Prof. Called 911 on Loughner after Class "Rant"
TUSCON -- Debbie Scheidemantel got to know Jared Loughner when he was a student in her biology class at Tucson's Pima Community College last summer.
The adjunct professor says she once had to call police and have Loughner removed from her class.
Scheidemantel shared her story exclusively on "The Early Show" with co-anchor Erica Hill.
Scheidemantel said on September 23, Loughner was "very destructive" in class.
Special Section: Tragedy in Tucson
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She explained, "I was collecting papers that were due at the beginning of class. A different student had realized he forgot his paper and asked if he could turn it in late, and I said he could, but it would be half-credit. Then Jared realized that he didn't have his assignment. He raised his hand, and asked if he could turn it in late. And I said, yes, but for half-credit. At that point, he was upset, he said, 'No, I want full credit.' And I said, 'No, it's half-credit, it's part of the policy, it's spelled out in the syllabus.'
"Students understand this," Scheidemantel said. "But he didn't seem to, and he pointed at the flag, and the Constitution up at the front of the room and said that I was taking away his freedom of speech, I was taking away his individual rights, that it was unconstitutional. He was saying that, you know, he's paying me, and therefore I'm taking away his freedom of speech if I don't give him full credit. Well, I did calm him down. And I told him, you know, at that point, we couldn't resolve it real quick, so I said, you know, talk to me at the break. And he seemed to calm down. And class started."
But Loughner's disruptive behavior, Scheidemantel said, didn't end there.
"Class started and, five minutes later, he raised his hand. I guess he got the idea. He asked, 'Could I go to the library and do the assignment and come back before class is over and turn it in for full credit?' And I said, 'No, that it would be half-credit, because it was due at the beginning.' And again, he started his rant about the Constitution, pointing to the flag, pointing to the Constitution up at the front of the room, and at that point, he wouldn't stop, so I asked the students to be calm and wait, and at that point I went to the next room, and alerted my lab staff that there was a situation, and I called 911."
Hill asked, "Were you fearful for your safety or for the safety of your other students at that point? Did he seem that he was violent in any way?"
Scheidemantel answered, "He was not violent in any way, and he did not threaten anyone directly. But I did feel uneasy. I know the students were feeling uneasy. And so we called 911, and two officers came out. They removed him from the room and talked to him for awhile, and then one of the officers came to talk to me."
Scheidemantel said the school and police backed her up appropriately.
"Pima, I have to commend them. Backed me up and was right there. One officer talked to him for about a half-hour outside the classroom, and I think they realized that he was not thinking rationally, and the other officer mentioned something about maybe special ed or whatever. I didn't know, I had no indication if just was in a special program or something like that."
That was the last Scheidemantel heard of Loughner -- until Saturday.
Hill said, "You're watching coverage of this event, and as I understand, you heard that the alleged shooter was 22, that's it -- just the age of the alleged shooter."
Scheidemantel said, "His name and picture immediately came to my mind. And then they gave the name, and I recognized the name, of course, and a little bit later in the newscast, they were showing the YouTube videos, and especially the one that had the black background with the writing on it. As I was reading it on the TV, I recognized the syntax and the unique way of writing and the convoluted illogic logic that he used to make his points."
Loughner, who's been described as a social outcast with wild beliefs steeped in mistrust, faces a federal court hearing Monday on charges he tried to assassinate Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona and killed others in the Tucson shooting rampage on Saturday.
Copyright 2011 CBS. All rights reserved. The adjunct professor says she once had to call police and have Loughner removed from her class.
Scheidemantel shared her story exclusively on "The Early Show" with co-anchor Erica Hill.
Scheidemantel said on September 23, Loughner was "very destructive" in class.
Special Section: Tragedy in Tucson
Gallery: Tuscon Shooting Victims
She explained, "I was collecting papers that were due at the beginning of class. A different student had realized he forgot his paper and asked if he could turn it in late, and I said he could, but it would be half-credit. Then Jared realized that he didn't have his assignment. He raised his hand, and asked if he could turn it in late. And I said, yes, but for half-credit. At that point, he was upset, he said, 'No, I want full credit.' And I said, 'No, it's half-credit, it's part of the policy, it's spelled out in the syllabus.'
"Students understand this," Scheidemantel said. "But he didn't seem to, and he pointed at the flag, and the Constitution up at the front of the room and said that I was taking away his freedom of speech, I was taking away his individual rights, that it was unconstitutional. He was saying that, you know, he's paying me, and therefore I'm taking away his freedom of speech if I don't give him full credit. Well, I did calm him down. And I told him, you know, at that point, we couldn't resolve it real quick, so I said, you know, talk to me at the break. And he seemed to calm down. And class started."
