6A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JUNE 29, 2018
Suspect in Maryland newspaper rampage charged with murder
By BRIAN WITTE
Associated Press
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A man with
a long grudge against Maryland’s cap-
ital-city newspaper was charged today
with five counts of first-degree mur-
der after police said he blasted his way
into the newsroom with a pump-ac-
tion shotgun in an attack that left four
journalists and a sales employee dead.
Jarrod W. Ramos, 38, was swiftly
arrested as he tried to hide under a
desk Thursday afternoon at the Cap-
ital Gazette in Annapolis, police said.
In court papers, authorities described
him as “recalcitrant.”
It was one of the deadliest attacks
The Baltimore Sun
The victims of the shooting at the Capital Gazette, from left: John McNamara,
Wendi Winters, Rob Hiaasen, Gerald Fischman and Rebecca Smith.
on journalists in U.S. history.
“The fellow was there to kill as
many people as he could,” Anne
Arundel County Chief Timothy
Altomare said today.
Ramos had a well-documented
history of harassing the paper’s jour-
nalists, a feud that apparently began
over a column about Ramos pleading
guilty to harassing a woman. He filed
a defamation suit against the paper in
2012 that was thrown out as ground-
less, and he often railed against its
staff members in profanity-laced
tweets.
Police said surveillance video
recorded the attack, which began with
a shotgun blast that shattered the glass
entrance to the open newsroom.
Journalists crawled under desks
and sought other hiding places,
describing agonizing minutes of ter-
ror as they heard his footsteps and the
repeated blasts of the weapon.
Officers responded in about 60
seconds and arrested him without fir-
ing a shot, police said. They recovered
a gun and said he also carried smoke
grenades. Some 300 local, state and
federal officers converged on the
scene, Altomare said.
The “bad guy” was identified
quickly with help of facial recogni-
tion technology from the Maryland
Image Repository System, Altomare
said, refusing to give him the satisfac-
tion of identifying him by name. He
also confirmed that the weapon was
a pump-action shotgun, legally pur-
chased about a year ago.
The rampage immediately stirred
fears that the recent political attacks
on the “fake news media” and the
branding of reporters as “enemies of
the people” had finally exploded into
violence. But by all accounts, Ramos
had a longstanding, specific grievance
against the paper.
WORLD IN BRIEF
— all while they change diapers, nurse babies and pre-
pare snacks. They have marched for women’s rights
but have never spearheaded a political rally.
Associated Press
Family separations
spark protests in
Portland, around nation
PORTLAND — Immigrants who have spent years
fighting to change the country’s immigration system
are getting newfound support from liberal activists,
moms and first-time protesters motivated by a visceral
narrative: President Donald Trump’s administration
separating children from their parents at the U.S.-Mex-
ico border.
Groups that pulled off massive women’s marches the
past two years and other left-leaning rallies are throw-
ing their weight behind migrant families Saturday.
More than 600 marches could draw hundreds of thou-
sands of people nationwide, from immigrant-friendly
cities like Los Angeles and New York City to conserva-
tive Appalachia and Wyoming.
Though many are seasoned anti-Trump demonstra-
tors, others are new to immigration activism, includ-
ing parents who say they feel compelled to show up
after heart-wrenching accounts of children forcibly
taken from their families as they crossed the border
illegally.
In Portland, for example, several stay-at-home
moms are organizing their first rally while caring for
young kids.
“I’m not a radical, and I’m not an activist,” said
Kate Sharaf, a co-organizer in Portland’s event. “I just
reached a point where I felt I had to do more.”
She and her co-organizers are undaunted after
nearly 600 women wearing white and railing against
the now-abandoned separation policy were arrested
Thursday in Washington, D.C. With demonstrations
emerging nationwide, immigrant advocacy groups say
they’re thrilled — and surprised — to see the issue
gaining traction among those not tied to immigration.
In Portland, Sharaf and other mothers are working
to organize a march expected to attract 5,000 people
Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket
launches just before dawn
today at Launch Complex
40 at Cape Canaveral, Fla.
European Union moves on
migrant plans, while 100
reported missing at sea
BRUSSELS — European Union leaders drew up
new plans today to screen migrants in North Africa for
eligibility to enter Europe, saying they set aside major
differences over stemming the flow of people seeking
sanctuary or better lives. But the show of unity did lit-
tle to hide the fact that the hardest work still lies ahead.
Even as they met in Brussels for a second day, Lib-
ya’s coast guard said about 100 people were miss-
ing and feared dead after their boat capsized in the
Mediterranean.
The leaders agreed on a “new approach” to manage
those rescued at sea, just as bickering over who should
take responsibility for them undermines unity and
threatens cross-border business and travel in Europe.
Italy, Greece and Spain bear responsibility for
accepting most of the migrants and have felt aban-
doned by their EU partners. Italy, with a new anti-Eu-
ropean government, has refused to take charge of
people rescued at sea in recent weeks, sparking a diplo-
matic row with France and Malta. In Germany, Chan-
cellor Angela Merkel’s coalition partner is demanding
she take a tougher line on migrants, undermining her
leadership.
The new plan is to receive people from rescue ships
in EU nations that agree to share responsibility for
handing migration with the EU’s main point-of-entry
countries like Spain, Italy and Greece. But they also
will receive them in centers in North Africa and possi-
bly the Balkans.
New Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, whose
populist government has rocked the EU’s political
landscape, said: “On the whole, we can say we are sat-
isfied. Italy is no longer alone, as we requested.”
SpaceX launches AI robot,
strong coffee for station crew
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A SpaceX rocket that flew just two months
ago with a NASA satellite roared back into action today, launching the first
orbiting robot with artificial intelligence and other station supplies.
The used Falcon rocket blasted off before dawn, hauling nearly 6,000
pounds of cargo including the spherical AI bot named Cimon, genetically iden-
tical mice and super-caffeinated coffee for the crew of the International Space
Station.
The shipment — packed into a Dragon capsule that’s also recycled —
should reach the station Monday.
It was an especially gorgeous launch, delighting spectators as the rocket
plume expanded in the clear night sky like a giant halo beneath a nearly full
moon and a gleaming Mars.
SpaceX’s Jessica Jensen described the high-altitude plume, illuminated
against the dark sky, as “the space jellyfish that’s coming down after us.”
S
L
A
I
C
E
P
S
Y
L
U
J
4TH OF
ne
Prices Good Ju
18
29th-July 4th, 20
ST. HELEN’S
BEEF NEW YORK
STRIP STEAK
$ 99
5
FRESH LEAN
GROUND BEEF
80% LEAN
FRESH SWEET &
JUICY PEACHES
OR NECTARINES
$ 99
2
LB
$ 99
1
LB
FARM FRESH
WASHINGTON
CHERRIES
$ 99
2
LB
$ 99
2
BEST FOODS
MAYONNAISE
30 OZ
EA
LB
2 FOR
2 FOR
HUNT’S TOMATO
KETCHUP
24 OZ
¢
99
SWEET BABY
RAY’S BBQ
SAUCE 18 OZ
BUSH’S BAKED
BEANS
22-28 OZ
$ 00
3
$ 00
3
TILLAMOOK ICE
CREAM ASSORTED
VARIETIES 1.75 QT
$ 99
3
EA
$
88
12
BUSCH OR
BUSCH LITE
18 PACK 16 OZ
EA
EA
LOCALLY OWNED
AND
OPERATED
facebook.com/MainStMarket
Where the Meat Lovers Shop
503-861-2271
www.mainstselect.com
191 S. Main Ave., Warrenton