Dropping the Bomb and Expecting More

[XLFD]

On noon of Tuesday, an E-mail was opened by the principal of Covenant Christian School (in Amber Township), Rich Ambrose, which indicated that there was a bomb placed at his school.  As per the usual bomb threat protocol, police authorities were notified and all school personnel evacuated the campus.  This was related in the City of Ludington Daily News in Emailed bomb threat to Covenant Christian meant evacuation, investi... and other local media. 

“I called the (West Shore) ESD and reported we were evacuating the students and five minutes later the buses were there,” Ambrose said about getting the students away from the school. “And the sheriff’s office had secured the school and had secured the church.  The kids absolutely behaved well and the staff just performed perfectly as far as the evacuation was concerned.”

Sheriff Cole oversaw the police response, assisted by the Michigan State Police, the State Department of Natural Resources, Scottville Police Department, Scottville Fire Department and Life EMS.  A bomb sniffing dog team was called in from Lansing immediately and arrived around 3:30 PM.  After finding nothing, the scene was cleared an hour later.

 

There were also bomb threats reported at more than 30 other schools Tuesday, according to Reuters, including 26 schools in New Jersey and other schools in Massachusetts, Delaware and Iowa.  Cole said they had no link that they knew of to other school threats other than coincidental timing.

 

This was the first time I ever heard of a bomb threat being delivered through an E-mail; sifting through the various media reports I was at a loss as to why the E-mail's specific contents were not divulged.  There was nothing to lose by telling the public about the contents of this E-mail, nothing to lose by showing the E-mail in full, so that the public could help the authorities with the investigation into finding the low-life that sent it. 

Whoever made the threat knows that it's in the possession of law enforcement and is being investigated; they may gain something from the police announcing what further investigation has found, but not from the E-mail's release.  The E-mail should have a sending address, and some members of the public may know whose E-mail address it is, however, they are out of the loop in this case since it hasn't been released.

A look at the other bomb threats made on the day after Martin Luther King Day in other places as noted in the article, has them either being made by text messages or by the traditional phone call.  The one made to our local private school was the only one made by E-mail.  In Newsweek's Bomb Threats Made at More Than 30 U.S. Schools, our local one was not even mentioned.  This was noted in the MCP's Bomb threat at Covenant Christian School may not have been isolated...

Even though there were dozens of false bomb threats made this day it was truly an outlier in two respects in that it was done by E-mail and it appears to be the only one sent to a private, Christian school.  This may mean that Sheriff Cole is right in that there may be no link to the other threats which seem to have mostly originated from somewhere in California, but wrong in not releasing the E-mail, for the public may know of someone who has a grudge with Covenant Christian and has a distinctive way of spelling or of grammar.

Cole not releasing information is nothing new, I personally have a FOIA Lawsuit against his office for not lawfully releasing records on four occasions that he should have by law, without giving any compelling reason for doing so.  Sheriff Kim Cole is an established opponent of transparency, and it does not serve the public well. 

But local media pundit Rob Alway, founder of the Mason County Press, could not sing Sheriff Cole's praises enough yesterday.  The protocol for handling bomb threats are very routine, trained chimps could do it.  Evacuate the building, call the bomb units, wait and prevent anybody from getting in the dangerous area, let the bomb sniffing team come and do their work, clear the scene and write the reports.  A lot of police/fire/medical officials tied up for four hours or more, a good reason why these hoaxers are prosecuted severely. 

Alway editorialized about how great everyone was in keeping those pupils safe.  Perhaps we should glorify some of what these people do, particularly those who did it as volunteers, or those caught in the middle, like the faculty and staff of this school.  But the rest are just doing the job they are paid good money to do, and keeping the public ill-informed-- which appears to be okay with the MCP editor.

