Multiple gunshots by a police special operations unit responding to a domestic disturbance call on Monday were responsible for the death of Anthony Hannon, 52, of Pittsfield, Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Mitchell Weinberg concluded following an autopsy on Tuesday morning.
Attorney General John M. Formella and New Hampshire State Police Colonel Nathan A. Noyes announced the autopsy results without releasing additional information about the case while the followup investigation continues.
On Monday, Senior Assistant Attorney General Susan Morrell reported that police had been called to a home on Lyford Hill Road around 4 a.m., and “They were engaged by an armed male subject who was inside the residence. Information was relayed to the police department that allowed them to get an arrest warrant for him, but he refused to comply with orders to come out."
Pittsfield police called in the Central New Hampshire Special Operations Unit to assist, and authorities negotiated with Hannon for more than 10 hours. Hannon said that, around 2 p.m., Hannon exchanged gunfire with the officers on the scene, “and Mr. Hannon was shot and killed during that exchange of gunfire. No one else was hurt. None of the officers was hurt. No one in the neighborhood, so just Mr. Hannon.”
Authorities have not released the name of the officers involved, but they said the officers did not have body or cruiser cameras. The Attorney General's Office and the New Hampshire State Police Major Crime Unit are conducting the investigation into the incident.
Test Cases For Cutting Unemployment
Twenty-five Republican governors and one Democrat, including New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, have stated their intention to cut off federally mandated unemployment compensation as a way to encourage people to go back to work. This week, Alaska, Iowa, Mississippi, and Missouri will be the first to end the federal unemployment benefits that have kept food on the table and stabilized the economy during the pandemic.
Proponents of the change argue that the federal unemployment benefits that began under President Donald Trump and were extended through September as part of President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package are making jobless benefits more attractive than returning to work. The payments enhance the unemployment benefits already provided at the state level.
Businesses have been complaining that too few people are signing up for the jobs that are available, but Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, doubts the change will lead more people to apply for work. “This marks the start of tremendous financial hardship for millions of jobless workers and their families,” he said. “These workers will have no income to pay their bills.”
Heidi Shierholz, a former Labor Department chief economist who now works at the Economic Policy Institute, argues that the country could become more productive if the extra benefits allow people to wait for a more suitable job, rather than taking whatever is available. “If the benefits make it possible for people not to have to take a terrible job, that’s efficiency-enhancing,” Shierholz said.
Taking On Domestic Terrorism
A federal cross-agency strategy to combat domestic terrorism focuses on understanding and sharing information about threats, preventing the mobilization and recruitment of domestic terrorists, disrupting domestic terrorism plots, and combating the social problems that contribute to the growth of domestic terrorism.
The document released on Tuesday highlights the importance of better information-sharing between federal, state, and local governments on the domestic threat, as well as better intelligence on extremism.
A darker, constitutionally questionable side of the strategy arises from the Biden administration’s decision to join the Christchurch Call, a multilateral effort led by the government of New Zealand, to eliminate terrorist content online. The government plans to work with technology companies “to improve information-sharing with social media platforms — a key vector for recruitment and the mobilization of violence — so that companies can better enforce their terms of service agreements to protect users.”
Freedom of speech is a central element of the Bill of Rights, and Americans are already concerned about the extent to which the government eavesdrops on its own citizens. On the other hand, keeping tabs on extremist groups is more difficult when they turn to encrypted communications.
A welcome element, especially following revelations about the U.S. Capitol attack on Jan. 6, is the government’s plan to “augment the screening process” for people receiving security clearances for government work, to keep potential domestic terrorists from getting national security jobs.
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