CO heroine being attacked by the media - for a DECADE-old mistake!

[Green Lantern]

http://www.startribune.com/local/12356581.html

By AMY FORLITI , Associated Press

Guard who shot Colorado gunman had been fired from Mpls. force

The security guard credited with bravery for shooting a gunman at a Colorado church was fired from her job as a Minneapolis police officer in the 1990s for lying, Minneapolis police officials said today.

The security guard credited with bravery for shooting a gunman at a Colorado church was fired from her job as a Minneapolis police officer in the 1990s for lying, Minneapolis police officials said Tuesday.

But that didn't bother officials at New Life Church. Pastor Brady Boyd said Jeanne Assam's license to carry a gun, and to work at other police departments, persuaded leaders to allow her to serve on a voluntary security detail at the Colorado Springs church.

Investigators in Colorado said Assam confronted 24-year-old Matthew Murray after he began firing. Murray killed two sisters _ Stephanie Works, 18, and Rachael Works, 16 _ before he died.

His death was ruled a suicide, but authorities and church leaders say Assam's courage on Sunday may have averted a greater tragedy. She shot him several times.

"She is a fairly new believer in Christ," Boyd said of Assam and her background in Minneapolis. "If you go back in any of our pasts, you can dig up something on any of us. She admittedly made lots of bad decisions, but only in the past few months did she become a devoted follower of Christ. Her life has changed. She was let go, but that happens every day to good people."

"I don't want her to be convicted or crucified for being a heroine. That's why a lot of people don't get involved _ for the scrutiny after the fact. She did the right thing at the right time."

"What she did was unbelievable," her brother, Sam Assam, said Tuesday.

"Jeanne is very quick of mind _ and of wit, I might add too. Does it surprise me that she can handle herself in a crisis? No," he said. "She's always been like that. ... But this is off the charts ... an incredibly brave act."

Jeanne Assam, 42, grew up in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Sam Assam said his sister has been in Colorado for about eight years. He said she is religious, adding that her faith has grown dramatically over the past few years. He also said she likes helping people and is a "super athlete" who participated on the track team at Hamline University.

On Tuesday, authorities in Minneapolis revealed more about Jeanne Assam's past.

Sgt. Jesse Garcia, a Minneapolis police spokesman, said Jeanne Assam worked at the department from March 1993 to November 1997. She was fired for lying during an internal investigation. Sgt. John Delmonico, president of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis, said police were investigating a complaint that Assam swore at a bus driver while she was handling an incident on a city bus.

"In giving a statement about the incident, she was untruthful and she was fired," Delmonico said. The swearing was caught on tape, he said. "The union arbitrated the case and the arbitrator upheld the termination."

Jeanne Assam's home phone number is unlisted and she couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday.

Sam Assam didn't want to comment on the incident, saying it happened 10 years ago.

Other personnel records about Jeanne Assam's time in Minneapolis, such as commendations or disciplinary actions, have been destroyed because she worked at the Minneapolis Police Department so long ago, Garcia said. Such records are destroyed after seven years

So - heroine risks death to save lives of fellow parishioners, and what's a good reporter to do? Go digging for skeletons in her closet, of course! :steamed:

And for what? A "dirty word?" Pathetic. Though it looks like Forliti tried to get more mud to sling based on the last sentence.

I'd love to give this hack a piece of my mind, but contacting her is harder than just typing her name into Google (at least for me... )

Hmmm...and what's this about the killer's death being a suicide?

 

[Zundfolge]

And for what? A "dirty word?" Pathetic.

Actually it was for lying about using the dirty word.


But I agree ... there's really no reason to pile on to her. As far as I'm concerned her actions on Sunday washed away her past mistake.

Hmmm...and what's this about the killer's death being a suicide?

Apparently after she plugged him a few times he figured he'd be better off making SURE he was too dead to face the music (however I have bad news for him )

 

[brentn]

Wasn't she just a regular civillian attending church with a concieled carry and shot a hostile assailant? I heard that she was just working a job as security, but was not security for the church itself?

If this is true, its like the media is trying to find any dirt on her to try and slam her for using her firearm when she wasn't the police...

Ah.. forgive me, I seriously have not read the articles..

 

[Rapidfire_85]

wow, although they included some points from the other side like:

I don't want her to be convicted or crucified for being a heroine. That's why a lot of people don't get involved _ for the scrutiny after the fact. She did the right thing at the right time."

"What she did was unbelievable," her brother, Sam Assam, said Tuesday.



I think the title that the star included was way off base.

I didnt hear it was a suicide before, but even if he did finish himself off it was Jeanne who intervened and ended the shooting.

 

[Nightwing]

If it helps they just called the lady that accidentally took a gun into disneyworld a "terrorist". So that's nice.

effing media. Can we turn news buildings into gun free zones? PLEASE!?!?!? .....of course I'm kidding

 

[Daps]

brentn she was on the churches security detail....it was a vol. type job she wasnt hired and shes a member there....

as far as the media digging dirt, well did any expect them not to?

now has any one found out how my hits she made, what ammo, gun and grain
she used

 

[MachIVshooter]

We shouldn't be surprised in the least. Disgusted and outraged, but not surprised.

 

[geophysicishooter]

don't want her to be convicted or crucified for being a heroine. That's why a lot of people don't get involved

I'm just surprised this line hasn't been twisted into:

We don't want her to be crucified for being on cocaine and heroin.

 

[The Unknown User]

This is the media doing their jobs. Their job is to "sell" news. What better than to "expose" a heroine?

I don't like it anymore than you do, but come on. You knew something like this would happen.

