Category Archives: Free Speech

COPENHAGEN, Denmark The slain gunman suspected in the deadly Copenhagen attacks was a 22-year-old with a history of violence and may have been inspired by Islamic terrorists and possibly the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris, Danish authorities said Sunday.

Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt mourned the two people killed and vowed to protect freedom of speech and Denmark's Jewish community.

The suspect was killed in a gunbattle with a SWAT team early Sunday. He had opened fire Saturday at a cultural center hosting a seminar on free speech with an artist who had caricatured the Prophet Muhammad and then later at security forces outside a synagogue, police said.

A Danish filmmaker was killed in the first attack. Nine hours later, a security guard protecting a bat mitzvah near a synagogue was slain. Five police officers were wounded in the shootings.

Jens Madsen, head of the Danish intelligence agency PET, said investigators believe the gunman "could have been inspired by the events in Paris." Last month Islamic militants carried out a massacre at the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo followed by an attack on Jews at a kosher grocery, killing 17 people.

"He could also have been inspired by material sent out by (the Islamic State group) and others," Madsen said.

Copenhagen police made no mention of Islamic extremism and said the Danish-born suspect had a history of violence and weapons offenses and connections to a criminal gang. They didn't release his name.

"Denmark has been hit by terror," 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."

Chief Rabbi Jair Melchior identified the security guard as Dan Uzan, a 27-year-old member of Denmark's 7,000-strong Jewish community. Two police officers who were near the synagogue were slightly wounded.

In the earlier shooting, 55-year-old filmmaker Finn Noergaard was killed while attending a panel discussion titled "Art, Blasphemy and Freedom of Expression."

See the article here:

First Copenhagen shooting victim identified as film maker

Did Pope Francis Preach Violence?
The recent terrorist attacks against a satirical newspaper in Paris sparked a global conversation about free speech and free expression. We saw world leaders converge in France, and lock arms...

By: NextNewsNetwork

Excerpt from:

Did Pope Francis Preach Violence? - Video

Ring of Fire on Free Speech TV - 02/08/2015 (FULL EPISODE)
00:49 - IRS Soft on Dark Money. Howard Nations will tell us how Republican attacks on the IRS are preventing the agency from doing its job and how that is benefitting the GOP. #DarkMoney...

By: Ring of Fire Radio

Read the original:

Ring of Fire on Free Speech TV - 02/08/2015 (FULL EPISODE) - Video

Inviting The BBC - How Free Is Speech? #DontHateDebate
http://www.iera.org/event/big-question-free-speech - The Big Question: How Free Is Speech? Friday 13th Feb - A discussion on the limits, objectives and application of free speech. The aim...

By: iERA - Islamic Education and Research Academy

Read the original here:

Inviting The BBC - How Free Is Speech? #DontHateDebate - Video

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.

Originally posted here:

Deadly shooting at Copenhagen free speech event

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.

She 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. (1500 GMT, 10 a.m. EST). 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.

Police initially said there were two gunmen but later said they believed there was only one shooter, and described him as 25-30 years old with an athletic build, and carrying a black automatic weapon. They released a blurred photograph of the suspect wearing dark clothes and a scarf covering part of his face.

Original post:

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

COPENHAGEN, Denmark Gunmen fired on a cafe in Copenhagen as it hosted a free speech event Saturday, killing one man in a likely terror attack, Danish authorities said. The event was organized by Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who has faced numerous threats after caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad.

Danish police said the gunmen shot through the windows of the Krudttoenden cafe, which the TV2 news channel said were riddled with some 30 bullet holes. Police spokesman Henrik Blandebjerg said three police at the event were also shot and wounded.

Denmark's security service, PET, said the circumstances surrounding the shooting "indicate that we are talking about a terror attack."

The shooting came a month after Islamic militants attacked another media outlet that had printed Muhammad cartoons, the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in Paris, killing 12 people.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the shooting, which took place shortly before 4 p.m. (1500 GMT, 10 a.m. EST).

Helle Merete Brix, one of the event's organizers, told The Associated Press that Vilks was at the free speech event but was not hit.

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

Danish police, in a statement, said they were looking for two perpetrators in dark clothing who drove away in a dark Volkswagen Polo that had been carjacked. The car was later found.

"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.

Read the original post:

Police: 1 dead in shooting at Copenhagen free speech event

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.

Originally posted here:

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

An armed policeman secures the areanear the cafe where a meeting organised by Swedish artist Lars Vilks was attacked. Viks has faced numerous threats for publishing drawings depicting the Prophet Muhammad in 2007. Photograph: Mathias Oegendal/Epa

Bullet holes can be seen in the window and door of Krudttonden cafe after shots were fired during a discussion meeting about art, blasphemy and free speech in Copenhagen. Photograph: Epa

Forensic police officers work at the area around a cultural centre in Copenhagen, Denmark, where unidentified gunmen killed at least one person and wounded several police officers after opening fire. Photograph: Claus Bjorn Larsen/AFP/Getty Images

A major manhunt is under way for a gunman who opened fire on a freedom-of-speech event in Copenhagen, leaving a 40 year-old man dead and three police officers injured.

The gunman opened fire at the Krudttonden cafe, killing the man, during an event featuring Swedish cartoonist and historian Lars Vilks, who depicted the Prophet Mohammed with the body of a dog in 2007.

Danish police, who initially said they were searching for two suspects, issued a photograph of the main suspect this evening, taken on street cameras near to where the getaway car, a VW Polo, was later found dumped.

Mr Vilks and the French ambassador, who was also attending, were both unharmed.

The security guards shouted everyone get out and we were being pushed out of the room, Helle Merete Brix, organiser of the event, said by telephone.

They tried to shoot their way into the conference room, she said. I saw one of them running by, wearing a mask. There was no way to tell his face. Im not even sure if there was one or two.

French ambassador Francois Zimeray tweeted that he was still alive in the room.

Original post:

One killed in attack on Copenhagen free speech event

By JAN M. OLSEN Associated Press

COPENHAGEN, Denmark 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. 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

You have viewed 20 free articles or blogs allowed within a 30-day period. FREE registration is now required for uninterrupted access.

S-R Media, The Spokesman-Review and Spokesman.com are happy to assist you. Contact Customer Service by email or call 800-338-8801

COPENHAGEN, Denmark 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.

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.

She 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. (1500 GMT, 10 a.m. EST). Denmarks security service, PET, said the circumstances surrounding the shooting indicate that we are talking about a terror attack.

Continued here:

Shots fired at Danish free speech event, one killed, three police officers wounded - Sat, 14 Feb 2015 PST