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From the Boston Channel:
An armed man took at least two workers hostage Friday at a Hillary Clinton presidential campaign office in New Hampshire, police said.
The incident happened at about 1 p.m. Friday at 28 Main St. in Rochester. Officials said that a man is holding people hostage at the office, but it is unclear how many people are being held.
Witness Lettie Tzizik said that she spoke to a woman shortly after she was released from the office by the hostage-taker.
A young woman with a 6-month or 8-month-old infant came rushing into the store just in tears, and she said, 'You need to call 911. A man has just walked into the Clinton office, opened his coat and showed us a bomb strapped to his chest with duct tape."
There are several police officers positioned across the street from the office, crouched down behind cruisers with guns drawn, according to a reported at the scene.
Hillary Clinton is not in New Hampshire at this time.
Update: WMUR is live streaming from New Hampshire here.
(h/t Steve-AR)
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Jane!
Jane!
Aed?
Jane!
kos with live blog
It was Hugh Hewitt. He snapped.
BADA BING! x2
And zed, yes!
Faux just reported that Hillary was scheduled to give a speech in Vienna, VA, but Howard Dean just announced that that has been cancelled. No secret service in NH, because they are whereever Hillary is. Sounds like they might have rushed her off to a secret bunker.
link
Sometimes I think that this country is a lot closer to another civil war than anyone would like to believe…
Anyone wanna bet that, here in the U.S., the guy ends up charged as a criminal, as opposed to being charged with an act of terrorism? Because American don’t do
tortureterrorism, you know.This has the potential to have a very sad ending.
1) I hope no one gets hurt
2) I hope it is a random “nut” case and not a political statement.
Maybe so. But, the “bomb” may well be a fake.
I wonder if or how this might affect Hillary’s candidacy…
Seingalt @ 15
WTF?
Sharp shooters on roofs, hostage negotiators on their way. Told that hostage taker wants to speak to Hillary but that is unconfirmed.
That is just awful!
Biodun @ 16
That will be the spin of the wingnuts.”plot by Hillary to improve her numbers.”
ok, who’s got the LGF, RedState and Freeper watchin’ duty?
Is it a traditional bomb (i.e., tinker toys) or plastic explosives (i.e. play-doh)?
I just hope the Clintons don’t become disaster magnets like the Kennedys.
brendan @ 21
No one knows yet.
eCAH @ 9 ?Vienna? thought she was in Virginia at the DNC conf.
brendan @ 22
Well, I was gonna hold off on the snarky dubiety, but…
“…a bomb strapped to his chest with duct tape.”
John Asscroft is enroute with the WD-40 to defuse things.
eCAHNomics @ 22
They haven’t been so far… Just scandal magnets… Mostly Bill. And limited to sexual matters.
Rochester is in the east central part of the state. It is fairly close to the University of NH in Durham.
My sister teaches in Rochester and I assume her school is one of those in lockdown mode due to this domestic terrorist attack.
-GSD
Both Hillary and Obama have Secret Service protection. Former ’cause of ex-FLOTUS, latter because of threats earlier this year.
What? No wingnuts have been threatened? I wonder why it’s always the lefties who get attacked? Not.Diane @ 25
Vienna VA
My prayers go out to All involved.
(shaking head and tsking.)
Diane @ 24
In Vienna (or Falls Church, I thought).
I was supposed to go and see Kagro there but got to bogged down in site admin stuff.
2 of my comments got combined in 28. In case it isn’t clear, Hillary was supposed to be in Vienna VA
some people take their politics a little too seriously.
Speculation on this is premature. We know nothing about the perpetrator, for all we know this is a romance gone wrong or some other personal problem.
Anything we speculate is just projection of our fears.
Let’s all just hope for the best for the hostages and the law enforcement personnel.
BobbyG 26, brendan 22
Would greatly appreciate your doing just that.
Update from WMUR, Manchester.
Witness claims to have seen the bomb…
-GSD
Hostage neogiators have been in contact. Hostage taker released a woman & child, and negotiators will use that sign of some humanity to work with him.
No doubt a wingnut of some kind… Let’s hope for a fatality-free outcome.
rwcole @ 33
Fox has good coverage. Camera in car on the road to scene. Police cars just raced by Fox car with sirens blaring.
This is the Union-Leader report
Steve-AR @ 5
Where. I can’t find my way around that site…
I appreciate the liveblog on this…
Adie @ 34
You’re right. My Bad. Poor taste. I tried to edit it back out, but can’t. Mods can take it down.
CNN dot com is live with a report.
jayt @ 11
The USA in NH did the right thing when faced with the Republicans jamming phone banks on Election Night. No reason to assume that this guy won’t be charged appropriately.
And I don’t understand your comment. Haven’t progressives been saying all along that the criminal justice system is capable of dealing with the terrorist problem, without re-framing it as an endless war? Why would it be different when the “terrorists” are indigenous?
Cops will plug the guy at the first opportunity.
