Suspect in Killing of 2 Police Officers Arrested in Iowa

Police officials launched a manhunt for Scott Greene a resident of Urbandale, Des Moines. Authorities suspect the 46-year-old man for fatally shooting 2 police officers while inside their patrol cars.

According to reports, authorities found the first police officer shot in Urbandale around 1:06 AM (06:06 GMT) on Wednesday. The second officer victim located a few blocks away from the first. Both appeared to be still inside their patrol cars when they were shot.

Des Moines police officials said the motive for shooting the officers remains unknown.

In spite of the unclear motive, police found substantial evidence leading to their suspect. Greene posted a video taken from a mobile phone. The video shows a man complaining to a police officer about a group of black people. According to Greene, the group mugged him and took the Confederate flag he was holding. The incident happened during a high school sports event.

The man in the video said, “I was peacefully protesting”. The police officer voice, audible in the background replied, “You have to understand that in the social climate that we’re in, when you fly a Confederate flag in front of a group of African-Americans, that’s going to cause a disturbance”.

However, Greene seemed to ignore the police officer’s advice. Since another video shows Greene holding the Confederate flag again in front of several African-American people.

Behind the ‘stars’ and ‘bars’

The Confederate flag serves as a symbol of slavery, particularly in the African-American community. Last year, it yielded another horrendous symbol on its back. In South Carolina, a man carrying a confederate flag killed nine black churchgoers.

Sergeant Paul Parizek of Des Moines Police Department said in a news conference, “somebody out there is shooting police officers”. He added that “We hope we find him before anybody else gets hurt. We definitely don’t want anybody in the public, here in the community to get hurt but there’s a clear and present danger to police officers right now, and we’ve doubled up our officers.”

Terry Branstad, the Governor in Iowa said that the shootings were “an attack on the public safety of all Iowans”. The governor deeply condemns the killing of the police officers.

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“Trigger happy buffoon” – How British MPs described Donald Trump

British MPs (Members of Parliament) have been giving their verdicts on Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in the run up to the US presidential electon.

In the anonymous survey of 50 MPs, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton fared better than Republican rival Trump, but neither exactly received a ringing endorsement.

However it is Trump who came in for the most criticism – with MPs feeling they could speak more openly knowing that they would not be named.

Buffoon

Trump was described as “dangerous”, “narcissistic”, “trigger happy”, “protectionist” and a “buffoon” and one MP said he was “unfit to run a bath let alone a country.”

One senior Labour politician was particularly vitriolic about the Republican nominee saying: “Trump is the most grotesque manifestation of populism driven by discontent worldwide.

The same MP dismissed Clinton as “uninspiring” while another observed: “It is a mystery how more than 300 million people could come up with such losers.”

The survey, said to be  the most extensive polling of British politicians in this presidential election, was conducted by The House magazine.

Dangerous

The MPs were chosen to reflect the party political make-up of the British House of Commons

Not one of the 50 politicians believed Trump would make the world safer while two thirds said it would actually be ‘much more dangerous’ with the Republican running the US.

Clinton polled almost the opposite, with no MPs believing the world would be any more dangerous under her leadership and 82% believing her experience as a senator and secretary of state would lead to improved global security.

As for who is going to win, nine out of ten of the British MPs surveyed said they think it will be Clinton.

“Clinton will get home, Donald Trump has shot himself in the foot so many times that I can’t see him winning,” concludes a Tory backbencher.

British politicians on Trump:

• “He’d be a disaster for our countries. He’s ghastly, a threat to world peace and thoroughly obnoxious.” – Former Conservative minister.

• “Trump would be an absolute disaster; the man is a buffoon.” – Labour backbencher.

• “Trump doesn’t have the temperament; he’s trigger happy and narcissistic.” – Conservative MP

• “Trump is so unpredictable he could do something really quite radical and dangerous. Whatever you think of Hilary Clinton, she is a professional politician.” – Conservative MP.

British politicians on Clinton:

• “If Trump does win, it will be the grotesque selfishness of the Clinton mafia that foisted him upon us.” – Former Tory shadow minister.

• “Clinton’s not the best candidate there has ever been, but she is a safe pair of hands.” – Scottish Nationalist MP.

• “Whatever Clinton’s faults at campaigning, she’ll be a good executive president, probably better than Obama.” – Former Tory shadow minister.

• “I think she’ll be a lame duck from the start. Whoever wins I predict will be a one term president.” – Backbench Conservative MP.

Read more: The MPs’ verdict

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