Unanswered Questions In Erin Andrews Case

Erin Andrews

On Saturday, October 3, 2009, The FBI arrested insurance salesman, Michael David Barrett, in Chicago, Illinois and charged him with stalking and spying on ESPN sportscaster, Erin Andrews.

Yesterday, according to the Associated Press, the FBI has been unable to match up one of the videos to the correct hotel it was illegally and secretly filmed in, violating Andrews privacy, through a modified peephole. They claim all the other videos were filmed in Nashville, Tennessee.

As stated on the Judiciary report on October 3, 2009, the FBI failed to explain how Michael David Barrett, knew Andrews' schedule well enough, to follow her around, state to state, at different hotels and obtain rooms next to her, to engage in illicit, voyeuristic filming, without permission.

It was initially stated on TMZ, the website Michael David Barrett first offered the criminally filmed nude clips of Andrews, that it was an inside job, pointing the finger at an anonymous person, working at ESPN.

It made sense, as celebrities do not disclose to the general public, which hotels they will be staying in at any time.

If it was not an inside job as TMZ claimed, how was this man able to know such private information, such as the exact location she was staying in different states?

There are so many hotels out there. How did he know which one she would be staying at each time, her room numbers and when she would be there, enabling him to book a suite right next to her on more than one occasion?

Did he commit additional acts of invasion of privacy to obtain her schedule, as this creates quite a hole in this sick story?

Furthermore, did no one notice him standing in front of hotel room doors for an extended period of time, holding a cell phone up to the modified keyhole (to permit illegal filming)?

And speaking of that, did no one notice this man modifying keyholes at different hotels? That does not seem like something one can do in a minute or two.

Why didn't hotel hallway surveillance cameras catch this misconduct?

Why did he not check into a booked hotel room in Milwaukee next to Andrews that also had a modified peephole?

The FBI needs to answer the aforementioned questions.

Insurance man accused of stalking ESPN's Andrews

Asked how Barrett had gotten interested in Andrews, if the allegations are true, or how he managed to get the adjacent hotel rooms, Beuke said he assumed it was not true. Chicago FBI spokesman Ross Rice said he did not know how Barrett allegedly became interested in Andrews.

An FBI affidavit said agents had reviewed eight videos and all but one had appeared to be taken in a single hotel. It said Andrews had reviewed several and said they appeared to be of her in a room at the Marriott Nashville at Vanderbilt University.

Authorities said Barrett had occupied an adjacent room, and that the peephole in the door of Andrews' room appeared to have been modified with a hacksaw to permit videos to be made with a cellphone camera.

Bethesda, Md.-based Marriott International Inc. issued a statement saying the company takes its guests' security and privacy seriously and it has been cooperating with investigators.

Agents also went to the Ramada Conference Center in Milwaukee, formerly the Radisson Airport. The affidavit said Barrett had made a reservation in the hotel for a night when Andrews was staying there and that the peephole in the room that she occupied had been similarly modified.

But they said Barrett had never checked in, and the interior of the room did not fully match what was seen on the eighth video...

Reservation records in the hotel's computer showed the notation: "INFO-GST RQST TO RM NXT TO (individual A)," the affidavit said...

http://www.google.com

TMZ's Bamboozling Erin Andrews Coverage

By DAULERIO, 7:30 PM on Sat Oct 3 2009, 10,564 views (Edit, to draft, Slurp)

TMZ has curiously been anointed the white-hatted hero for turning over the email address of the individual accused of tearing apart a peephole and filming Erin Andrews undressed multiple times. So why did they screw up the story so badly?

According to the affidavit, Michael David Barrett contacted Dennis Broad of TMZ on January 28th and tried to broker a deal for his grainy EA peephole footage. TMZ turned him down because they wanted no parts of it, according to Harvey Levin. I spoke to Levin on July 16th, after the links to the footage started to show up in our inbox to see if he'd heard anything about it. At the time, Levin said he "knew nothing about it" and "wouldn't run it anyway because it's illegal." Fair enough. But once the story broke and it couldn't be ignored any longer, TMZ went full-throttle on Erin Andrews after "reviewing" the tape that had been sent to them in January, apparently.

So they have a possible lead on the man's identity, Levin's talking to EA's lawyer, Marshall Grossman, yet TMZ continued to float theories that this was possibly an ESPN employee even though they have a key bit of evidence and access to the FBI and EA's legal team that would give them full control of the story. But instead of following up on all of these latest revelations as they happen, they opted to go with her old yearbook photo.