Loo Hoo @ 42
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/11/30/135442/41
tv says Edwards and Obama campaign hq have been evacuated.
demi @ 48
Jeebus…
Per HuffPo, there are 2 hostages.
rwcole @ 46
I disagree. That might end up happening in the end, but that is certainly not the first option.
hate to add some snark to this but I think this event is enough for bush to declare a national emergency and suspend elections
dakine01 @ 40
The paper once dubbed by Hunter S. Thompson as the worst newspaper in America.
-GSD
Jane Hamsher @ 31
Tysons Corner..what a traffic nightmare..good luck!
Bio,
Obama’s office is Right next door. This is per CNN.
And I don’t understand your comment. Haven’t progressives been saying all along that the criminal justice system is capable of dealing with the terrorist problem, without re-framing it as an endless war? Why would it be different when the “terrorists” are indigenous?
I agree, He *should* be charged as a criminal, and *not* as a terrorist. Was just tying to point out that the same crime tends to be labeled differently depending upon the who and where.
demi @ 47
It must be a rightwing nutjobber then.
perris @ 52
Permanent Vice President Cheney has tired of the current Bush puppet and needs the elections to go forward as planned to transition to the next one.
Let’s not forget the officials in NH allowed a no-tax stand-off to go on for months and months this year and ended the whole thing peacefully by posing as sympathizers and getting invited inside the house by the accused couple.
-GSD
Helen @ 44
Thanks for this. watching now.
IrishJim @ 57
“Abundnce of caution.” Nothing is known about the hostage taker yet.
remember the xen*phobe-nut who opened fire on a corporate helicopter after 9-11 thinking it was terrahwrists?
~~~ModNote: Edited for content to clear filters.~~~
GSD @ 53
Much as I loved his writing, Hunter did not always know what he is talking about. And the Union-Leader he described under Bill Loeb is not the same as the one today.
Biodun @ 27
15 plus years of right wing radio and fundie preachers saying that Hillary is the worst person on the planet and the agent of satan…you have to wonder
Fox: Last thing you want is bullets floating around an explosive device.
demi @ 48
oh brother. here we go.
any live footage of O.J.’s prison cell yet?
Jane & eCAH, thanks for clearing that up, I watched some of the conf this AM. Confused Vienna VA with Austria - silly me.
eCAHNomics @ 64
they only float and spin mid-air when arlen spector investigates
Senator Clinton was apparently in her home in NW DC when it happened, cancelled her speech, and is staying there now.
Steve-AR @ 63
Anyone who could brazenly murder Vince Foster and get cleanly away with it can handle herself.
Fox: No negative reactions in D meeting in VA. It appears to be going on as scheduled, ex Hillary.
What does OJ have to do with any of this?
!5 plus years of right wing radio and fundie preachers saying that Hillary is the worst person on the planet and the agent of satan…you have to wonder
Excellent point.
We’ll have to see who this guy is.
Maybe something like this can pave the way for stopping some of the hate-spewing by some of those right-wing radio people.
yes it might be a ‘lone’ nut from the ‘lone nut’ factory
dakine01 @ 62
Yeah, the Union Leader no longer refers to gays as “sodomites” on their front page editorials.
A vast improvement.
However when Thompson said that about the Union Leader he was spot on. I mean what can you say about a newspaper that has an editorial captioned “Kissinger the K*ke”?
-GSD
Fox: Expect sympathies to move in Hillary’s direction. (And so the talking points begin.)
eCAHNomics @ 38
Fox has good coverage. Camera in car on the road to scene. Police cars just raced by Fox car with sirens blaring.
Nope. I don’t even know know what channel FoxNews is on my teevee, and I’m not gonna start looking now.
Hillary brazenly murdered Vince Foster???!!!??
demi @ 72
Yes, yes Demi. This is a point to make over and over. I like it.
demi @ 72
Right. Wish in one hand, shit in the other. See which one fills up faster.
eCAHNomics @ 75
within 12 minutes a reporter will ask hillary if she’s ‘grieved’ and ‘moved on’
jayt @ 76
Nope. I don’t even know know what channel FoxNews is on my teevee, and I’m not gonna start looking now.
It’s dirty work, but someone has to do it. Actually I just flipped around until I found a 24/7 news channel that has continual coverage & Fox was it.
Biodun @ 77
Of course.
eCAHNomics @ 38
Fox has good coverage. Camera in car on the road to scene. Police cars just raced by Fox car with sirens blaring.
is the white jeep on the freeway yet?
eCAHNomics @ 75
Exactement… Faux talking points: I mean the French here.
ReneND @ 79
Won’t happen..Fox is throwing slime already
isn’t it always the democratic party election offices being burglarized with missing computers?
Relax, it was just the pool boy. They threatened to deport him.
Biodun @ 78
why yes
and her husband started the war in Iraq, gave all our middle class assets to the wealthy, and was single handidly responsible for the failures at Katrina, he’s the reason “no child left behind” is destroying our public school system, it was bill not george that ignored precise intel telling us we’d be attacked on 9/11 and it is because of bill not george that gas has quadrupaled in price
u didn’t know this?
now you do
eCAHNomics @ 75
Did they actually say that?! Before the situation’s been resolved? Loathsome, if so.
eCAHNomics @ 76
Geez.
