Flags across Montana are at half-staff on Tuesday to show respect for the five people who were shot and killed last week at a newspaper office in Maryland.
Governor Steve Bullock issued the following proclamation:
As requested by the President of the United States, I hereby order all flags flown in the state of Montana to be displayed at half-staff on Tuesday, July 3rd, 2018 until sunset on Tuesday, July 3rd, 2018, out of respect for the victims and the families of the mass shooting that took place at the Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland on June 28th, 2018.
On the eve of the United States’ Independence Day, we take note that a nation cannot be free and a democracy cannot thrive without a free and independent press. Journalists should never be threatened or killed for doing their jobs. Gun violence continues to occur where Americans gather to live, learn, pray, and work. We must continue to work towards a society where these mass shootings are unheard of.
Investigators say the suspect in shooting, Jarrod Ramos, had a longstanding grudge against the newspaper. Ramos sued after it reported accurately on his guilty plea to charges of harassing a woman he went to high school with. His defamation case was dismissed. Authorities say the 38-year-old, armed with a shotgun, intentionally targeted the newspaper in a shooting that leftfive dead.
CBS News’ Chip Reid spoke to Brennan McCarthy, the attorney who represented the woman Ramos harassed. He said Ramos tormented his client for years.
"He was as angry an individual as I have ever seen," McCarthy said. "She lost her job because of this individual….He is malevolent. He forwarded a letter to her employer, basically stating that she was bipolar and a drunkard which is ridiculous."
McCarthy said the harassment and stalking began around 2009, after they became friends on Facebook. In 2011, she took him to court, where he pleaded guilty to criminal harassment and was placed on 18-months’ probation. Five days later, the Capital Gazette wrote a story titled, "Jarrod wants to be your friend." It outlined Ramos’ alleged erratic behavior and included alleged emails he sent, telling McCarthy’s client: "go hang yourself," "you’re going to need a restraining order now," and "you can’t make me stop."
"Mr. Ramos was obsessively angry about this particular story," McCarthy said.
Ramos sued the paper for defamation in 2012. The case was dismissed in 2015 on appeal. According to court documents, the judge said, "There is nothing" to prove "anything that was published" was in fact false.
"I for one received what I considered to be a death threat," said Tom Marquardt, who was The Capital’s executive editor at the time of the article. He said he went to police about Ramos’ threat, but was told nothing could be done.
"I feared for my life, I feared for my family’s life and I feared for my staff’s life," Marquardt said.
McCarthy said on Thursday, when he heard about the shooting at The Capital newspaper, he immediately thought of Ramos.
"He wanted to get revenge," McCarthy said. "I knew he did it….It was inevitable. He was going to do something violent. The only question was, who would he get first."
McCarthy said he spoke to his client after the shooting and she said she is still scared for her life even though he is behind bars.
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The Capital Gazette says that the victims are Rob Hiaasen, 59, a former feature writer for The Baltimore Sun who joined the Capital Gazette in 2010 as an assistant editor and columnist; Wendi Winters, 65, a community correspondent who headed special publications; Gerald Fischman, 61, the editorial page editor; John McNamara, 56, a staff writer who had covered high school, college and professional sports for decades; and Rebecca Smith, 34, a sales assistant hired in November.
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