Oh my. It appears that NBC willfully broke the law on this matter:
http://legalinsurrection.com/2012/12/d-c-police-nbc-requested-and-was-denied-permission-to-use-high-capacity-magazine-in-news-segment/#moreAs noted in an earlier post, an email has surfaced purporting to be from the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department stating that NBC requested permission to use a high capacity ammunication magazine and that the request was denied.
The email first appeared on the AR15 gun forum, and then at the The Patriot Perspective blog which first broke the Gregory story.
Here is the email, with the addressee’s identity removed:
“From: “DC Police (imailagent)” <customerservice>
Subject: Email from DC Police (Intranet Quorum IMA00519327)
Date: December 24, 2012 4:13:12 PM EST
To: -
The Metropolitan Police Department is in receipt of your e-mail regarding David Gregory segment on “Meet the Press.” MPD has received numerous e-mails informing us of the segment. NBC contacted MPD inquiring if they could utilize a high capacity magazine for their segment. NBC was informed that possession of a high capacity magazines is not permissible and their request was denied. This matter is currently being investigated. Thank you for taking the time to bring this matter to our attention.
Customer Service – Metropolitan Police Department”
Fearing the email was a hoax, I was cautious about running the text of the email. But as earlier reported, a confidential source who works for D.C. government verified that the email was in a format used by the MPD:
“… the Metropolitan Police Department email reply you received is genuine. DC Government uses “Intranet Quorum” software designed by Lockheed to manage general inquires. The email address and the subject line of the email you received are consistent with that software.”
Now I have received confirmation that the e-mail is authentic.
I forwarded the text of the email, exactly as it appears above, to Gwendolyn Crump, Director, Office of Communications for the MPD, with the following question:
Can you confirm that is a real email sent from your system. I am informed that the email format is consistent with the Intranet Quorum format you use. Putting aside the substance of the investigation, I just want confirmation that it is a genuine email sent from your system.
I would appreciate your response on that specific question. Thank you.
Ms. Crump responded:
“Yes. I can confirm that what you sent appears to be the IQ system message.”
I further followed up to make sure that the email was an actual email sent by MPD, not just that it “appeared” to be one, and Ms. Crump confirmed:
“Yes, that email was sent from MPD.“
Officer Aziz Alali of the MPD Public Information Office further confirmed the authenticity of the e-mail, and gave me this statement by telephone:
“NBC contacted the Metropolitan Police Department inquiring if they could utilize a high acapcity magazine for thie segment. NBC was informed that that possession of a high capacity magazine is not permissible and the request was denied. This matter is currently being investigate and I cannot get into any further specifics on this investigation.”
NBC News has not responded to multiple inquiries as to the request and denial, or whether the magazine was real or just a prop. During the segment in question, Gregory stated “here is a magazine for ammunition that carries 30 bullets.”
If it turns out the magazine was in violation of D.C. law, the fact that
NBC News was warned by the D.C. Police not to use the magazine, puts a whole new light on the incident, turning if into an intentional violation of the law. While the law does not require intent, the existence of intent could influence a decision whether or not to prosecute.