Mabel’s Wig Shack @ 83
Fox “election-link” SUV. On S. Main St. now. Directed to Profile Bank where media center is being staged.
Hostage taker has salt & pepper hair. Instructed them to get down on floor. Told woman & child to leave. They went next door to pharmacy & called 911.
eCAHNomics @ 74
Fox: Expect sympathies to move in Hillary’s direction. (And so the talking points begin.)
Jeez, could you imagine HRC showing up, talking to the guy on the phone, and successfully talkin’ this guy down?
At that point, there wouldn’t be any good reason to not begin calling her ‘Madame President” as of right now.
S’okay BobbyG (##26, 43).
I know the feeling. It just pops out. I don’t mean to be such a scold.
Actually, snark is far less troublesome, I think, than flat-out non-negotiable statements about how odious someone thinks a candidate is as a person. Those comments, thankfully, are fairly infrequent here, but apparently abound on some wingnut sites; and that gives me the serious jitters. They’re just inviting awful consequences, whether they mean to or not.
I hope this incident resolves itself peacefully. I’m sure everyone here does.
though speculation on these things is usually pretty pointless, I doubt it’s purely political and if it is.. it’s a hell of a lot more extreme than the dads in the uk who dress up as batman and scale bridges and climb the gates of buckingham palace. heh
perris:
Thanks! My snark radar is completely off…(says, clearly embarrassed…)
Speculation on this is premature. We know nothing about the perpetrator, for all we know this is a romance gone wrong or some other personal problem.
Anything we speculate is just projection of our fears.
Let’s all just hope for the best for the hostages and the law enforcement personnel.
jayt @ 20
Sounds like some of them have come over here. (Possible clean-up?)
we’re here with the ex husband of the woman with infant released from the campaign office.
tell us mr. hoofstra, how did you feel when your wife left you for the lesbian affair?
and did you know then that campaign offices were as unsafe as we now know they are?
mr. hoofstra do you think it was an illegal immigrant possibly an iranian in the campaign office?
jayt @ 92
Jeez, could you imagine HRC showing up, talking to the guy on the phone, and successfully talkin’ this guy down?
At that point, there wouldn’t be any good reason to not begin calling her ‘Madame President” as of right now.
According to Fox’s hostage expert, hostages are rarely given what they ask for, so chances of Hillary actually talking him down are nill.
GSD @ 74
Yes, that was Bill Loeb who was infamous for his insulting, signed, front-page editorials. But as someone who has lived all over the country, and read dead-tree newspapers all over the country, I can assure you that no matter how bad the Union-Leader was in those days (and I was living in NH when Loeb wrote that editorial), I have read far worse newspapers in the years since.
Albatross @ 96
Oy - when I first read this, I thought you meant a failed romance with Hillary!!
Phoenix Woman @ 97
They always come here when they need to know what is REALLY going on. Y’know, the truth.
Winter soltice low afternoon sun getting in the way of clear pictures.
I’d also take what is coming from Faux News (experts and all) with a grain of salt…
Possibly an Iranian, and for the JFK-Spector snark………hugs to Mabel.
perris @ 52
please don’t feed little twits new ideas.
pretzels would be o.k.
*dang* I wasn’t gonna scold no more, & wuz gonna take the highroad, uh huh….
eCAHNomics @ 103
that.
is.
an.
intriguing
observation.
very interesting use of words.
contrasting ‘realities.’
“all our middle class assets to the wealthy”
other than that i will buy into Biodun @ 78’s comments. i don’t think she or any of them fought as hard for the middle class as they did their contributors.
Failed romance with Hillary? That one got me going…
LOL!
GSD @ 53
That status now superseded by WaPo.
Biodun @ 103
Someone else (Jane?) is blogging CNN. Actually I will find it very interesting to judge how Fox covers this, which is why I haven’t switched.
Fox: SWAT team is moving. WMUR reporting HT is in 40s.
retirin in five :
:-)
Allegedly some twit on MSNBC said Hillary will be judged on how she handles the hostage situation…WTF????
These situations usually take hours to resolve. We will not know much for a while. My advice is to keep an eye on it but pass on to other matters.
eCAHN @ 103:
There’s some poetry in that…
Well, this is going to suck all the oxygen out of any other political news..
Steve-AR @ 112
I hear Hillary is gettin a flak jacket on and is gonna handle this situation herself. Show everyone she can be tough!
Steve-AR @ 112
There’s no way that she can handle it. She’s not there, it isn’t her fault. What is she supposed to do? These wingers are crazy. I hope this turns out well. I also hope that this person is not from another country - the right wing would go nuts if he was a foreigner.
Tin foil comment for kos comments????
Steve-AR @ 114
cutting now with LATE BREAKING DEVELOPMENTS to chelsea’s ex-boyfriend’s mother’s best friend’s favourite sushi chef:
Has the Lake sunk this low?
Have we no shame?!
Live-blogging FauxNewz!?!
Oh. The. Humanity.
Steve-AR @ 113
assinine…
ReneND @ 117
possibly an odd ‘coincidence’ or possibly not, eh?