Serios about over population

Silver Spring - Police shot a man upset with the Discovery Channel network's programming who took three people hostage at the company's headquarters on Wednesday, officials said. All three hostages escaped safely.

The hostage taker has since died according to unconfirmed reports.

Police spent several hours negotiating with him after he burst into the suburban Washington building about 17:00 GMT waving a handgun and with canisters strapped to his body.

Montgomery County Police Chief Thomas Manger said an explosive device may have detonated, and the suspect may have brought other devices into the building. He said as far as he knows, the 1 900 people who work in the building were able to get out safely.

A law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing said authorities had identified James Jay Lee as the likely suspect.

A different official, who spoke on condition of anonymity for the same reason, said Lee previously protested outside the building, where he was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct in February 2008, according to court records.

Police reports indicate he paid homeless people to join his protest and carry signs outside the building. He gave one individual $1 000 for what he considered a prize winning essay.

Money just trash

At one point, a crowd of more than 100 people gathered around Lee, 43, who referred to money as "just trash" and began throwing fistfuls of it into the air.

At the trial, The Gazette of Montgomery County reported, he said he began working to save the planet after being laid off from his job in San Diego. He said he was inspired by Ishmael, a novel by environmentalist Daniel Quinn and by former Vice President Al Gore's documentary An Inconvenient Truth.

A lengthy posting which could be seen on Wednesday on a website registered to Lee expressed anger against the Discovery Channel and said it promoted overpopulation.

He said it and its affiliates should stop "encouraging the birth of any more parasitic human infants." Instead, he said, the network should air "programmes encouraging human sterilisation and infertility."

"NO MORE BABIES! Population growth is a real crisis," he wrote.

He also railed against "programmes promoting War" and said solutions should be found for global warming and automotive and factory pollution.

Save the planet

"I want Discovery Communications to broadcast on their channels to the world their new programme line-up and I want proof they are doing so," he wrote. "I want the new shows started by asking the public for inventive solution ideas to save the planet and the remaining wildlife on it."

Discovery Communications operates cable and satellite networks in the US, including The Discovery Channel, TLC and Animal Planet.

Animal Planet also airs the controversial series Whale Wars, about attempts by environmentalists to disrupt the Japanese whaling industry.

After Lee's arrest, a magistrate ordered a doctor's evaluation, but court records do not immediately indicate the result. Lee was convicted by a jury and served two weeks in jail.

He was also ordered to stay 150m away from Discovery headquarters.