James Lee, killed in Discovery Channel hostage crisis, reminiscent of Unabomber
The man who entered the Discovery Channel headquarters in Silver Spring, Md., with a handgun and what appeared to be explosives Wednesday, taking several hostages, is being described in news reports as an 鈥渆nvironmental activist.鈥�
If so, his ideology is reminiscent of the infamous 鈥�Unabomber鈥� 鈥� Theodore Kaczynski, now serving life in prison for a series of mail bombings that killed three people and injured 23 others.
The man in the Discovery Channel episode, identified by law enforcement officials as James J. Lee, apparently held beliefs similar to Kaczynski: that human population growth and modern industrial development imperil the planet.
Several hours after the episode began, Mr. Lee reportedly was shot and killed by sniper. Three hostages were released unharmed.
鈥淭he debate about the state of the planet is done,鈥� on his web site. 鈥淕lobal Warming is a reality. The massive extinction of animals is happening all over the world. Now let us begin the debate on how to save the planet. We can鈥檛 wait anymore, something must be done immediately! Let鈥檚 act on it right away; let this be a new chapter in the earth鈥檚 history. As human beings we must join together to save it.鈥�
Lee鈥檚 focus on the Discovery Channel is not new.
For several years, he had been protesting outside the company鈥檚 headquarters, carrying signs and placards critical of the channel鈥檚 programming. In March 2008, he was fined $500 and given six months supervised probation on a charge of disorderly conduct. The ordered him to stay 500 feet away from Discovery Communications.
But apparently that did not deter him from continuing his critical focus on the Discovery Channel and its programming.
鈥淭he Discovery Channel is a big part of the problem, not the solution,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淚nstead of showing successful solutions, their broadcast programs seem to be doing the opposite. Shows like 鈥�Cash Cab鈥� and 鈥�Dirty Jobs鈥� serve as diversions to keep the focus off what is really important, which is Global Warming and Animal Extinction. Why do they broadcast a show like 鈥�Future Weapons鈥� that only promise to destroy the planet even more? And their new lineup 鈥淧lanet Green鈥� is all about more products and other substandard solutions.鈥�
Among Lee鈥檚 demands: "All programs on Discovery Health-TLC must stop encouraging the birth of any more parasitic human infants and the false heroics behind those actions. In those programs' places, programs encouraging human sterilization and infertility must be pushed. All former pro-birth programs must now push in the direction of stopping human birth, not encouraging it."
Most of the 1,900 Discovery employees had been evacuated before police negotiations began.
Discovery Communications includes the Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Science Channel, and Planet Green networks. Discovery Communications officials could not be reached regarding the hostage episode or Lee鈥檚 angry manifesto against the company.