But Loughner's disruptive behavior, Scheidemantel said, didn't end there.
"Class started and, five minutes later, he raised his hand. I guess he got the idea. He asked, 'Could I go to the library and do the assignment and come back before class is over and turn it in for full credit?' And I said, 'No, that it would be half-credit, because it was due at the beginning.' And again, he started his rant about the Constitution, pointing to the flag, pointing to the Constitution up at the front of the room, and at that point, he wouldn't stop, so I asked the students to be calm and wait, and at that point I went to the next room, and alerted my lab staff that there was a situation, and I called 911."
Hill asked, "Were you fearful for your safety or for the safety of your other students at that point? Did he seem that he was violent in any way?"
Scheidemantel answered, "He was not violent in any way, and he did not threaten anyone directly. But I did feel uneasy. I know the students were feeling uneasy. And so we called 911, and two officers came out. They removed him from the room and talked to him for awhile, and then one of the officers came to talk to me."
Scheidemantel said the school and police backed her up appropriately.
"Pima, I have to commend them. Backed me up and was right there. One officer talked to him for about a half-hour outside the classroom, and I think they realized that he was not thinking rationally, and the other officer mentioned something about maybe special ed or whatever. I didn't know, I had no indication if just was in a special program or something like that."
That was the last Scheidemantel heard of Loughner -- until Saturday.
Hill said, "You're watching coverage of this event, and as I understand, you heard that the alleged shooter was 22, that's it -- just the age of the alleged shooter."
Scheidemantel said, "His name and picture immediately came to my mind. And then they gave the name, and I recognized the name, of course, and a little bit later in the newscast, they were showing the YouTube videos, and especially the one that had the black background with the writing on it. As I was reading it on the TV, I recognized the syntax and the unique way of writing and the convoluted illogic logic that he used to make his points."
Loughner, who's been described as a social outcast with wild beliefs steeped in mistrust, faces a federal court hearing Monday on charges he tried to assassinate Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona and killed others in the Tucson shooting rampage on Saturday.
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Loughner is an atheist 9/11 Truther pothead who believed Bush's wars violated international law.
Not exactly the Tea Party profile, you might say. In fact, there are other profiles that are a much better fit.
Bush's wars DID violate international law -- that is a FACT based on reality, U.N. doctrine and U.N. Security Council REFUSAL to even consider any argument yet alone allow a pre-emptive strike on a sovereign nation, particularly while the U.N. still had inspectors on the ground in Iraq looking for weapons of mass destruction as claimed. I think you're confusing a lack of due process to prosecute as being the same as not guilty of violating international law. These are not the same.
So this isn't really a belief, but a fact.
But anyway, I'm not even sure where you heard Loughner's opinions on that, but rule of law is kind of a big thing for a lot of people across the political spectrum.
With regard to being an atheist, I also had no freaking idea that there weren't any atheists in the Tea Party, and I'm quite sure there are some.
So you're fantasy about Loughner not fitting the Tea Party profile isn't actually REAL based on what you're saying. And you really need to refrain from assuming that certain opinions and expressions -- like flag burning -- always represent the same or even remotely related idealogical point of view to different people.
But if you include a lot of the other known details about Loughner like his concerns about currency not being backed by gold, distrust of government in general, and depending on which report you believe, being registered as either a Republican or an Independent -- the vast majority of these have been Tea Party advocates, I mean that was their driving message during the 2008 election -- but never a Democrat, in past elections.
And then you have statements like "I can't trust the current government because of fabrications. The government is implying mind control and brainwash on the people by controlling grammar.", which are not actually rambling as it turns out, but ideology from right-wing conspiracy buffs.
It's actually IMPOSSIBLE to not create a Tea Party and/or right-wing libertarian profile from all of this
I work in education and I see "potentially dangerous" people daily, yet nothing is done about them. Nobody wants to step in and deal with it. Everything is minimized and pushed away or swept under the carpet.
Even long after a person has been convicted and imprisoned -- they could be talking about a story that happend ten, twenty years ago -- there's a stubborn insistence on their use of the word "allegedy".
That means they PAID her for the interview...
A paranoid schizophrenic has a limited capacity for reasoning and logic. So it is easy to mislead them. For example: Where a normal person would recognize a the statements; Some animals are dogs and some animals are cats but no dogs are cats... A schizophrenic migh argue something more like; ALL dogs are animals and ALL cats are animals therfore, ALL cats are dogs. The problem is that their resoning always starts with absolutes much like a child's would (You NEVER let me do this or, you ALWAYS make me do that...). So their logic starts and ends with absolutes. But that is not in line with reality. So, they tend to get into arguements with people and become confused and alienated.