Unpaid news intern Ansel Herz was upstairs at Cafe Vita on Pike this morning around 9:30, when he ran downstairs to get a napkin. Apparently, during the 10 seconds he was gone, somebody stole his Panasonic GH2 camera with a 20mm lens. If that was you, I mean, really? You can afford fancy latté drinks, and then you go and steal some kid's camera?

Let's be clear: you didn't just score a victory against The Man. You ripped off an unpaid intern, an earnest (perhaps too earnest) defender of the downtrodden. And you ripped off one the tools of his trade. That's like stealing a carpenter's hammer. You should be ashamed of yourself.

So here's the deal: If you stole Ansel's camera and you're reading this—or you know who stole the camera—do your sense of justice and self-worth a favor and drop it off at our front desk (1535 11th AVE, 3rd Floor), no questions asked. Or, say, you found his camera, and just didn't know who it belonged to, please do the same.

It sucks trying to break into the journalism business these days. Please don't make it any suckier.

Posted by news intern Ansel Herz

After midnight on Tuesday, Seattle police officer Adley Shepherd noticed a disturbance near Pike and 10th Street Ave, near Neumos involving a group of seven or so men. As he approached the group in his patrol car, he noted that two men "immediately part[ed] ways," and headed from the scene in opposite directions, according to a police report.

The diligent Officer Shepherd got out to speak with the remaining men, one of whom "claimed that he was shaving the tip off of his cigarette with his small pocket knife" when "without warning or provocation of any sort, one of the two suspects that I saw walk off pulled a knife and placed it against [the victim's] neck as if he was going to cut his throat."

"[The victim] feared for his safety and did not react," the police report adds.

Just as suddenly, the alleged knife-wielder released his supposed victim "without inflicting any bodily injury." Although the victim was "noticeably upset," he did not identify which of the two men had threatened him and told Officer Shepherd that he didn't want the police involved. The victim mentioned he planned to spend the night at his girlfriend's place, but would first stop to buy cigarettes at the gas station on Pike and Broadway.

Officer Shepherd could've resumed his patrol at that point. But like a modern-day McNulty, he knew better, and suspected that whoever threatened the victim "was most likely in the same vicinity where the victim was heading to buy cigarettes," according to his police report.

Sure enough, at the gas station he spotted the two suspects and ordered them to stop. Shepherd frisked both and found a "red colored Husky box cutter knife" in the second suspect's pocket, "just as he started reaching for it," he says in the report. As the victim arrived at the gas station, backup officers arrived. They identified outstanding warrants and thefts tied to one of the suspects, the report states (the other suspect was released). The victim identified the suspect as having threatened him, but reiterated that he didn't want to press charges, Shepherd notes.

Nevertheless, the suspect was transported to the King County Jail where, during intake, another officer recovered "a small baggie concealed between his butt cheeks."

The baggie contained a white powder, according to the report. Shepherd retrieved the 1.4-ounce baggie. The substance field-tested positive for cocaine, and the officer duly deposited the knife and cocaine baggie into the SPD Evidence Unit drop-box, the report concludes.

That's one less knife-wielding cocaine-in-the-butt smuggler on the streets of Capitol Hill, according to police. And yet, Officer Shepherd's report is written in clear, dry, matter-of-fact prose. There's not a hint of pride, satisfaction, or amusement with the results of his indefatigable police work.

Take a bow, Shepherd.

He's back in the news:

A homeless, hatchet-wielding hitchhiker who became an Internet hero earlier this year was arrested Thursday for allegedly beating a New Jersey lawyer to death inside his home. Caleb "Kai" McGillvary, whose star turn as "Kai the Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker" came after he intervened in an attack on a California utility worker, was arrested at a Philadelphia bus station.... McGillvary was charged with killing Joseph Galfy, Jr., a Clark, N.J., attorney found dead Monday. Romankow said he will be processed and sent to back to New Jersey, where his bail is set at $3 million. Galfy's body was found two days after authorities said he met McGillvary in New York City. Galfy, 73, was found wearing only his underwear and socks by police who went to his home to check on his well-being.

