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Police say Copenhagen gunman had criminal record, gang past

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COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) The suspected gunman killed by police after shooting attacks against a free speech event and outside a Copenhagen synagogue was 22 years old and had a background in criminal gangs, police said Sunday.

The suspect was born in Denmark and had a criminal record, including violence and weapons offenses,Copenhagen police said in a statement. They didn't release his name.

A Danish film maker attending a panel discussion on blasphemy was killed in the shooting Saturday at the free speech event and a member of the Scandinavian country's Jewish community was killed outside the synagogue. Five police officers were also wounded in the shootings.

Police believe the suspect carried out both shootings alone but were investigating whether he had received help from others.

"Denmark has been hit by terror," Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt said. "We do not know the motive for the alleged perpetrator's actions, but we know that there are forces that want to hurt Denmark. They want to rebuke our freedom of speech."

Jens Madsen, head of the Danish intelligence agency PET, said investigators believe the gunman was inspired by Islamic radicalism.

"PET is working on a theory that the perpetrator could have been inspired by the events in Paris. He could also have been inspired by material sent out by (the Islamic State group) and others," Madsen said.

Islamic radicals carried out a massacre at the Charlie Hebdo newsroom in Paris last month, followed by an attack on Jews at a kosher grocery store, taking the lives of 17 victims.

Earlier Sunday, at least two people with handcuffs were taken out by police from an Internet cafe inCopenhagen, Danish media reported. Police spokesman Steen Hansen told The Associated Press that "the action was part of the police investigation" but declined to give further details.

The Danish Film Institute said the 55-year-old man killed at the free speech event was documentary filmmaker Finn Noergaard.

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Police say Copenhagen gunman had criminal record, gang past

Free speech in Britain: Police tracking people who bought …

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posted at 5:31 pm on February 14, 2015 by Jazz Shaw

Wait a minute wasnt David Cameron at the front of the line for that Paris rally in support of Charlie Hebdo not that long ago? Im pretty sure that we were all supposed to be on the same page when it comes to the whole free speech, satire is okay bandwagon. But if thats the case, why were the British police tracking down the people who bought copies of the magazine when they put out that record setting edition?

Several British police forces have questioned newsagents in an attempt to monitor sales of a special edition of Charlie Hebdo magazine following the Paris attacks, the Guardian has learned.

Officers in Wiltshire, Wales and Cheshire have approached retailers of the magazine, it has emerged, as concerns grew about why police were attempting to trace UK-based readers of the French satirical magazine.

Wiltshire police apologised on Monday after admitting that one of its officers had asked a newsagent to hand over the names of readers who bought a special survivors issue of the magazine published after its top staff were massacred in Paris last month.

The case in Corsham, Wiltshire, was thought to be an isolated incident but it has since emerged that Cheshire constabulary and Dyfed-Powys police have also approached newsagents over the sale of Charlie Hebdo.

In at least two cases in Wiltshire and in Presteigne, Wales officers have requested that newsagents hand over the names of customers who bought the magazine.

Thats a few too many cases to be written off as an isolated incident or some rogue police chief. And its seems far too stupid for a group of random individuals to have thought it up independently at the same time. This has the appearance of an orchestrated, fairly broad intelligence gathering operation. I actually first caught wind of this story at The Pundit Press, where the incredulity of other free speech advocates is reported and understandable.

This is so ridiculous as to be almost laughable, fumed Jodie Ginsberg, chief executive of a free expression campaign group. And it would be funny if it didnt reflect a more general worrying increase in abuse of police powers in invading privacy and stifling free speech in Britain.

Does possessing a legally published satirical magazine make people criminal suspects now? If so, I better confess that I too have a copy of Charlie Hebdo.

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Free speech in Britain: Police tracking people who bought ...

Danish shooter had gangland past

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The suspected gunman killed by police after shooting attacks against a free speech event and outside a Copenhagen synagogue was 22 years old and had a background in criminal gangs, police said Sunday.