 

[Mannix]

Typical Star Tribune

 

[4v50 Gary]

Who cares about her past? She rose to the call and saved lives when she was needed. The media certainly likes to discredit people. I suppose it sells more advertising space or air time.

 

[The Unknown User]

It's all about making a buck. Anything that isn't overtly non-profit is inherently going to be immoral about their practices.

 

[Roswell 1847]

Reminiscent of the regular as clockwork "discovery" of Laura Bush's fatal auto accident as a teenager.
A fellow ran a study on the Laura Bush accident stories and found that the press dragged out the story aproximately once every 90 days as if it was a newly discovered skeleton in the closet. These stories always give a wink and a nod when they mention that the officer on the scene did not run a sobriety test. Of course the fact that there was absolutely no indication that such a test was in order never occurs to anyone.

Anything to trash the reputation of anyone not related to a Kennedy I guess.

"If you go back in any of our pasts, you can dig up something on any of us. She admittedly made lots of bad decisions, but only in the past few months did she become a devoted follower of Christ. Her life has changed. She was let go, but that happens every day to good people."

Now ain't that the truth.

Awhile back a Muslim politician in Minnesota got a free pass from the press over his former membership in a radical Islamic sect.
Richard Byrd was a Grand Kleagle in the KKK, yet this is water under the bridge because he's a Democrat.
Bob Kerry is proudly trotted out as a Democrat War Hero because of his well Deserved Medal of Honor, his public acknowledgement that he'd accepted a Bronze Star under false pretenses as part of the coverup of the Murders of dozens of unarmed civilian POWs somehow fell into the Twilight Zone as far as the Press is concerned.

 

[wuchak]

I wonder how it is that Sgt. John Delmonico has the ok to discuss what is probably a confidential HR file with the media. It also sounds like the bus driver thing was something they used as an excuse to get rid of her when they really wanted her gone for other reasons.

 

[qbpc]

A christian with a gun that stopped a shooter the media can not stand it.
They must tear her down and stomp on her untill she is a evil gun owner.:banghead:
BB

 

[Robert Hairless]

If it's true that Assam was fired from her job as a Minneapolis police officer in the 1990s for lying she most certainly should not have been permitted to save people's lives.

No decent person would want his own life, or his family's lives, saved by anyone like that. Only pure people are entitled to save the lives of other people.

If ever I am in the midst of an active shooting incident I intend to do a background check on anyone who tries to stop it. We should all do the same.

Perhaps it might be possible to resurrect the young man who was shot by Assam, apologize to him, and ask if he would resume his shooting from the time just before she interrupted him.

 

[MakAttak]

I think it's more than simply the fact that they disagree with her.

I think it's a compulsion. These people grew up worshiping the "anti-hero" (and as I typed this I realized the double meaning in that phrase).

As a result, they are compelled to make sure people know anyone who does anything good is really just a selfish, evil person. And if they cannot find anything bad, they will attibute false motives to these people.

Ironically, if their heroes are truly evil (not simply have evil pasts while doing good), they will apologize for them.

Honestly I can't understand these people.

 

[cracked butt]

Of course they're going to go after her for ruining a story that could have been huge and for not promoting the 'progressive' agenda of the mass media. More bodies=a bigger story.

 

[wuchak]

Why do we seem to have so many of these shootings since the Dems took control of Congress? Has anyone else noticed an apparent spike since then? Makes me think of the Manchurian Candidate (original one not the lousy remake).

 

[Standing Wolf]

Dishonest cops ought to be fired. The people we pay to enforce the law need to know the law, then enforce it honestly, fairly, fully, and with integrity. When a cop testifies against people, we need to be sure his or her testimony is both competent and trustworthy.

All that said™, the woman comported herself courageously, and deserves our deepest respect and gratitude.

We've all behaved badly at one time or another. We try to learn from our mistakes and failures and youthful idiocies, and move on. If we become public figures, we're inevitably going to be subject to public scrutiny, and there's no point whining about it.

That said again™, the national leftist extremist so-called "news" media are hopping up and down with obvious joy that the heroine, like the rest of us, wasn't always 100% perfect. If they want to throw away still more of America's respect, so be it.

 

[grimjaw]

The guy she shot though? Minus those few people he killed some days earlier, I'm sure he was pure as driven snow.

jm

 

[JT1JTI]

Folks,

I'm not sure the media is going after her strictly because of firearm politics.

I think it's just consistent with the media's fascination with potential hypocrisy in any public figure. e.g., if you're a family values politician, you can bet your life the media is hoping to find covert photos of your latest lap dance with the local strippers.

What's possibly more telling here is that her former PD colleagues are ratting her out when they could have just as easily not commented except to confirm her dates of employment.

That says to me she was either a political sacking and/or that there's more to the story behind her departure as an official LEO.

In any case, such history doesn't detract from her stepping up the other day. I'm impressed and I can't imagine I'm the only one.

 

[Geno]

Imagine a "sinner" going to church. I thought you had to be "pure" to go to church!!!

See, that's the good thing about a Christian employer...they believe in forgiveness. Conversely, the media believes in nothing.

They need to leave the woman alone. She made a mistake; she paid her price I am sure 10 years ago.

Move on.

Doc2005

 

[Titan6]

A hero is someone who keeps their head about them while everyone else is losing theirs. She seems to fit the bill. Not like that other guard. The one who would not do anything.

 

[Zen21Tao]

Typical anti-gun ad hominem strategy. When they can't discredit an argument by correctly attacking the argument (or more precisely, the premises of an argument) being made, they try to discredit the arguer by personally attacking the individual (or group) making the argument. That says a lot about the strength of the anti-gun position.

As a side not: I sure hope I don't have to save a great many lives. The media would have a field day with some of the stupid immature things in my past.