers as they tackle Adebolajo.

 As he disappears briefly behind a tree four more shots ring out, including one from him according to some witnesses, and he stumbles and falls near a road sign.

 As the cops advance on the blade maniac, the female driver can be seen carrying a bright yellow Taser.

 She is flanked by two male colleagues who run out from either side of the car, with Heckler and Koch MP5 submachine guns.

 The female officer drops her Taser and pulls out a handgun and covers the knifeman as he lays prone.

 The man who filmed the footage said: “I got my camera phone out and started filming as I thought it was a robbery or a kidnapping.” ||||| Two more people were arrested by U.K. police as they continued their investigation into the killing of Lee Rigby, a 25-year-old soldier who once served in Afghanistan. WSJ’s Cassell Bryan-Low brings us up-to-date.

 LONDON—Counterterrorism police advanced their investigation into the brutal slaying of a British soldier near an army barracks here with two new arrests on Thursday and the disclosure that the two initial suspects had previously surfaced in probes of Islamist extremists.

 Police haven't named the two suspects, age 28 and 22, who they shot and arrested Wednesday on suspicion of murder at the scene of the brutal knife attack that killed a soldier now identified as Lee Rigby, a 25-year-old father who had served as an machine-gunner in Cyprus and Afghanistan.

 The 28-year-old suspect is British-raised Michael Adebolajo, who is of Nigerian descent, people familiar with the investigation said. Acquaintances said they believed Mr. Adebolajo, who was known by the nickname "Mujahid"—or "person doing the Holy War" in Arabic—came from a Christian family and converted to Islam a decade ago. They said he was disturbed by Western states' perceived abuses in Muslim countries. Mr. Adebolajo couldn't be reached to comment.

 Enlarge Image Close Reuters A police forensics team searched a crime scene in Woolwich for evidence on Thursday, a day after a British army soldier was brutally killed there.

 Authorities said they made two further arrests Thursday—a 29-year-old man and a 29-year-old woman—on suspicion of conspiring to murder. Police said they also searched six residential addresses across London and in Lincolnshire, England.

 None of the four suspects have been charged.

 Witnesses at the scene of Wednesday's attack said two men hacked at Mr. Rigby with large knives in broad daylight. Videos taken by witnesses quickly surfaced of a man with bloodied hands, apparently in the immediate aftermath of the incident, stating antigovernment views in a British accent.

 More Video Flowers Laid in Memory of the Woolwich Soldier

 Police didn't confirm local media reports that the man in the video was Mr. Adebolajo.

 Amid the remarkable scene, Ingrid Loyau-Kennet, a former teacher who arrived shortly after the attack, said she found an injured man in the road and a crashed car on the pavement. In an interview on broadcaster ITV PLC, she said she approached the man but was told not to get too close by another man who was "excited," had blood all over him, and was in possession of two large knives and a handgun.

 "I killed him," the apparent attacker said, according to Ms. Loyau-Kennet. When she asked why, he replied it was because he was a British soldier who had killed Muslim people abroad. As crowds began to gather around, Ms. Loyau-Kennet said she continued to engage the alleged attacker in conversation and he said he was waiting for the police to come so he could "shoot them." She jumped on a passing bus before police arrived.

 Plots Against Britain Some of the incidents since 56 people were killed on July 7, 2005, on London's public transport system, in the '7/7' attacks: August 2006 Police foil an alleged plan to use liquid explosives to blow up flights between the U.S. and the U.K.

 2006 A London street vendor is sentenced to six years in prison for plotting to kill a decorated U.K. soldier.

 January 2007 Authorities arrest eight suspects who allegedly plotted to behead a U.K. Muslim soldier while broadcasting the killing on the Internet.

 July 2007 Police arrest four suspects after a flaming jeep crashes into a Scottish airport. The incident follows a foiled carbomb plot in central London.

 2010 Roshonara Choudhry tells police she stabbed a former treasury minister in the stomach because he voted for Iraq war

 2011 Several suspects are arrested in connection with an alleged plot to detonate knapsack bombs. In April 2013 the ringleader and two accomplices are sentenced to 10 to 18 years in jail.

 Police then shot two men who they believed to be the attackers. The men were arrested and hospitalized to treat their injuries, where they remained Thursday under armed guard and in "stable condition," police said.

 The two men believed to be behind the attack were known to intelligence officials, having surfaced in security service probes into Islamist extremists in recent years, people familiar with the matter said. Such probes result in thousands of individuals facing varying levels of scrutiny and officials didn't specify why Mr. Adebolajo was on their radar.

 Still, that could lead to the kind of questions U.S. officials have faced in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing, in which one suspect was previously known to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

 British police clashed with English Defence League protestors in Woolwich following the killing of a member of the British armed forces. Photo: Getty Images.

 In both cases, the attacks left officials scrambling to determine whether the men were acting on their own or as part of a network.

