The Sun /Saturday, December 28, 2013 www.sunnewspapers.net WIRE Pages FROM PAGE ONE


Judge denies bail in alleged 'knockout game' hate crime


 (Houston Chronicle)
-Two versions emerged
Friday of a 27-year-old Katy
Texas, man charged with a
brutal hate crime that he
allegedly committed as part
of a so-called "knockout
game.
 Conrad Alvin Barrett's
defenders said he is a trou-
bled young husband with
a history of alcohol and
substance abuse who was
committed in 2010 because
of his bipolar disorder
but with medication and
support from his parents he
has held down a job.
 During a hearing in
federal court Friday, pros-
ecutors described Barrett


NSA

FROM PAGE 1

decentralized and plot
international terrorist
attacks remotely.
 "This blunt tool only
works because it collects
everything," Pauley said.
"The collection is broad,
but the scope of coun-
terterrorism investiga-
tions is unprecedented."
 Pauley's decision
contrasts with Leon's
grant of a preliminary
injunction against the
collecting of phone



SHIVER

FROM PAGE 1

in Toronto.
 Tens of thousands of
Michigan residents like
Johnson are the unlucky
ones still waiting. Some
have abandoned their
homes to stay elsewhere.
Others are riding it out,
either by choice not
wanting to leave pets
or unattended houses
- or because they have
nowhere else to go.
 Their Christmas plans
were ruined or inconve-
nienced, and now their
frustration is boiling over.
They know the storm was
bad and appreciate the
around-the-clock efforts
of line crews, but in East
Lansing, for instance,
residents are questioning
the response by the local
municipal utility.
 "Where's the money
going? The money we
pay in power bills, the
money that they spend
to cut these trees down
to keep the power lines
open doesn't seem to
really be working, in my
mind," said Jon Irvin, 35.
 Irvin drove an hour
north to Mount Pleasant
on Sunday to buy a


JOBLESS
FROM PAGE 1

state benefits before the
end of June.
 But Obama has no
quick fix. He hailed this
month's two-year budget
agreement as a break-
through of bipartisan
cooperation while his
administration works
with Democratic allies
in the House and Senate



ASSAULT

FROM PAGE 1

 Asked about the
preliminary data, defense
officials were cautious in
their conclusions. But they
said surveys, focus groups
and repeated meetings
with service members
throughout the year
suggest that the number
of actual incidents from
unwanted sexual contact
and harassment to violent
assaults has remained
largely steady.
 "Given the multiple
data points, we assess that
this is more reporting,"
said Col. Alan R. Metzler,


as a vicious predator who
filmed himself "hunting"
for African-Americans
for at least a week before
targeting an unsuspecting
79-year-old black man to
punch out in the knockout
game.
 "There's a very sinister
chuckle," FBI agent Al
Tribble said of cellphone
video that Barrett filmed as
he approached his victim.
 After Barrett broke the
elderly man's jaw in three
places, Tribble testified,
"He exclaims in jubilation,
'Knockout, baby!'"
 Tribble explained the
knockout game is played
by trying to knock an


records of two men
who had challenged
the program. The
Washington, D.C.,
jurist said the program
likely violates the U.S.
Constitution's ban on
unreasonable search.
The judge has since
stayed the effect of
his ruling, pending a
government appeal.
 Both cases now move
to appeals courts for a
conflict that some be-
lieve will eventually be
settled by the Supreme
Court. The chances that
the nation's top court
will address it increase if


unsuspecting victim
unconscious with one
punch. He said the attack is
often filmed to put online
then circulated using social
media.
 Prosecutors believe it is a
hate crime because Barrett
allegedly targeted black
people as victims, in an
attempt to gain notoriety
 After hearing about
Barrett's two sides, U.S.
Magistrate Judge Frances
Stacy ruled that he will
stay in federal detention.
Barrett was arrested after a
warrant was issued earlier
this week
 "He stalked his victim,"
Stacy said. "It's a hate crime.


the appeals courts reach
conflicting opinions
or if the current use of
the program is declared
illegal.
 Pauley said the mass
collection of phone data
"significantly increases
the NSAs capability
to detect the faintest
patterns left behind by
individuals affiliated
with foreign terrorist or-
ganizations. Armed with
all the metadata, NSA
can draw connections it
might otherwise never
be able to find."
 He added: 'As
the Sept. 11 attacks


It's a crime of violence. The
victim, an old man, lost
three teeth."
 She assured Barrett's
attorney and parents that
he would be given his
medication while awaiting
trial behind bars, accused
of a hate crime punishable
by 10 years in federal
prison.
 Barrett, dressed in an
orange jail uniform and
wearing handcuffs and
leg irons, did not speak at
Friday's hearing, but hung
his head as his father testi-
fied about his son's alcohol
abuse and psychological
problems.
 "He was in psychiatric


demonstrate, the cost
of missing such a threat
can be horrific."
 Pauley said the attacks
"revealed, in the starkest
terms, just how danger-
ous and interconnected
the world is. While
Americans depended
on technology for the
conveniences of moder-
nity, al-Qaida plotted in
a seventh-century milieu
to use that technology
against us. It was a bold
jujitsu. And it succeeded
because conventional
intelligence gathering
could not detect diffuse
filaments connecting


Utility crews prepare to work on power lines at dusk Thursday in Litchfield, Maine, wh
have been without electricity since Monday's ice storm.


