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Whew! The Grove is Safe!
Before we all start shaking in our Ugg boots, rest assured that the mecca of trend and materialism known as The Grove has been spared from international threat.
The LA Times is reporting that 20 year-old Jarrad Willis of Melbourne, Australia, has been arrested by authorities in his home country for allegedly threatening on a blog to cause some kind of harm to The Grove. He's been charged with something called "creating a false belief" which is a crime under Australian law. According to a report on FOXNews.com, "the warning was posted on 4chan.org, an image-based bulletin board featuring adult content and blog comments. The posting featured a picture of a man holding a shotgun in a gun store." Obviously, the post got pulled.
The LAPD found Willis--who has incidentally never been to the US, let alone our lovely Grove--by tracing the address of his Internet Service Provider to Australia, then local authorities identified the suspect and made the arrest. From the LA Times:
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"The suspect did not have any operational capacity to carry out his threat," said LAPD Deputy Chief Michael Downing. "There was never any real threat to the Grove, and there is no ongoing threat."
Extra patrol units were put in place at the mall, which is not an uncommon practice during the holiday shopping season in general, and definitely not surprising following this week's deadly shooting spree at an Omaha, Nebraska mall.You may now return to purchasing your A&F logo tees, PowerBooks, Coach bags, and American Girl dolls.
Photo by eternaltedium via Flickr
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But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.
We’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission.
Thank you for your generous support and belief in the value of independent news.
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