I spoke to Thom Mrozek of the US Attorney's office and he told me that there were some questions about how TMZ handled it and some of their inconsistent reporting give they knew so much about it. Mrozek didn't want to speak on behalf of TMZ or speculate as to why it happened. And, surprisingly, Levin has not responded yet to my email request to answer this question either. I'm very popular...

http://deadspin.com

Obama’s Olympic Bid Concession Speech

President Barack Obama, gave a gracious concession speech, regarding the U.S. city of Chicago, Illinois, losing the 2016 Olympic Host bid, to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Chicago torpedoed by anti-U.S. sentiment?

October 3, 2009 - Some Chicago officials say anti-American resentment likely played a role in Chicago's Olympic bid dying in the first round Friday.

President Obama could not undo in one year the resentment against America that President Bush and others built up for years, they said.

"There must be" resentment against America, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said, near the stage where he had hoped to give a victory speech in Daley Center Plaza. "The way we [refused to sign] the Kyoto Treaty, we misled the world into Iraq. The world had a very bad taste in its mouth about us. But there was such a turnaround after last November. The world now feels better about America and about Americans. That's why I thought the president's going was the deal-maker."

State Rep. Susana Mendoza (D-Chicago) said she saw firsthand the resentment against America five years ago when she was in Rio de Janeiro. "I feel in my gut that this vote today was political and mean-spirited," she said.

"I travel a lot. ... I thought we had really turned a corner with the election of President Obama. People are so much more welcoming of Americans now. But this isn't the people of those countries. This is the leaders still living with outdated impressions of Americans."

U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) said she was approached by a consul general at the plaza as they waited for word Friday. "He said ... he was hearing that there wasn't enough time for Barack Obama to dispel the old image. ... But I don't know if that's it." ...

http://www.suntimes.com

Political scientists report drop in US standing

WASHINGTON — The United States' standing in the world declined in the past decade to below Cold War levels, according to a leading group of political scientists.

Favorable attitudes have risen sharply under President Barack Obama with his commitment to "restore American standing," but confidence in him appears to be in conflict with unfavorable attitudes about U.S. foreign policy, the American Political Science Association said in a report released Thursday.

"Many American leaders and citizens worry that this decline, despite a recent upturn, may be part of a long-term trend, one that will be hard to reverse," the report said...

American standing plunged most sharply in the Middle East and Europe, although authoritarian regimes in the Middle East are more supportive of U.S. policy than they can say publicly, the report said.

In Europe, there is a growing European identity and "a conscious political attempt to delink Europe from American policies," according to the report.

At the United Nations, support for U.S. positions has declined since the 1960s, and the decline was especially pronounced during the George W. Bush administration, the academics said. After some initial success, such as toppling the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, the United States grew mired in Iraq and Osama bin Laden remained at large. The success of the troop surge in Iraq may have helped improve attitudes toward the United States, the report said...

"In policy terms, however, most (foreigners) believe that there has been little change in the U.S. disregard for the interests of their country, and that U.S. influence in the world is still mostly bad," the report said.

The American Political Science Association has more than 15,000 members.

http://www.google.com

Arrest In Erin Andrews Hidden Camera Case

Erin Andrews

The FBI has arrested a suspect in the Erin Andrews hidden camera case. Michael David Barrett was apprehended at O’Hare airport in Chicago, Illinois.

He was tied to the crime via an email address used to offer criminally filmed footage of Andrews naked in her hotel room, which is a sick, perverted, gross invasion of privacy.

Michael David Barrett facing the judge

The FBI has failed to explain how he knew Andrews’ schedule so well, it enabled him to find her at various hotels, at the precise moments to commit these acts of perversion and nastiness, against the unsuspecting sportscaster.

Many believed it to be an inside job, someone who knew her ESPN schedule, as newspapers have stated the footage was secretly shot in several hotel rooms.

Voyeurism is a crime and so is stalking, particularly aggravated stalking. Both constitute felonies.

FBI: Man arrested in ESPN reporter nude video case

LOS ANGELES — A Chicago-area man accused of filming surreptitious nude videos of ESPN reporter Erin Andrews in a hotel room was arrested at Chicago's O'Hare airport Friday night, the FBI said.

Michael David Barrett faces federal charges of interstate stalking for taking the videos, posting the videos online and trying to sell them to celebrity Web site TMZ, the FBI said in a statement. He's scheduled to make an initial court appearance Saturday morning in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

The charges were filed in Los Angeles, where TMZ is based. Andrews is identified in the federal complaint as E.A.

