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Who was Suspected Discovery Gunman James Lee?
James Lee's Mug Shot from 2008 Arrest (Montgomery County Police)
NEW YORK (CBS) The suspect in the Discovery Channel hostage situation has been shot and killed by police. It is believed he was a man named James Lee.
PICTURES: James Lee, Hostage Suspect
Who was James Lee?
Lee, a California native, reportedly managed the website savetheplanetprotest.com, which is described on what appears to be his MySpace page as his "idea to save the planet."
The site lists 11 programming demands for the Discovery Channel and its affiliate channels.
Lee apparently accused the Discovery Channel programs of "causing more harm than good," and said, "It's time to bring about new initiatives and try different approaches whether they are conventional or unconventional," in a Save The Planet Protest document dated Feb. 2008.
One of the demands on the Save The Planet website states: "Civilization must be exposed for the filth it is. That, and all its disgusting religious-cultural roots and greed. Broadcast this message until the pollution in the planet is reversed and the human population goes down! This is your obligation."
The website post ends with the author writing, "I want Discovery Communications to broadcast on their channels to the world their new program lineup and I want proof they are doing so. I want the new shows started by asking the public for inventive solution ideas to save the planet and the remaining wildlife on it. "
"These are the demands and sayings of Lee," the page concludes.
The environmental extremist cited Daniel Quinn's books "Ishmael" and "My Ishmael," which reportedly detail how a telepathic gorilla "talks" about the need to save the planet from humankind.
A banner on the top of what appears to be Lee's MySpace page reads, "It's time for a REVOLUTION!" Among the interests listed on the MySpace page are "politics, world history, religion, all sciences and philosophy."
Lee was arrested in 2008 for disorderly conduct after throwing money into the air in a demonstration to lure a crowd outside Discovery building. He was sentenced to six months probation and fined $500 for the incident, according to the Gazette, a Maryland community online newspaper.
According to the paper, Lee spent nearly two weeks in jail following his arrest and several days under the evaluation of state psychiatrists, he said.
''I told them my idea of saving the planet," the publication quoted Lee. ''They couldn't find anything wrong with me."
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