Thursday, January 31, 2008

Lorello Press Conference Audio

The indomitable Everett Wilkie has posted the audio [mp3] from Monday's press conference announcing the arrest of Daniel Lorello. The official press release is also available. Audio runs about a half hour.

I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, but will do so tonight and update this post with my thoughts then.

[Friday night: I forgot there was a debate last night, so this had to wait another little while; it's certainly worth listening to. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo calls Lorello's crime "especially repugnant, because it's dealing with historic documents, which is literally stealing the legacy of the state of New York, page by page." Education Commissioner Richard Mills adds "Any theft of a historic document is reprehensible. It has the effect of erasing a page of history. A free nation must have access to its history, must have access to its documents."

Mills notes in the press conference that the State Library is "assembling a number of experts in research library security" to work with the facility to "make sure this doesn't happen again." He reports that the cameras Lorello feared are "on their way," and that "we need to do more." He says there will be a public report by these experts in the near future.

Also see Lorello's eBay feedback (courtesy of Joyce). ]