Tuesday, September 21, 2004

Ineffective Security at Illinois Capitol Building

I guess they've caught the guy who (allegedly) shot the security guard at the Capitol building in Springfield. I'm glad they did, and I'm saddened by the death of the security guard. But what jumps out at me in the story, what I simply can't believe, is this claim:

The Capitol building doesn't have metal detectors, and the security guards are unarmed.

What?! Last I checked, Illinois is part of the USA, not Happy-Fun-Land-Where-Nobody-Ever-Tries-To-Shoot-An-Elected-Representative. I'm very sorry that it took the death of one of these security guards, but it looks like people are coming to their senses:

"We will not allow cold-blooded killers to keep our people away from their government," the governor said. White, who manages the Capitol, has asked lawmakers to approve the use of metal detectors and said he would push for them again, along with other security upgrades.

Blagojevich said he supports the idea. State Rep. Rich Brauer had known Wozniak for about 30 years.

He said Wozniak had a wife and two teenage children and had moved to the small community of Petersburg decades ago to escape the violence of Detroit. "What can you say? He was just real friendly and outgoing," Brauer said.

"To me it's incredible that we have this guy that is in charge of security at the Capitol, and he's there with no protection at all. And a guy comes in with a gun."

BTW, I noticed that the quote above mentions a "White" without providing a first name. I went back to the article, looking to get the full name and bracket it into the quote, but it is never mentioned. Just another minor example of media incompetence, I guess. Maybe it's Secretary of State Jesse White?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It is clearly Kristin White...

_Steph_