George Wallace

A former secret service agent who was shot protecting presidential candidate George Wallace in May 1972 has died.

Nicholas J. Zarvos was 79. He died Wednesday after a fight with leukemia, the Kansas City Star reports.

“That came as such a shock to all of us, because he had always been such a strong and able-bodied person,” said his wife, Rose Zarvos of Katy, Texas, near Houston.

Zarvos was assigned to Wallace when a gunman opened fire at a shopping in Laurel, Maryland, leaving the presidential candidate paralyzed from the waste down.

Zarvos was struck in the jaw and underwent more than seven hours of surgery before returning to work later that year.

Zarvos grew up in Kansas City, served two years in the Army and attended the University of Denver.

Eric Holder /doj photo

The shooting in the Kansas City area on Sunday at Jewish facilities that killed three was a horrifying reminder of the dangers some hate groups pose.

Attorney Gen. Eric Holder on Monday morning issued a statement on the matter.

“I was horrified to learn of this weekend’s tragic shootings outside Kansas City. These senseless acts of violence are all the more heartbreaking as they were perpetrated on the eve of the solemn occasion of Passover.

“Justice Department prosecutors will work with their state and local counterparts to provide all available support and to determine whether the federal hate crimes statute is implicated in this case.

“No matter what, we will do everything in our power to ensure justice is served in this case on behalf of the victims and their families. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by these heinous acts.”

Steve Neavling

FBI agents fatally opened fire on a man in his SUV in a busy shopping area in Maryland, the Associated Press reports.

The Friday shooting occurred near Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club in Owings Mills during rush hour while agent were conducting a drug investigation.

The SUV was riddled with bullet holes.

The FBI and Baltimore County Police Department are investigating the shooting.

A former KKK leader is suspected of killing three people at two Jewish centers Sunday afternoon in Kansas.

Frazier Glenn Cross, Jr., 73, is accused of shooting to death a 14-year-old Eagle Scout and his grandfather in the parking lot at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City campus in Overland Park, NBC News reports.

Authorities said he then went several blocks to Village Shalom, a retirement community, and shot a woman.

The suspect, who is from Missouri, was taken into custody and placed in a police car, where he reportedly yelled “Heil Hitler.”
Cross was no stranger to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which said Cross was a former Grand Dragon of the Carolina Knights of the KKK.

Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The Border Patrol’s Marysville station in Michigan has a new agent in charge.

Matt Calmes, who spent most of his 16-year career with the Border Patrol in Southwest, told a Marysville City Council that the community is the priority.

“As we continue to move toward a risk-based approach – as opposed to a resource-based approach – the community is the most important piece of our enforcement puzzle, especially here in this area,” Calmes said. “Anything that we can do to help the community, and any information the community has for us, is invaluable.”

Mayor Dan Damman inquired about the difference between the two approaches.

“Around 2004, we got all the stuff we wanted and that continued through about 2010, 2011,” Calmes said. “Our strategy was personnel, technology and infrastructure. So give us more stuff, give us more people and we’ll secure the border. That was great when the economy was on the uprise. As we’ve plateaued, it’s been determined that we can’t secure our border with stuff and people alone. Now it’s more of a risk-based approach. We assess areas of the border based on threat and vulnerability. We deploy our assets based on that risk. We now operate under the construct of information, integration and rapid response… We’re trying to do … the right things with the resources we got during the fruitful years.”

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