His article:  Protecting our kids — a coordinated effort is little more than propaganda for his fellow public officials that he has historically idolized, unless they try to make the system more accountable, like former Scottville Commissioner Ed Hahn did.  Rob really should learn what ALICE is an acronym for (the 'C' does not stand for "County").  He should also learn the difference between "perimeter" and "parameter"

His article is best read with another article printed in the Detroit Free Press on the same day:  Teen testifies she was repeatedly raped by police officer interweaved with his praises of all people who are officials just like him.  Praise should not be heaped on a job title, but by the actual holder of the job doing praiseworthy efforts.

Michigan Police Officer Troy Estree (in orange), sodomizer of underage relatives, is a hero to some, indistinguishable from other public servants who dutifully do their jobs to the best of their ability

MCP:  Firefighters, paramedics and law enforcement personnel, along with school staff, put their lives on the line to protect the children of the school — our community’s children.

DFP:  A 17-year-old girl testified Wednesday that she was repeatedly sexually assaulted nearly two years ago by a former Emmett Township police officer Troy Estree.

The parameter [perimeter] of the school was surrounded and protected until a bomb squad from [the] Michigan State Police arrived from Lansing. Scottville Fire Department personnel stood by in case the unthinkable happened to the school, as did Life EMS personnel. Law enforcement personnel stood at the school (must [most] of them were off duty and called in to the scene). They also stood guard at the school, guarding the entrances from a potential threat, but also kindly greeting worried parents as they arrived — asking for identification, which was naturally prudent.

The girl, who was 15 during much of 2014 when the alleged assaults occurred, testified for nearly five hours... The teenager told the jury she had been estranged from Estree for 13 years before re-establishing contact in the summer of 2013... “It started with him touching me up my leg and closer to my thighs and then my private areas."

Sheriff Kim Cole was at the church coordinating the effort, and also taking time to speak with school personnel and parents, calming their nerves. He also spoke with the media, as he frequently does, providing us with the information to inform the public.

 

“I didn’t know what to do. He started rubbing my thighs and up to my vagina.” 

“I didn’t know what to expect, and I didn’t want to let him down," she said. "If I said no he might walk out again.” 

He gave her a phone and they began exchanging messages, and she spent more time at the house including overnights. He began to give her alcohol, she said.

Kudos to those who protect our children! I am thankful to live in such a great place and to know that these people are here for us. I am thankful to know that our sheriff isn’t just an administrator who sits at a desk, but instead is someone who is leading his troops.

One night, the girl said, others in the house were asleep and she and Estree were on a couch watching the television show, "Family Guy."   She said he pulled down her shorts and had anal intercourse.

"I don't remember what he said, but he was probably kissing my neck," she said. "I said I didn't want to do it anymore. I felt like trash. He said OK."

I’m thankful for Mason County Sheriff’s Office, Scottville Police Department, Ludington Police Department, Michigan Department of Natural Resources (conservation officers were on scene) and Michigan State Police.

But a few weeks a later, she said, he wanted to show her a camper in the yard and said he wanted to have oral sex, and she said he did.  "I blocked out what I was thinking," she said.

She told the jury she began to think of the relationship not between relatives but more like dating.

While I do not have school-aged children, I am thankful for the professionals at Covenant Christian School (and again, all our county’s schools), for how much they truly care about our kids.

God bless each and everyone of you!

She described several other assaults, including in a basement bedroom and later at a construction site and at Bridge Park while she was riding with him while he was on patrol for the department.

While on ride-alongs, the girl said Estree assaulted her while wearing his duty belt on a park bench and another time on the trunk of the patrol car...

Earlier Wednesday, pediatrician Colette Gushurst said she examined the girl on Aug. 19, 2014, and found she had herpes. Gushurst testified the girl told her she had anal intercourse with Estree.

[Dave]

Within the last few months there were similar emailed bomb threats sent to NYC and LA school districts... the NYC schools determined the threats were not credible and school went on uninterrupted while the LA school district thought there were was enough of a concern that schools were closed for the day.

[XLFD]

Thanks for that additional information.  Before this week, I had never heard of an E-mailed bomb threat to a school, but in the research, I had noted that this wasn't a first time that happened.  Unfortunately, since our sheriff ( and likely other law agencies) hasn't released anything about the E-mail, it would be premature to consider this similar in nature, except the mode of conveying the threat. 

