Dr. Randeep Mann

Our local AM afternoon drive-time chatterbox Mike Fleming is asking a question--why is no one talking about Dr. Randeep Mann? The attempted murder of West Memphis Dr. Trent Pierce in February was national news but the Mann story is mainly local. There are some good reasons.

Here's a link to Fleming's March post about the arrest of Dr. Mann and a Google Earth shot of his cozy neighborhood that includes the Russellville Nuke plant:



Here are Fleming's audio links for posterity, since his blog isn't very friendly in the link dept. Here's a handy map of the whereabouts of London, AR:



London is right off I-40 just west of Russellville. Those familiar with the area have probably noticed the nuke plant cooling tower off on the south side while passing. But it's a rather scenic area of the state, and there's a big lake in the area as well, so living by the plant isn't automatically prejudicial.

The story may not be making national news but did get local attention when a meter-reader stumbled over a bag containing 98 grenades semi-buried on his property and started the ball rolling. A search warrant revealed over 100 machine guns and about half as many practice grenades and a grenade launcher in the house, so they detained him on weapons charges. The fact he's a federally licensed firearms dealer might explain the weapons and the titillating assertion that he's been in and out of the country 121 times since 2007. The overseas ties seem to be to India. Putting everything together if he's really a terrorist he's practically screaming "look at me", which wouldn't be very smart.

So let's not jump the gun here. It's true Dr. Mann has had run-ins with the AR medical board and specifically Dr. Pierce regards prescribing narcotics--his DEA license was stripped. So he might have a grudge with Dr. Pierce or at most the Feds. Or he might be guilty of having a bunch of weapons in his possession and nothing more, a right most of us on the right usually support vigorously. Developing, as they say.

BY THE WAY 4/30/09

Quite a few people are searching around wondering what actually happened to Mr. Fleming--he's no longer on the air, a victim of Clear Channel's latest layoffs, evidently (and to the merriment of his competition). I don't have a clue. Ben Ferguson will be his replacement.