The suspect was born in Denmark and had a criminal record, including violence and weapons offences, Copenhagen police said. They didnt release his name.

A Danish film maker at a panel discussion on blasphemy was killed in the shooting Saturday at the free speech event and a member of the countrys Jewish community was killed outside the synagogue. Five police officers were also wounded. Police believe the suspect carried out both shootings alone.

Denmark has been hit by terror, Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt said. We do not know the motive for the alleged perpetrators actions, but we know that there are forces that want to hurt Denmark. They want to rebuke our freedom of speech.

Jens Madsen, head of Danish intelligence agency PET, said investigators believe the gunman was inspired by Islamic radicalism. (AP)

PET is working on a theory that the perpetrator could have been inspired by the events in Paris. He could also have been inspired by material sent out by (the Islamic State group) and others, Madsen said.

Islamic radicals carried out a massacre at the Charlie Hebdo newsroom in Paris last month, followed by an attack on Jews at a kosher grocery store, taking the lives of 17 victims.

Earlier Sunday, at least two people with handcuffs were taken out by police from an Internet cafe in Copenhagen, Danish media reported. Police spokesman Steen Hansen told The Associated Press that the action was part of the police investigation but declined to give further details.

The Danish Film Institute said the 55-year-old man killed at the free speech event was documentary filmmaker Finn Noergaard.

The institutes chief Henrik Bo Nielsen said he was shocked and angry to find out Noergaard was gunned down while attending a discussion on art and free speech.

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Danish shooter had gangland past

Danish police kill gunman believed behind 2 shootings

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LONDON Police in Copenhagen killed a gunman early Sunday they believe was responsible for a pair of deadly attacks just hours earlier, the first at a cafe hosting a forum on free speech and the second outside a synagogue where a bar mitzvah was underway.

The killings, with their eerie echo of last months terrorist attacks in Paris, had sent Denmarks capital into lockdown and had prompted a massive manhunt that extended across the border into Sweden. In all, the attacks left two people dead and five police officers injured.

At a news conference on Sunday morning, Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt said the country had been hit by terror.

We do not know the motive for the alleged perpetrators actions, but we know that there are forces that want to hurt Denmark, the prime minister said, adding that they wanted to stifle Denmarks freedom of speech.

Police said Sunday that they were confident that the man they fatally shot near a train station was the assailant in both attacks and that they had identified him using CCTV footage. Police were staking out a location associated with the suspect when a man approached and began shooting, prompting officers to return fire, a police official said.

Danish police have fatally shot a man early Sunday suspected of carrying out shooting attacks at a free speech event and later at a Copenhagen synagogue, leaving two people dead and five police officers injured. (AP)

The culprit that was shot by the police task force at Norreport station is the person behind both of these assassinations, Torben Molgaard Jensen, the chief police inspector, told reporters.

Survivors of the two attacks said they appeared to have been an attempt to mimic the Paris terrorist strikes, in which the staff of a satirical publication was massacred and four hostages were shot dead at a kosher supermarket.

The French ambassador to Denmark and a cartoonist previously targeted for depicting the prophet Muhammad were among those taking part in the debate at the cafe who survived the gunfire.

It was the same intention as Charlie Hebdo, except they didnt manage to get in, the French ambassador, Franois Zimeray, told the news service Agence France-Presse, referring to the Jan. 7 attack in Paris on the satirical newspaper. Intuitively, I would say there were at least 50 gunshots, and the police here are saying 200. Bullets went through the doors, and everyone threw themselves to the floor.

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Danish police kill gunman believed behind 2 shootings

Police: 1 dead in shooting at Copenhagen free speech event

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LONDON A gunman raked a Copenhagen cafe with dozens of bullets Saturday during a free-speech forum, killing a 40-year-old man and injuring three police officers in an attack that survivors said appeared to have been an attempt to mimic last months massacre at a satirical newspaper in Paris.

The French ambassador to Denmark and a cartoonist previously targeted for depicting the prophet Muhammad were among those taking part in the debate who survived the torrent of gunfire.

