This and that on a Saturday morning
More swatting and threats in redistricting fallout. Man shot by police ID’d. And more
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Thanks, also, to Stuart & Branigin for continued support of the Based in Lafayette reporting project.
THREATS, SWATTING CONTINUE IN THE SHADOW OF REDISTRICTING DEBATE: Gov. Mike Braun said Friday that he was among a growing list of lawmakers and Statehouse officials who have been targeted by swatting attempts and other threats as the political rhetoric ramps up over demands to redraw Indiana’s congressional district maps. As of Friday, at least seven Republican lawmakers had received threats or been victims of swatting incidents in the past week.
“Enough is enough. These threats to lawmakers, including those received by me and my family in recent days, need to stop,” Braun wrote in a social media post Friday afternoon. “Rest assured—if you threaten or attempt to carry out acts of violence against Indiana’s elected officials, we WILL bring you to justice.”
Indiana Capital Chronicle reporters Niki Kelly, Casey Smith and Leslie Bonilla Muñiz had a rundown of the situation here: “As threats escalate against Indiana lawmakers, Braun says his family also targeted.”
In related stories:
Locally, state Sen. Spencer Deery and his family were the target of a swatting attempt Thursday morning. Given the political climate – and his public opposition to the redistrict concept – Deery had been in touch with the West Lafayette Police Department a day earlier and the two were able to work through protocols for any calling that otherwise would warrant a large-scale response to his home. Here’s more on how that worked out:
Indianapolis Star reporters Marissa Meador, Kayla Dwyer and Hayleigh Colombo looked at primaries brewing over the redistricting issue – including Deery’s challenge announced this week by Republican Paula Copenhaver – asking this question: “Trump threatened to primary GOP senators opposed to redistricting. Will it work in Indiana?”
Indiana Capital Chronicle reporter Tom Davies came at the same question in this account: “Can Trump’s political threats swing Indiana Senate on redistricting?”
Reporter Adam Wren, writing for Politico, had this conversation with Sen. Rodric Bray, the Indiana Senate leader who has been taking much of the heat from Braun, Trump and other pro-redistricting forces after saying a week ago he wouldn’t call the Senate into session because the votes weren’t there: “Why Is Indiana Resisting Trump’s Redistricting? The Senate President Explains. Rodric Bray is doing what he thinks is right, even when the president calls him a ‘RINO.’”
In an op-ed for the Indianapolis Star, Noblesville Mayor Chris Jensen laid out a case about why so many Republicans weren’t jumping on board the redistricting train: “I’m a Republican mayor. Braun’s redistricting fight betrays our values.”
MAN SHOT BY POLICE FRIDAY IDENTIFIED: The man shot and killed by police early Friday on the east side of Lafayette has been identified as Rodolfo Requenes Jr., 50, of Lafayette, Tippecanoe County Coroner Carrie Costello said. Costello said her office was asking for the public’s help to reach his family members, possibly located in Clinton County.
According to a Lafayette Police Department account, the shooting happened in the 200 block of Porsche Lane, in the Waterford Court Apartment complex off Frontage Road, just east of I-65. Police say Requenes had been pulled over around 12:25 a.m. Friday on Sagamore Parkway on suspicion of impaired driving. Police say Requenes “made statements indicating a risk of harm to himself” before fleeing the scene in his vehicle. Police later found the car at the apartment complex at 1:16 a.m. Friday. Police say LPD officers and Indiana State Police troopers confronted Requenes there, where they say he said he was armed. Police say he was shot after he reached for his waistband behind his back “as if he was preparing to brandish a weapon.” Requenes died on the scene, police reported. No police officers were injured.
LPD reported that the officers involved, who were not immediately identified, were placed on administrative leave, according to department policies.
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PURDUE’S ‘CRADLE’ PRODUCES NASA’S NEW CHIEF ASTRONAUT: Scott Tingle, who earned a Purdue master’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1988, on Friday was named chief of NASA’s Astronaut Office at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. According to NASA, Tingle will be manage astronaut operations, help develop astronaut flight crew operations and make crew assignments for future human spaceflight missions, including Artemis missions to the moon. Tingle, one of 30 Purdue alums named as astronauts, has 4,500 flight hours in 51 different aircraft and served as a flight engineer aboard the International Space Station, according to NASA. Here’s from NASA on his selection: “NASA’s Scott Tingle to Serve as Agency’s Chief Astronaut.”
Thanks, again, for support from the Long Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Lafayette. For tickets and details on all the shows and events, go to longpac.org.
Thanks, also, to sponsor Stuart & Branigin for continued support of the Based in Lafayette reporting project.
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Is there anything more alpha than Boss Astronaut?