What did the Navy Know and When did they know it?

"Navy officers were aware that in 2004 Aaron Alexis was arrested for shooting out the tires of a car in a black-out fueled by anger, and yet they admitted him into the Navy and granted him security clearance in 2007 anyway, a senior Naval officer told CNN." (Aaron Alexis killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard on Monday).

"It appears as if investigators were aware of the incident, interviewed him and were satisfied that it did not preclude granting the clearance," the officer said.

Alexis "should have been screened out early on in his enlistment," said one expert on Navy processes, who asked not to be identified. "The Navy and the various entities responsible for his adjudication were either unwilling or worse unable to determine he was unfit for service in the United States Navy."

Meanwhile, CNN, in a rush to make yesterdays shooting fit a narrative, inaccurately reported the make of the weapon the shooter used. It now appears that the shooter, Aaron Alexis, did not in fact use an AR-15, as speculated by Piers Morgan, and others.

UPDATE: 10:11 a.m. (Tuesday) A handful of gun-control proponents have renew their campaign against the AR-15, such as New York Daily News columnist Mike Lupica and CNN’s Piers Morgan, since yesterday’s shooting. But Morgan’s network colleague Pamela Brown reports that the Washington’s FBI office says Alexis did not use an AR-15. 

Given this apparent inconsistency in their reporting, this is how CNN decided to handle it...

It has been called the most popular rifle in America, and it briefly returned to the spotlight after Monday's shooting at the Navy Yard: the AR-15.

A U.S. law enforcement official said Monday that gunman Aaron Alexis unleashed a barrage of bullets using an AR-15, a rifle and a semi-automatic handgun. Authorities believed the AR-15 was used for most of the shooting, the official said.

CNN didn't wait to confirm that initial statement, even though they had interviewed an eye witness who had said she saw the shooter use a shotgun, which later, in the same interview she herself contradicted.

 ... federal law enforcement sources told CNN Tuesday that authorities have recovered three weapons from the scene of the mass shooting, including one -- a shotgun -- that investigators believe Alexis brought in to the compound...

The sources, who have detailed knowledge of the investigation, cautioned that initial information that an AR-15 was used in the shootings may have been incorrect.

You figure, Oh well, they are big boys at CNN, they will retract the initial incorrect report, apologize for the mistake and move on... right? ... Wrong!

Regardless, the massacre pushed the AR-15 back into the gun-control debate. The weapon has been used in several other rampages that shocked the nation:

Sandy Hook, Aurora, Portland and Santa Monica ...

Regardless, that the type of weapon the shooter used yesterday may NOT have been an AR-15, the mistake we made pushed the AR-15 into the debate. The debate we want, you, the public to have.
If anything, more mistakes like this should be made. Yesterday's shooting must fit the narrative, regardless of the facts. (emphasis mine)

It's a fake but accurate, deja-vu, all over again.

CNN ,  Legal Insurrection , The Corner , Washington Times