Early Sunday, police said that one person was killed and two police officers were wounded in a shooting near a synagogue in downtown Copenhagen, according to the Associated Press. Hours later, police killed a man who shot at them near a train station, the AP said. It was unclear if the man was responsible for either of the attacks and also whether the attack at the synagogue shooting was linked to the attack at the cafe.

Late into the night, police were hunting for a lone gunman who fled in a getaway car and who was described as a male in his late 20s wielding an assault rifle. A photo released by Danish authorities shows him wearing a dark-blue ski jacket with a red woolen cap and a matching scarf covering the lower portion of his face.

Police in Sweden, separated from Copenhagen by a five-mile-long bridge, also joined the search.

One person was killed and three wounded after gunmen shoot at a cafe during meeting attended by controversial cartoonist who received death threats for publishing images of prophet Muhammad. (Reuters)

It was the same intention as Charlie Hebdo, except they didnt manage to get in, the French ambassador, Franois Zimeray, told the news service Agence France-Presse about the attack on the cafe, referring to the Jan. 7 attack in Paris. Intuitively I would say there were at least 50gunshots, and the police here are saying 200. Bullets went through the doors, and everyone threw themselves to the floor.

Denmarks prime minister called the incident a terrorist attack and put the country on high alert Saturday evening.

Political leaders from across Europe condemned the attack at the cafe, with French Prime Minister Manuel Valls tweeting, Freedom attacked in #Copenhagen. Solidarity with the Danes.

The attack was likely to add to already deep apprehensions over terrorism that are being felt across Europe as the continent contends with rising radicalism and a flood of homegrown fighters traveling to and from the battlefields of the Middle East.

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Police: 1 dead in shooting at Copenhagen free speech event

Are Students Free to Speak Their Mind? Well at Southampton, yes.

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The debate surrounding thelimitationsof free speech has been a key issue of the last fewmonths, from Charlie Hebdo to Page 3, it has not been out of the news and campus censorship is a big part of that debate.

Anyone who works in student media will know campus censorship is a big issue. Traditionally student media has been an outlet to criticise the mistakes of Universities and their Unions. But recently there has been a myriad of accusationsof Unions and Universities censoring their papers.

But Southampton isnt on that list.

New research by Spiked has described Southampton as

A students union, university or institution that, as far as we are aware, places no restrictions on free speech and expression other than where such speech or expression is unlawful.

The research looked into the Universitys policys on free speech, external speaker policies, bullying and harassment policies, equal opportunities policies. As well as the Student Unions, no platform policies, safe space policies, and student codes of conduct.

Perhaps Southamptons disaffiliation with the NUS is to thank.The NUSs no platform policy means thatNUS events and NUS officers, can not voice extremists such as the British National Party and English Defence League. Hence in 2012, whenLeeds Student Paper, printed an interview with Nick Griffin. Aaron Kiely, the NUS Black Students Officer at the time, wrote an open letter demanding the Editor removed the interview immediately, on the grounds it was voicing fascism.Other NUS policies banned voicing Julie Bindel and George Galloway. It begs the question, where do the limitations lie? If were going to ban the BNP, should we ban UKIP too? If were not, should we voice ISIS too?

Prestigious Universities such as Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh,, Kings, Leeds, Leicester, Oxford, UCL, SOAS, and Leicester have ranked among the worst Universities on Spiked list, whereas local Universities such as Solent and Winchester have joined Southampton at the top. Only 20% ranked as well as Southampton, meaning 80% limit free speech on campus, interestingly Unions tend to limit free speech more than Universities.

The Sun was the most popular banned item, followed byRobin Thickes Blurred Lines, unruly sports teams. BDS (a pro-Palestine group) and pro-life groups were also common bans.

There are a number of restrictions placed on free speech under UK law, such as harassment, and incitement to violence but a lot of these bans do not effect these.

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Are Students Free to Speak Their Mind? Well at Southampton, yes.

Shooting targets free speech event in Denmark, killing one

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A gunman fired on a cafe in Copenhagen as it hosted a free speech event Saturday, killing one man, Danish police said. The event was organized by Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who has faced numerous threats for caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad.