Unless you have some extra knowledge of these incidences you want to admit to Dave?  I hear you have an E-mail address and the technical ability to send an E-mail...

[Dave]

Haha... nah, I'm not that ambitious... anyway, if I was going to do a bomb threat it would be to get outta work cause I needed the day off, thankfully I have vacation time to use when I want time off so don't have any need to make bomb threats... haha... seriously though, I guess when I said similar I should of said that it was similar in that, as you noted in your response, that the delivery methods were similar

[Willy]

I couldn't figure out how the girl was related to the x-deputy. Regarding the cop hero worship, I agree that police are paid to do a job and as such should not be labeled "heroes". As for the bomb threat, either the sender was computer savvy and knew how to hide from the computer experts or the sender is a dumb kid who hasn't figured out that tracing someones email is not that difficult especially if done by a computer forensic expert.

[John Doe Jr]

Probably a cop emailed the threat to show the public their courage, and how they put their lives in danger. Drumming up support for military vehicles no doubt!

[XLFD]

Another example of police protecting our kids is in the link below.  An underage girl gets contacted by a Phoenix cop after being enticed by him on social media, making clear she was underage.  He goes over to 'put a baby' in her, they do the baby-making maneuvers, she brags about it, and the cop gets held to account for the statutory rape and pleas for two months.  Around these parts, such transactions get you five years or more (if you're not wearing a badge and busting others for the same crime you're doing). 

https://photographyisnotacrime.com/2016/01/phoenix-cop-sentenced-fo...

[Willy]

That Phoenix cop and 17 year old's story seems almost made up, even the dialog between them sounds phony. If it's true the cop should have kept his pants zippped up and the girls parents should have been monitoring their daughters on line activity. There are um teem thousands of 17 year old females cruising the bars. And they do not look like "kids". This is where many men get into trouble but this cop stepped into the crap knowing what could happen to him but ignored the consequences. He's lucky he isn't going to perform for and service the gang members in prison for the next 10 years.

[XLFD]

Another bomb threat E-mailed to a Mason County school, this time in Custer:

Ludington loans buses to transport MCE students home after bomb thr...

Curiously, the State Police are leading this investigation, not the Mason County Sheriff, who is the investigating unit on the other. 

[Willy]

Since it involves the internet, the authorities may have thought that the State Police might be better equipped to handle this type of situation.

[XLFD]

The police have arrested a suspect living out of state in this case:  Sheriff’s Office makes arrest in Covenant Christian School bomb thr...

Providing this person is guilty, it will be relief for those who had to live through the experience and/or be inconvenienced by it.  It should also mean the MCSO will finally release the E-mail I requested and they denied, but I'm not holding my breath.  Press conference on Monday.

[Jasper]

Okay, so Sheriff Cole found out who the perp was that sent a bomb threat via e-mail to Covenant Christian School...a 13 year old from the Carolina's.  In Cole's news conference he stated this 13 year old had connections to area students via on-line gaming.  Cole never stated in his press release the involvement of these local students.  Why did we not hear anything about the local connection with this 13 year old in the Carolina's?  

It is difficult to understand how a 13 year year old hundreds and hundreds of miles away gaming with local kids acted alone.  Who were these local kids??  Were they students at Covenant Christian School?  Were these local gamers involved in the e-mail bomb threat plot??

[XLFD]

Other local news specified the threat a little more:  "(the SC 13 y.o.) e-mailed Covenant Christian School to notify staff that one of the students had a bomb in his backpack." 

And even though I have a FOIA lawsuit against the sheriff that should have no problem with succeeding(beyond the local courts at least), they still are resistant to show the public this E-mail that could give a 13 year old a trip to the slammer for the rest of his teen years and beyond.  It would be a learning moment for other teens who might think to do such things as a prank.  They could wind up going to college and putting up enigmatic writings on bathroom walls of the College of Packaging.

The recalcitrance they exhibit in showing me the E-mail makes me think the threat may have been read into the message, like it was for Sydney Gort at MSU.