Mike Baker Profile picture
May 28, 2022 9 tweets 4 min read Read on X
I have spent the past few days researching the training of Uvalde officers, including the tactics they were expected to use to halt school shooters.

The documents are jarring. Here’s a thread of our findings so far.

1/9
In the past two years, the Uvalde school district has hosted at least two active-shooter training days. One of them was just two months ago.

The trainings included both classroom teachings and role-playing scenarios inside school hallways (below).

nytimes.com/2022/05/26/us/…

2/9 Image
The Uvalde training session 2 months ago relied on guidelines that give explicit expectations for officers responding to an active shooter.

The training is clear: Time is of the essence. The “first priority is to move in and confront the attacker.”

nytimes.com/2022/05/27/us/…

3/9 Image
But how should officers confront the gunman? With a tactical team? The training says that's probably not feasible, because the urgency is so high.

A SINGLE OFFICER, the training says, may need to confront the suspect on their own.

4/9 Image
The guidelines provide sobering clarity: The first officers may be risking their lives. But, it says, innocent lives take priority.

“A first responder unwilling to place the lives of the innocent above their own safety should consider another career field."

5/9 Image
The training expectations are obviously in stark contrast to what we are seeing in Uvalde. Police officials have said that officers were reluctant to engage the gunman because “they could’ve been shot.”

washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/05…

6/9
The guidelines actually provide scenarios in which officers are shot, including one modeled after the Santa Fe High School shooting, also in Texas.

The scenario explains that if one officer is shot, the second “is expected to go on responding solo.”

7/9 Image
It’s clear that officers did not follow that scenario this week. 19 officers staged outside the classroom. 78 minutes elapsed before they entered. Children repeatedly called 911 from inside.

“It was the wrong decision,” top officer says.

nytimes.com/live/2022/05/2…

8/9
We are continuing to scrutinize the Uvalde response. Meanwhile, here’s a look at nationwide training for active shooters.

“If you know children are being murdered, why do you wait? Get in there.”

nytimes.com/2022/05/27/us/…

9/9

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More from @ByMikeBaker

Jan 18, 2023
NEW: We have reviewed search warrant records in the case of Idaho killings suspect Bryan Kohberger. Among items seized from his apartment:
• a black disposable glove
• possible hair strands
• computer
• items with red or brown spots/stains
nytimes.com/article/univer…
Investigators said in one document they wanted to see if hair had transferred onto Kohberger and then back to his apartment. That included not only the hair of victims but the hair of Kaylee Goncalves’s dog.

One of the items collected was a “possible animal hair strand.”
Here is a list of the items seized by authorities during a search of Bryan Kohberger’s apartment.
Read 5 tweets
Jan 13, 2023
We reviewed hundreds of messages (spanning 10+ years) from Idaho killings suspect Bryan Kohberger. In them, he describes prolonged and sometimes deep mental health struggles, along with an interest in high-profile criminals.

Thread with screenshots. 1/10

nytimes.com/2023/01/13/us/…
By 2009, at age 14, Kohberger reported struggling with a little-known neurological condition that impacts vision. He turned to a web forum for help, asking other people with the condition about feelings of hopelessness and depersonalization.

2/10
Two years later, in 2011, Kohberger described an extensive list of struggles, including a slack of emotion, constant thoughts of suicide, and a detachment from reality that made life feel like a movie.

3/10

nytimes.com/2023/01/13/us/…
Read 11 tweets
Dec 20, 2022
Inside high schools, JROTC instructors have turned to NRA funding to help teach students about guns. And documents show those instructors have vowed to promote the NRA to students.

Here is a thread with a closer look at some of the records.

1/12
nytimes.com/2022/12/20/us/…
Some JROTC programs told the NRA how their weapons training could advance 2nd Amendment rights, such as this instructor in Texas that said it would foster positive attitudes “for these future voters and their families.”

2/12 Image
The NRA has been struggling with declining membership numbers in recent years. This instructor in Florida said they would encourage their high school cadets to join organizations such as the NRA.

3/12

nytimes.com/2022/12/20/us/… Image
Read 12 tweets
Dec 12, 2022
Let’s talk about textbooks 📚

Many of the study materials used in U.S. classrooms go through extensive vetting, scrutiny and line-by-line revision.

But then there are textbooks brought by the military’s JROTC program to thousands of high schools…

1/10
nytimes.com/2022/12/11/us/…
We reviewed numerous books distributed by the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps, finding that they include a series of false and unusual takes on history and American life.

Let’s take a look inside.

2/10
nytimes.com/2022/12/11/us/…
Here is a section from a Marine Corps textbook that tells female cadets that they should wear lipstick in uniform and shape their hair in an “attractive feminine style.”

3/10
Read 10 tweets
Dec 11, 2022
🎖️ NEW 🎖️

Thousands of high schoolers are being funneled into the military’s J.R.O.T.C. program, sometimes over the objections of the students or parents.

Here’s our look at this hidden practice, pieced together from 200+ records requests.

THREAD 1/9
nytimes.com/2022/12/11/us/…
After hearing rumors of compulsory J.R.O.T.C. enrollment, we were frankly shocked to find how widespread it is, with explicit mandates or elevated enrollment numbers in schools across all parts of the country, rural and urban.

2/9
nytimes.com/2022/12/11/us/…
I hope you will read/share this story, especially if you have ties to schools in:
Atlanta
Baltimore
Baton Rouge
Boston
Charlotte
Chicago
Dallas
D.C.
Detroit
Houston
Los Angeles
Memphis
Miami
Oklahoma City
Philadelphia
San Diego
St. Louis

(and more)
3/9
nytimes.com/2022/12/11/us/…
Read 11 tweets
Dec 8, 2022
🧵
1. Die Hard is an Easter movie because it's all about renewal and resurrection. John McClane's character is reborn as a hero, rising from the ashes of his failed marriage and personal struggles.
2. The setting of the film, a high-rise office building, is a metaphor for the tomb where Jesus was buried. Just like Jesus, McClane must overcome obstacles to save the day.
3. The villains in Die Hard are like the Romans who crucified Jesus. They are ruthless and power-hungry, and McClane must defeat them to bring peace and justice.
Read 11 tweets

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