Danish police said the gunman shot through the windows of the Krudttoenden cafe, which the TV2 news channel said were riddled with some 30 bullet holes. Helle Merete Brix, one of the event's organizers, told The Associated Press that Vilks was at the meeting but was not hit.

"I saw a masked man running past," Brix said. "I clearly consider this as an attack on Lars Vilks."

Police were looking for the perpetrators, who they said drove away in a dark Volkswagen Polo after the shooting, which took place shortly before 4 p.m. (1500 GMT, 10 a.m. EST).

In a statement, Danish police said the victim was a 40-year-old man inside the cafe attending the event. He has not yet been identified.

Police spokesman Henrik Blandebjerg said three police colleagues at the event were also shot.

"I heard someone firing with an automatic weapons and someone shouting. Police returned the fire and I hid behind the bar. I felt surreal, like in a movie," Niels Ivar Larsen, one of the speakers at the event, told the TV2 channel.

Brix said she was ushered away with Vilks by one of the Danish police guards that he gets whenever he is in Denmark.

The cafe in northern Copenhagen, known for its jazz concerts, was hosting an event titled "Art, blasphemy and the freedom of expression" when the shots were fired.

Franois Zimeray, the French ambassador to Denmark who was at the conference, tweeted that he was "still alive."

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Shooting targets free speech event in Denmark, killing one

Deadly shooting at Copenhagen free speech event

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By CBS News / Associated Press Saturday February 14, 2015 12:56 PM

COPENHAGEN, Denmark --A shooting left at least one man dead Saturday at a cafe in Copenhagen that was hosting a freedom of speech event organized by Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who has faced numerous threats for caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad.

In a statement, Danish police said the victim was a 40-year-old man.

The police said they are looking for the perpetrators who drove away in a dark Volkswagen Polo after the shooting shortly before 4 p.m. (10 a.m. EST) at the Krudttoenden cafe.

Some 30 bullet holes ripped through the window of the cafe and there were conflicting reports over the number of people injured.

At least two people were taken away on stretchers, including a uniformed police officer, the TV2 channel said Saturday. The Danish Ritzau news agency reported three police officers were injured.

"I heard someone firing with an automatic weapons and someone shouting. Police returned the fire and I hid behind the bar. I felt surreal, like in a movie," Niels Ivar Larsen, one of the speakers at the event, told TV2 channel.

HelleMereteBrix, one of the event's organizers, told The Associated Press that Vilks was at the meeting but not injured.

"I saw a masked man running past," she said. "A couple of police officers were injured."

"I clearly consider this as an attack on Lars Vilks," she added, saying she was ushered away with Vilks by one of the Danish police guards that he gets whenever he is in Denmark.

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Deadly shooting at Copenhagen free speech event

Gunman kills 1 in attack on free speech event in Denmark

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COPENHAGEN, Denmark Police in Copenhagen say they have shot and killed a man who shot at them near a train station and are investigating whether he can be linked to two shootings hours earlier at a free speech event and at a synagogue.

A statement posted early Sunday by police says the shooting occurred after they had put an address near the train station under observation. The statement says no police officers were wounded.

The two earlier shootings left two dead and five police officers wounded, stirring fears that another terror spree was underway in a European capital a month after 17 people were killed in Paris attacks.

This is a breaking news story. AP's earlier version follows...

COPENHAGEN, Denmark A shooting at a free speech event featuring an artist who had caricatured the Prophet Muhammad and a second shooting hours later outside a synagogue left two dead and five police officers wounded in Copenhagen, stirring fears that another terror spree was under way in a European capital a month after 17 people were killed in Paris attacks.

Police couldn't say whether the shootings at a cultural center Saturday afternoon and in front of the synagogue early Sunday were connected, but didn't rule it out. In both shootings, the gunman got away.

"We are looking for two perpetrators," police spokesman Allan Wadsworth-Hansen told reporters.