The man McGillvary is alleged to have murdered—the man McGillvary basically admitted to having murdered in a post on his Facebook page—is gay, and McGillvary claims that he was drugged and raped by Galfy.

Posted by news intern Ansel Herz

Ronald Reagan accomplished many things. One of them was lending his friendship and the robust support of his government to a man convicted today in Guatemala as a mass killer—Efrain Rios Montt, the thick-mustachioed president of the country during the 1980s, who Reagan called "a man of great personal integrity and commitment." Montt presided over a scorched-earth campaign that killed at least 200,000 people, mostly indigenous peasants, in the Guatemalan countryside.

Today, Montt's on-again-off-again trial has come to a close, as Judge Jazmin Barrios ordered that he be taken directly to prison for the next 80 years, meaning he'll be 166 years old when released. Too bad Reagan can't rot in there with him.

Several years ago, a friend of mine lived for nine months in the Guatemalan highlands, working with NISGUA, the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala, to collect testimony and protect survivors from threats by the country's still-violent oligarchy. This is a landmark victory that's been a long time coming; Guatemala sets a worldwide precedent for being the first country to convict one of its own heads of state for genocide in its own court.

Congratulations to NISGUA, Guatemala, and humans everywhere.

He has eclipsed Amanda Knox and all of her "I can't stop crying" business. Yes, it's another black man for her to think about.

Dan posted the must-watch interview ("I barbecued with this dude... We eat ribs and listen to salsa."), now listen to the 9/11 call.

And maybe it is...

The story is here. The must-watch interview with the man who kicked down the door is here:

Video via John Cole at Balloon Juice. Says John:

Since this is America, how long before the autotune? [And given] the re-emergence of the Confederacy since Obama was elected, it’s kind of sad that we all find his last statement so funny.

Posted by news intern Ben Steiner

• Ben Steiner
• Assistant Chief McDonagh (left) and Captain Chris Fowler (right).

"We chose to let them march," McDonagh explained, but "once it moves into criminal activity, we will start taking action." And the actions of some of the protesters, McDonagh believes, "forced" the officers to go hands-on. When asked if they used the proper amount of force, Captain Fowler quickly responded that they used "the minimum force necessary to stop criminal activity."

Which included blast balls—balls of rubber that explode, creating a loud bang and a flash of light. (Captain Fowler assured reporters that these are different from flashbang grenades, which are used only in very specific tactical situations.) They also used "tactical-level OC spray" (which is pepper spray).

One of these not-quite-a-flashbang blast balls exploded near a woman and her baby. Assistant Chief McDonagh defended that use of force: "It's unfortunate that someone brought a child to that event. They had a number of chances to disperse and they chose to stay," and later added that the balls are necessary to "focus the crowd on listening to instructions and move them."

Assistant Police Chief McDonagh and Captain Fowler were very proud of their officers' performance the previous night. Their bike police, who were on the "front lines of the riot receiving the most assaults... met and exceeded expectations," Captain Fowler explained.

Fowler added that he was happy to see the Rain City Superheroes there to "distract the clowns," referring to the group of self-proclaimed anarchists who showed up to the riot dressed for the circus.

Reporters repeatedly asked if there was more that police could do to stop these protests from happening before they start. Couldn't you make it illegal for people to wear masks? Couldn't you move trash cans so there would be less to throw at you? But the officers insisted that they had no intention of stopping people from protesting: "We support first amendment speech," McDonagh concluded, and whenever people protest, some people may to turn to "criminal activity."

More information about the arrests that happened this morning in Boston has been released, and it doesn't look like this was a broader terrorist network or anything. Dashiell Bennett at The Atlantic explains:

The Boston Police Department announced via Twitter this morning that three new suspects—two students from Kazakstan and one United States citizen—have been placed under arrest in the Boston Marathon bombing case. The three men, all 19-years-old, are identified as Dias Kadyrbayev, Azamat Tazhayakov, and Robel Phillipos. The trio will appear in court on Wednesday to face charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice, after allegedly removing evidence from Tsarnaev's apartment while he was being hunted by the FBI.

BuzzFeed has more information, in a convenient listicle format.