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Kate Plus 8 Fueled Discovery Gunman's Wrath

James J. Lee hated network for encouraging population growth

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 2, 2010 5:42 AM CDT

(Newser) – The gunman shot dead after taking hostages at Discovery Communications headquarters yesterday hated the network's shows because he believed they promoted population growth. James J. Lee—who had a history of protesting around Discovery HQ—demanded an end to shows like Kate Plus 8 and 19 Kids and Counting in his online manifestos, the AP reports.

Lee said Discovery should air "programs encouraging human sterilization and infertility" instead and urged it to create programming based on the writings of environmentalist author Daniel Quinn. Quinn says Lee must have misinterpreted his writings. If he could have spoken to Lee, he says, he would have told him "he's giving a bad name to the ideas that he's trying to espouse."

In this Feb. 14, 2008, photo, James J. Lee protests in front of the headquarters of the Discovery Channel networks in Silver Spring, Md.
In this Feb. 14, 2008, photo, James J. Lee protests in front of the headquarters of the Discovery Channel networks in Silver Spring, Md.   (AP Photo/Chip Py)
In this image released by the Montgomery County Police, James J. Lee is seen is a booking mugshot from 2008 on disorderly conduct.
In this image released by the Montgomery County Police, James J. Lee is seen is a booking mugshot from 2008 on disorderly conduct.   (Montgomery County Police)
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Video shows money dropping from upper floor of the Discovery Channel building where James Lee held 3 hostages. Gunman was killed, no one was injured. He did manage to throw wads of bills onto the street in front of the Discovery building.   (egrab)

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Humans are the most destructive, filthy, pollutive creatures around and are wrecking what's left of the planet with their false morals and breeding cultures.
- James J Lee

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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 29 comments
jaguarj
Sep 3, 2010 9:36 AM CDT
There is s-o-o-o much effing bull shit on all TV channels... Makes you wonder about the mentality of the producers and those that watch it!!
Riffran
Sep 3, 2010 12:43 AM CDT
good thing he didn't watch too much MTV.
Sayyiduna
Sep 2, 2010 5:45 PM CDT
Yeah, I wouldn't go so far as saying I "hate" those shows, they are not worth that much energy for what amounts to crappy television. However, he's a good example of how a fundamentalist/extremist mindset can take something that's relatively benign, or even desirable, such as zero population growth, and turn it into something terrible. It's a tough situation already, trying to explain to someone that the carrying capacity of the planet will eventually reach a breaking point. It's even more difficult to try to explain to someone that "zero population growth" doesn't mean "exterminating the current population" - and people like this make plausible, healthy fringe ideas hitting the mainstream instead sound like something much worse when they appear to be supported by such extreme people.

 
Discovery Channel • Discovery Communications • Jon and Kate Plus 8 • Kate Gosselin • Kate Plus 8 • 19 Kids and Counting • James J. Lee

 
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