"Richmond Police Statement On Cantor Office Vandalism"

[Clio the Leo]

Richmond Police Statement On Cantor Office Vandalism

The Richmond Police Department released the following statement Thursday, along with this incident report:

Richmond Police Investigate Cantor Building Vandalism

March 25, 2010

The Richmond Police Department is investigating an act of vandalism at the Reagan Building, 25 E. Main St., Richmond, Virginia. A first floor window was struck by a bullet at approximately 1 a.m. on Tuesday, March 23. The building, which has several tenants including an office used by Congressman Eric Cantor, was unoccupied at the time.

A Richmond Police detective was assigned to the case. A preliminary investigation shows that a bullet was fired into the air and struck the window in a downward direction, landing on the floor about a foot from the window. The round struck with enough force to break the windowpane but did not penetrate the window blinds. There was no other damage to the room, which is used occasionally for meetings by the congressman.

The Richmond Police Department is sharing information about the incident with appropriate law enforcement agencies.

At this time there are no suspects.

http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/richmond-police-statement-on-cantor-office-vandalism.php?ref=fpblg

(background)

Eric Cantor of Virginia, the No. 2 Republican in the House, said at a news conference today that someone had fired a bullet through the window of his campaign office this week.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2010/03/cantor-reports-bullet-being-fired-at-campaign-office/1

[ericgtr]

1. Probably happened a long time ago too.. This guys is a real piece of shit n/t

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

2. So someone fired into the air blocks away...

...that's either some supernaturally impressive shooting or else wholly unconnected to Mister Cantor's office being there.

I'll go with unconnected.

[Supersedeas]

8. but boy oh boy how much hay can Pretty Corporate Boy Cantor make of his song and dance

[LiberalFighter]

3. Not enough force to penetrate the window blinds? What kind of ammo was used?

The bullet was fired into the air and struck the window at a downward angle? Was this someone intentionally shooting at the office or some incompetent gun owner?

[Clio the Leo]

6. well, you know us "libs"....

... infamously poor shots. :)

[LiberalFighter]

4. Anyone have an address of the campaign office?

Would like to see the geography of the area and see what the hell might had happened.

[ashling]

11. The address is in the original post

you can see it at google maps

[LiberalFighter]

14. Looked it up and don't see any windows broken. That means Cantor lied.

:bounce:

[ashling]

15. Actually, that means

you didn't see any windows broken, not that he lied. However, they are not mutually exclusive.

[LiberalFighter]

18. You mean I can't do what Republicans do?

:bounce:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:bounce:

xxx:bounce:xxxxxxxxx:bounce:

xxxxxx:bounce:xxx:bounce:

xxxxxxxxx:bounce:

[ashling]

19. Uh...NO

Sorry to spoil your fun :rofl:

[ericgtr]

5. Mythbusters did a show on this once...

and even in the most controlled of circumstances they had a hell of a time controlling where the bullet landed and it most cases couldn't find them. They also showed that unless a bullet was shot upwards at a shallow angle that it doesn't have enough power to kill.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

7. Yup. The upward and the sideways are independent

The downward velocity of a bullet that was fired into the air is the same as if it had been dropped out of a plane... it is just the terminal velocity of a bullet.

So it is only the lateral movement that would be likely to kill--thus shallow shots, but not straight up.

[louis-t]

9. Maybe a Lib shot at the office from a plane.

:silly:

[BklnDem75]

10. or a helicopter...

from Alaska... hmmm.

[tridim]

17. Terminal velocity. Science!

That was a great episode BTW.

[Phx_Dem]

12. Anyone check Cantor's gun? He probably did it while aiming at something else.

[LiberalFighter]

13. Between his legs? And of course he missed.

[Cha]

16. "CANTOR'S CREATIVE DEFINITION OF 'THREAT'"

".... This week, we've seen an unacceptable number of incidents involving right-wing activists. To protest their rage about what they think the new health care law is, they're engaging in acts of political vandalism, assault, and harassment.

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) seemed rather desperate today to characterize this as a bipartisan problem. During a bizarre press conference this morning, Cantor told reporters:

"I've received threats since I assumed elected office -- not only because of my position, but also because I'm Jewish. I've never blamed anyone in this body for that.

"Just recently I have been directly threatened: A bullet was shot through the window of my campaign office in Richmond this week."

Well, that sounds pretty serious. We've heard about plenty of vandalism at district congressional offices this week -- all of the cases involve Democrats as targets -- but this would be the first reported shooting.

The problem is, what Cantor told reporters wasn't true. When he said he was "directly threatened," Cantor was either shamelessly, blatantly lying, or he was popping off to the press about politically-motivated violence without getting his facts straight.

Here's what happened: early Tuesday morning, someone in the Richmond area fired a bullet into the air. It eventually came down and hit a building -- named, of course, the Reagan Building -- on the first floor. According to a report from the Richmond Police Department statement, "The round struck with enough force to break the windowpane but did not penetrate the window blinds. There was no other damage to the room, which is used occasionally for meetings by the congressman."

Was Eric Cantor "directly threatened" this week? Not if those words still have any meaning at all.

—Steve Benen 4:05 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (14)
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/

And, why should he blame anyone in "this body" for his alleged threats because he's Jewish? The Dems wouldn't be doing it and cantor would cover for the teabaggers.

[Jennicut]

21. Cantor was in full desperation mode.

[ProSense]

20. Cantor is pathetic. n/t