 In the London case, British officials are probing potential links to Islamist extremism as well as to Nigeria, a person familiar with the matter said. It remained unclear whether he had close connections to Nigeria.

 The brazen attack on the soldier shocked Londoners and revived the debate over how to confront extremism in Britain, which has spent significant resources on enhancing its security and counterterrorism network in the wake of the 2005 coordinated suicide attacks that left dozens dead and hundreds more injured.

 Enlarge Image Close ReutersTV/Reuters An amateur video showed a man with a knife and a cleaver after the attack.

 Prime Minister David Cameron met Thursday with top security and government officials to discuss the investigation. "The people who did this were trying to divide us," he said after the meeting. "They should know something like this will only bring us together and make us stronger."

 The Muslim Council of Britain condemned Wednesday's attack, calling it a "barbaric act that has no basis in Islam."

 Mr. Adebolajo grew up in Romford, Essex, to the east of London, where he lived with his family, according to acquaintances and a public address database. Neighbors described his family as pleasant and said they believed they were churchgoing Christians.

 Mr. Adebolajo attended school in Essex, including Havering Sixth Form College for 16- to 19-year-olds from 2001 to 2003, according to the principal. The family moved away not long after that, neighbors said.

 Abu Nusaybah, a 28-year-old based in London, said in an interview via Twitter that he has known Mr. Adebolajo since 2002, when they met in Essex, England. "He was always hurt if he heard of Muslims being harmed" anywhere in the world, Mr. Nusaybah wrote.

 He said Mr. Adebolajo believed that Western governments have "set up puppet regimes" in some countries that "oppressed the people." He added that Mr. Adebolajo has worked as a fitness instructor.

 Anjem Choudary an ex-leader of banned radical Islamic group al-Muhajiroun, said in an interview that he knew Mr. Adebolajo by his nickname "Mujahid." He said he believed Mr. Adebolajo converted to Islam in 2003.

 "Brother Mujahid was just an ordinary Muslim.…He was attending demonstrations, processions, lectures" of al-Muhajiroun, said Mr. Choudary, adding that Mr. Adebolajo wasn't a member of the group.

 Mr. Adebolajo appears to have then moved to London. The public database lists two different addresses for a Michael Adebolajo at two separate student residence halls at the University of Greenwich, in southeast London, dating back to 2004 and 2005. A spokeswoman for the University of Greenwich declined to say whether Mr. Adebolajo had attended the institution, saying the university was "taking our guidance from police" and couldn't comment further.

 Mark Rowley, an assistant commissioner at London's Metropolitan Police, whose counterterrorism unit is leading the investigation, said police raised its presence in Woolwich and the surrounding areas, with some 1,200 extra officers were on duty across London. The military also stepped up security at the barracks in Woolwich and across London.

 — Peter Evans, Ainsley Thomson, and Nicholas Winning contributed to this article.

 Corrections & Amplifications

 British Prime Minister David Cameron highlighted media reports that the two suspects were known to the security services, but declined to elaborate. An earlier version of this article said that Mr. Cameron said the two suspects were known to security services.

 Write to Cassell Bryan-Low at cassell.bryan-low@wsj.com, Jeanne Whalen at jeanne.whalen@wsj.com and Benoit Faucon at Benoit.Faucon@dowjones.com

 A version of this article appeared May 24, 2013, on page A7 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: U.K. Police Hold Two New Suspects in Killing. ||||| Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. |||||

– The plot to kill a soldier in the streets of London may have gone deeper than the two men who hacked Lee Rigby to death. Police yesterday arrested two more people, a man and a woman, both 29, as suspected conspirators in the attack, the Wall Street Journal reports. They also searched the homes of six people—including, reportedly, suspect Michael Adebolajo's father's home. Neither these two conspirators nor the wounded alleged killers have been charged yet. Other developments include: Police also haven't identified any of the suspects, but Adebolajo's name was widely reported yesterday, and today the Telegraph has identified the other alleged knife-man as the confusingly similarly named Michael Adebowale, 22. Neighbors identified Adebowale after police armed with submachine guns raided his flat yesterday, emerging with two children, a baby, and two large envelopes. Adebowale was apparently known for distributing radical Islamist leaflets, and his girlfriend had recently converted to Islam. "When you walked past, you would hear them singing Muslim songs," one neighbor says, adding that she "saw the man who was in the video go inside the house. I think he was a boyfriend." Rigby, "was due to come up this weekend," his wife tells the Guardian. "You don't expect it to happen when he's in the UK. You think they're safe." The Daily Mirror has uncovered video that purports to show the two suspects rushing at police and getting shot. There's also been a great deal of hand-wringing over MI5's failure to identify the stabbers ahead of time. David Cameron is calling for an investigation to determine "what went wrong" at the intelligence agency. Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has promised just such an investigation. But he also defended the agency to the BBC, saying it was "difficult in a free society to be able to control everyone."