$500 generator after he
couldn't find any in the
Lansing area. It powers
his furnace and a few
lights.
 "We couldn't really
afford it but we did it
anyway," he said. "Every
day, it's been a better and
better purchase."
 Anger also was build-
ing in Surry, Maine,
where one Bangor Hydro
customer approached a
line crew and then made


to revive an extension of
jobless benefits for those
unemployed more than
six months.
 The Obama admin-
istration says those
payments have kept
11.4 million people out
of poverty and benefited
almost 17 million chil-
dren. The cost of them
since 2008 has totaled
$225 billion.
 At the depth of the
recession, laid off work-
ers could qualify for up

deputy director of the
Pentagon's sexual assault
prevention and response
office. He also noted
that more victims are
agreeing to make official
complaints, rather than
simply seeking medical
care without filing formal
accusations.
 The military has long
struggled to get victims to
report sexual harassment
and assault in a stern
military culture that
emphasizes rank, loyalty
and toughness. Too often,
victims have complained
that they were afraid to
report assaults to ranking
officers, or that their initial
complaints were rebuffed
or ignored.


a threatening phone call
Thursday after learning
the crew wasn't working
on the circuit necessary
to restore his power. The
utility temporarily had
the crew leave the area
until police investigated.
No charges will be filed
against the man, state
police said.
 In Lansing, Mich.,
police were investigating
at least two burglaries
at homes where the


to 99 weeks of benefits,
including the initial 26
weeks provided by states.
The most recent exten-
sion allowed a total of up
to 73 weeks, depending
on the state.
 Restoring up to 47
extra weeks of benefits
through 2014 would cost
$19 billion, according to
the Congressional Budget
office.
 House Democrats led
by Reps. Sander Levin
of Michigan and Chris

 As a result, the crime
has been vastly under-
reported a fact that
became evident when
officials announced earlier
this year that an anony-
mous survey had revealed
that about 26,000 service
members reported some
type of unwanted sexual
contact or sexual assault.
 According to the latest
numbers, the increase
in reports across the
services ranges from a
low of about 45 percent
for the Air Force to a
high of 86 percent for
the Marines, the smallest
service. The Navy had an
increase of 46 percent
and the Army, by far the
largest military service,


occupants left a
power went out
ing to news rep(
 But those inci
appear to be isc
Police in other 1
Michigan and ii
said Friday they
reports of storm
break-ins.
 Major Joel Me
with the Inghan
County sheriff's
Michigan, said i
in rural areas -


lockdown at Methodist,"
Patrick Barrett said of his
son. The elder Barrett tried
in vain to convince the
judge that his son would
take his medication if
released to him and his
wife, a school teacher of
39 years.
 The father's reassurances
were met with hostility by
prosecutors who pointed
out that Barrett had not
taken his medication for
at least three weeks before
the alleged attack Even
more damning, prose-
cutors said, they believe
Barrett told his father
about the attack when it
happened.


al-Qaida."
 The judge said the NSA
intercepted seven calls
made by one of the Sept.
11 hijackers in San Diego
prior to the attacks, but
mistakenly concluded
that he was overseas
because it lacked the
kind of information it
can now collect.
 Still, Pauley said such
a program, if unchecked,
"imperils the civil
liberties of every citizen"
and he noted the lively
debate about the subject
across the nation, in
Congress and at the
White House.


 many hit by the storm
 --have past experience
 with bad weather and
 had generators that
 allowed them to stay in
 their homes.
 "I've been here since
 1975 and I don't remem-
 ber an ice storm like
 this," said Maatman, who
 used a portable gener-
 ator and wood-burning
 stove for power and heat.
 "I live out in the sticks,
 and you got to have a
 generator."
 But "out-county where
 there is a lot of farming
 and open land, I think it's
 always on every police
 officer's mind that crime
 can occur," he added.
AP PHOTO The Ace Hardware
 store in Ortonville,
ere many Mich., was flooded
 with people looking
 for items that would
ifter their help get them through
accord- the power outages,
orts. according to manager
dents Tim Tyler.
d1ated. "Five gallon gas cans
parts of went out extremely fast,"
n Maine he said. "Little propane
had no tanks went fasts. Plug-ins
i-related for generators, exten-
 sion cords, batteries,
aatman, lanterns."
n The one item Tyler
office in didn't have in stock:
residents portable, gas-powered
like generators.