The first shooting happened shortly before 4 p.m. Saturday. Danish police said the gunman used an automatic weapon to shoot through the windows of the Krudttoenden cultural center during a panel discussion on freedom of expression following the Paris attacks. A 55-year-old man attending the event was killed, while three police officers were wounded. Two belonged to the Danish security service PET, which said the circumstances surrounding the shooting "indicate that we are talking about a terror attack."

The gunman then fled in a carjacked Volkswagen Polo that was found later a few kilometers (miles) away, police said.

TV2/AP Photo This image made from TV2 via Associated Press News video shows the scene near a synagogue where police reported a shooting in downtown Copenhagen, Denmark, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2015. One person was shot in the head and two police officers were shot in the arms and legs, police said.

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Gunman kills 1 in attack on free speech event in Denmark

One dead after shooting at free speech event in Denmark featuring controversial artist

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At least one gunman opened fire Saturday on a Copenhagen cafe, killing one man in what authorities called a likely terror attack during a free speech event organized by an artist who had caricatured the Prophet Muhammad.

The shooting, which also wounded three police officers, came a month after extremists killed 12 people at a satirical newspaper in Paris that had also sparked Muslim outrage with its depictions of Muhammad.

AP Video Feb. 14 2015, 2:33 PM EST

Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who has been repeatedly threatened after depicting Muhammad as a dog in 2007, organized and attended Saturdays event but was not hit by gunfire, police said.

I saw a masked man running past, said Helle Merete Brix, one of the events organizers. I clearly consider this as an attack on Lars Vilks.

Vilks agreed, telling The Associated Press by telephone what other motive could there be?

Brix and Vilks were quickly ushered away by the security detail that accompanies the artist whenever he is in Denmark.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the shooting, which took place shortly before 4 p.m. local time. Denmarks security service, PET, said the circumstances surrounding the shooting indicate that we are talking about a terror attack.

Danish police said the gunman used an automatic weapon to shoot through the windows of the Krudttoenden cafe, which TV footage showed were riddled with bullet holes. The gunman then fled in a carjacked Volkswagen Polo that was found later a few kilometres (miles) away, police said.

I heard someone firing with an automatic weapons and someone shouting. Police returned the fire and I hid behind the bar. I felt surreal, like in a movie, Niels Ivar Larsen, one of the speakers at the event, told the TV2 channel.

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One dead after shooting at free speech event in Denmark featuring controversial artist

Volokh Conspiracy: Murder at Copenhagen debate on free speech attended by Swedish Muhammad cartoonist

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See The Local (Denmark, English language) and Washington Post post tv. Heres an excerpt from BBC News:

Gunmen have killed one person and injured three police officers at a free speech debate in Copenhagen attended by a controversial Swedish cartoonist [Lars Vilks], officials say.

The French ambassador was also present at the seminar.

The debate, which took place in a cafe, was described on a personal website of Lars Vilks as a talk on whether any limits should be placed on artistic expression or freedom of speech.

A description of the event asked whether artists could dare to be blasphemous in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo terror attacks by Islamist gunmen in Paris last month.

Neither the cartoonist nor the ambassador appeared to be hurt. The BBC story also reports on many past attacks or attempted attacks on Vilks, who stoked controversy in 2007 by drawing pictures of the Prophet Muhammad dressed as a dog. Here is what appears to be one of those cartoons (copied from the Wikipedia site); apparently the picture is of a head, intended to be Muhammads, attached to a roundabout dog, a form of Swedish street sculpture sometimes put up by anonymous people in traffic roundabouts:

Lars Vilks cartoon of Muhammad as a roundabout dog (a form of Swedish street side sculpture).

Here is a statement from Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt:

Denmark was today hit by a cold-blooded act of terror. Everything points toward the shooting in sterbro being a political assassination and thus an act of terror.

The shooting is an action that fills me with deep anger. We will do everything to find the guilty parties and bring them before a court.

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Volokh Conspiracy: Murder at Copenhagen debate on free speech attended by Swedish Muhammad cartoonist


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