Barrett, 48, was arrested after returning from a trip to Buffalo, N.Y., authorities said.

Seven of the eight videos posted online were taken through a modified door peephole while the 31-year-old Andrews was alone and undressed in hotel rooms in Nashville, Tenn., in September 2008. Investigators believe the eighth video was taken in a hotel in Milwaukee in July 2008.

Several TV networks and newspapers aired brief clips or printed screen grabs from a blurry five-minute video in July...

http://www.google.com

Rio, Brazil Wins Olympic Bid

Rio, Brazil has won the 2016 Olympic bid, beating out stiff competition from such cities as Chicago, Illinois in the United States, Madrid, Spain and Tokyo, Japan. Brazilians celebrated the win, as the Olympic games have never been held in South America before. Congrats to Brazil. The 2012 Olympics will be held in the lovely city of London.

Shock In Chicago

"Live Reaction: Chicago Loses Olympics Bid"

There was massive shock today at the city of Chicago, Illinois, being eliminated and in the first round, as a choice to host the 2016 Olympics, with Rio, Brazil winning the bid.

Many mainstream newspapers are attributing it to anti-American sentiment in the world, which is an accurate assumption.

Chicago is a great city, full of great people, with lots of wonderful architecture and much to see and do, but the damage the Bush administration has wrought in the world, is still fresh in many people’s minds.

The wars raging in the Middle East, Guantanamo prison abuses, Patriot Act abuses that have foreigners concerned about coming to the States, believing they can be summarily investigated and spied on with their privacy invaded, wiretapped, bugged and followed, coupled with other scandals such as the global economic downturn that began in Corporate America (with offshoots such as Bernard Madoff and R. Allen Stanford) the Erin Andrews hotel hidden camera case and others of the same nature, to do with invasion of privacy, such as the ongoing Hollywood wiretap scandals (Pellicano and others) has left the world dismayed and very concerned. People are literally scared to come to America.

The conduct Bush engaged in and the precedents he set, is not the America the world grew to know and love and it is scaring people all over the world.

The Judiciary Report believes it is not an international rejection of the American people, but of the U.S. government.

Many governments and entities in the world, cannot stomach what the U.S. government has done abroad and at home, committing and permitting acts that broke domestic and international law. Then again, everyday Americans can’t stomach what the government has done either.

Teen Beaten To Death

A 16-year-old honor student, Derrion Albert, was beaten to death in Chicago, Illinois, for refusing to join a gang. Police have arrested four young men in connection with the murder.

Derrion Albert

As stated before, teen violence has become a massive problem all over the world, as many kids today feel hopeless about their circumstances and turn to crime as an ill-perceived way out.

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Four teens charged in fatal beating of Chicago student

CHICAGO — Darnell Myles didn't have to see the video airing on TV of Derrion Albert's slaying to find out that the neighborhood around Christian Fenger Academy High School is dangerous. Two of his children attend the school where Albert was an honor student, and they have long been "scared for their safety," he said.

On Monday, Myles drove his children, a freshman and a senior, to the far South Side school and parked outside until classes ended so he could take them home. One of his children knew Albert and saw the attack. "It was one side of town against another," he said. "It's a crazy thing."

Albert, 16, was walking home from school Thursday when he was beaten to death in a fight between two rival groups outside a community center. Four teens were charged Monday in slaying. Police identified them with the help of the cellphone video taken by an unidentified witness. The video was provided to a TV station and given to police.

In court Monday, prosecutors described the alleged attack on Albert by Silvonus Shannon, 19; Eric Carson, 16; and Eugene Riley, 18. Carson, who is charged as an adult, and Shannon are Fenger students. The three are being held without bond on charges of first-degree murder. A hearing is set for Oct. 19. Late Monday, Chicago police said a 17-year-old also was charged in the slaying. Prosecutors did not say Monday whether he will be tried as an adult...

Like the murders in October 2008 of three relatives of actress Jennifer Hudson, the Albert case is reviving concern about violence in Chicago and debate about ways to stop it...

http://www.usatoday.com

Obama Pitches Chicago's Olympic Bid

U.S. President Barack Obama and his wife, First Lady Michelle Obama, made a plea this week, for the city of Chicago, Illinois, to host the 2016 Olympics.

The Obamas lived in Chicago for years, before occupying the White House as the First Family and still own a home in the architecturally rich city. The 2012 Olympics will be held in the amazing city of London.