Van Hollen of Maryland
sought to include an
extension through March
by offsetting the costs
with potential farm
bill savings. They were
rebuffed.
 Senate Democrats and
some Republicans plan
another push in 2014.
Sens. Jack Reed, D-R.I.,
and Dean Heller, R-Nev.,
have introduced a bill
offering a similar three-
month extension, and
Senate Majority Leader

had a 50 percent jump.
 Jill Loftus, director of the
Navy's sexual assault pro-
gram, which also includes
the Marine Corps, said the
increase in reporting also
suggests that more service
members are starting to
understand what types
of behavior constitute
harassment or assault.
 She said that based on
Navy surveys, "we are not
seeing a perception that
the number of incidents
are going up."
 "More likely, we have
people who understand
what sexual assault is,"
she said. And, she said,
officials are hearing that
more people are comfort-
able coming forward.


Harry Reid, D-Nev., has
promised to bring it up.
But as with much in
Congress, an extension is
no sure thing.
 In phone calls on
Friday, Obama told
Reed and Heller he was
glad they were working
together to address
the problem. "It defies
economic sense, prec-
edent and our values,"
Obama economic adviser
Gene Sperling said in a
statement.

 Meanwhile, a myriad of
sexual assault arrests and
scandals, including an Air
Force commander's deci-
sion to dismiss sex assault
charges against another
officer who had been
convicted of multiple of-
fenses, got the attention of
Congress. And it all led to
a series of often emotional
public hearings in which
victims described their
experiences.
 On Friday, Sen. Kirsten
Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said
the data shows that bold
reforms are needed in
order to get more victims
to report the abuses, and
not fear retaliation or
worry that nothing will be
done.


 ALMANAC

 Today is Saturday, Dec. 28,
 the 362nd day of 2013. There are
 three days left in the year.
 Today in history
 On Dec. 28,1973, the Endan-
 gered Species Act was signed
 into law by President Richard
 Nixon. Alexander Solzhenitsyn
 published "The Gulag Archi-
 pelago" an expose of the Soviet
 prison system.
 On this date
 In 1612, Italian astronomer
 Galileo Galilei observed the
 planet Neptune, but mistook
 it for a star. (Neptune wasn't
 officially discovered until 1846 by
 Johann Gottfried Galle.)
 In 1832, John C. Calhoun
 became the first vice president of
 the United States to resign, step-
 ping down because of differences
 with President Andrew Jackson.
 In 1846, Iowa became the
 29th state to be admitted to the
 Union.
 In 1856, the 28th president
 of the United States, Thomas
 Woodrow Wilson, was born in
 Staunton, Va.
 In 1879, a section of the Tay
 Bridge in Dundee, Scotland,
 collapsed as a train was traveling
 over it, sending an estimated 75
 people to their deaths in the river
 below.
 In 1912, San Francisco's Munic-
 ipal Railway began operations
 with Mayor James Rolph Jr. at
 the controls of Streetcar No. 1 as
 50,000 spectators looked on.
 In 1917, the New York Evening
 Mail published "A Neglected
 Anniversary/a facetious essay
 by H.L. Mencken supposedly
 recounting the history of bath-
 tubs in America.
 In 1937, composer Maurice
 Ravel died in Paris at age 62.
 In 1945, Congress officially
 recognized the Pledge of
 Allegiance.
 In 1961, the Tennessee
 Williams play"Night of the
 Iguana"opened on Broadway.
 Former first lady Edith Boiling
 Gait Wilson, the second wife of
 President Woodrow Wilson, died
 in Washington at age 89.
 In 1972, Kim II Sung, the
 premier of North Korea, was
 named the country's president
 under a new constitution.
 In 1987, the bodies of 14 rela-
tives of Ronald Gene Simmons
were found at his home near
Dover, Ark., after Simmons shot
and killed two other people
in Russellville. (Simmons was
executed in 1990.)
 Today's birthdays
 Comic book creator Stan Lee is
91. Actor Martin Milner is 82.
Rock singer-musician Charles
Neville is 75. Rock singer-musi-
cian Edgar Winter is 67. Actor
Denzel Washington is 59.
Country singer Joe Diffie is 55.
Country musician Mike McGuire
(Shenandoah) is 55. Actor Chad
McQueen is 53. Actor Malcolm
Gets is 49. A Comedian Seth
Meyers is 40. Actress Sienna
Miller is 32. Pop singer Kasey
Sheridan (Dream) is 27. Actor
Thomas Dekker is 26.


Vegas cab driver
 finds $300K in
 back seat

 LAS VEGAS (AP) -
Las Vegas cab driver
Gerardo Gamboa
thought someone left a
bag of chocolates in the
back seat. But this stash
turned out to be cold
hard cash.
 The Las Vegas Review-
Journal reports that
Gamboa was making a
pickup Monday at the
Bellagio when a hotel
doorman noticed the
brown paper bag and
handed it to him.
 At a red light, the
Checker Cab driver's
curiosity got the best
of him. To his surprise,
he found six bundles
of $100 bills totaling
$300,000.
 The newspaper reports
that Gamboa called his
dispatcher and took the
money to the company's
main office.
 Las Vegas police and
casino officials were able
to link the money to a
well-known poker player
they declined to identify.


The Sun /Saturday, December 28, 2013


WIRE Page 5


www.sunnewspapers.net


FROM PAGE ONE