Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Vanguard Group Invests In Guns That Kill Children And A CEO With A History Of Abusing Children

The shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary

Last Friday's mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, CT, seems to have caused many Americans to give a second thought to our nation's lax approach on gun control. Perhaps a massacre, where 20 of the 26 victims were children between the ages of 5 and 10, will lead to change in our culture of weaponry.

It already has led to attention for those who financially support gun manufacturers. Some investors are scurrying to distance themselves from companies that design, build, and market guns like the ones Adam  Lanza used to commit mass murder at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

One prominent investment company seems to be in no hurry to separate itself from America's gun industry. Perhaps that's because the company already supports at least one chief executive who has a documented history of abusing children.

With that sort of record, The Vanguard Group might be expected to react to the Newtown massacre with a collective shrug. And that is exactly what the company, based in the Philadelphia suburb of Malvern, Pennsylvania, seems to be doing.

It takes an investment firm that is callous, ill-informed, or both to support Campus Crest Communities, a Charlotte-based developer of student housing near universities around the country. After all, Campus Crest CEO Ted Rollins has a criminal record that includes an assault on his 16-year-old stepson. Rollins also was the subject of an investigation into allegations of child sexual abuse involving the same stepson.

Vanguard HQ in Malvern, PA
Those events took place in the 1990s in Franklin County, North Carolina. As happened in the case of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, initial allegations of child sexual abuse involving Ted Rollins were more or less covered over. In the case of Sandusky, it took another 15 years or so for criminal charges to stick, and the one-time defensive coordinator under coaching icon Joe Paterno now is expected to spend the rest of life behind bars. In the case of Ted Rollins, he never has received serious scrutiny from the criminal justice system and, thanks largely to his membership in one of America's wealthiest families, Rollins has become head of a company that completed a $380-million Wall Street IPO in late 2010.

Do investors care that a chief executive has a proven history of beating a child--with clear ties to an investigation for child sexual abuse? Do investors care that their funds support gun manufacturers whose products then are turned, in a deadly fashion, on children in an elementary school?

In the case of those who invest with The Vanguard Group, the answer to both questions appears to be no. Let's consider the firm's recent history:

According to an article yesterday in the Huffington Post, one of the largest shareholders in gun manufacturer Sturm Ruger is The Vanguard Group. Sturm Ruger made the assault weapon used by Anders Breivik during a July 2011 killing spree that left 77 people, mostly teenagers, dead in Norway. Sturm Ruger is based in Southport, CT, less than 30 miles from Newtown.

The HuffPo piece is titled "Gunmaker Investments Under Review By California Teachers' Fund After Newtown Massacre." John Rudolf and Chris Kirkham report that Wall Street is backing away from the gun industry, and the California State Teachers' Retirement System is re-examining multimillion-dollar investments in two publicly traded gun companies, Smith and Wesson and Sturm Ruger.

What about other major investors in gun companies? They include The Vanguard Group, and HuffPo reports:

Other major investors in Sturm Ruger include The London Company, Allianz Global Investors Capital, Renaissance Technologies and The Vanguard Group, one of the nation's largest 401(k) providers. 
Combined, those five investors hold nearly a third of the company's stock. All but BlackRock and the Vanguard Group did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for the Vanguard Group said Monday that the vast majority of the company's holdings in Sturm Ruger were tied to investments in certain index funds that include Sturm, Ruger. 
A spokesman for BlackRock also said the fund's investments in the gun companies were tied to stock indexes.

The presence of index funds appears to be the explanation for Vanguard's ties to the gun industry. So how does Vanguard explain its support of Campus Crest Communities and its CEO with a history of abusing children?

We will be posing that question shortly to executives at the investment firm. But for now, the connections to Campus Crest Communities are spelled out in public documents.

Ted Rollins
Reports at Yahoo! Finance show that Vanguard is the No. 1 institutional investor in Campus Crest Communities, with a stake worth almost $47.8 million. The Vanguard Specialized REIT Index Fund has almost 2.4 million shares in Campus Crest Communities, more than any other mutual-fund holder.

What does all of this mean? The Vanguard Group is a top investor in one of the nation's leading gun manufacturers, a company whose products have helped bring countless young lives to premature ends. Vanguard also is the No. 1 investor in a company with a CEO who has documented ties to child abuse.

What kind of investment firm lends massive financial support to organizations that have proven ties to the murder and abuse of young people? Does Vanguard care only about making money, the bottom line? Does it have a social conscience of any sort?

We will be examining those questions, and more, in upcoming posts.

Meanwhile, you can check out below the Franklin County, North Carolina, court documents that prove Ted Rollins was convicted for assault on a 16-year-old boy. And by definition, such an assault amounts to child abuse under state law.

This is the kind of individual who draws financial support from The Vanguard Group:


Ted Rollins Arrested for Assault

Ted Rollins Convicted of Assault

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

Vanguard Group is a new name to me. I gather they must be big in the investment world. Going to learn more about them.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like the folks at Vanguard like to shuffle money around, without having anyone ask questions about where it goes.

Sharon said...

Been wondering if you were going to do a post today. I need my daily LS fix. Muchas gracias.

TLR said...

According to Wikipedia, Vanguard group manages $1.7 trillion in assets. Good Lord, they are like the economy of a small country!

Anonymous said...

Jack Bogle is the guru behind Vanguard. He is famous in the world of money.


http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/USCP/PNI/Business/2012-09-04-BCUSOf-Mutual-InterestBogle-on-Money-Funds_ST_U.htm

Anonymous said...

"guns that kill children"... Are you serious? Seriously?

Gerry With A G said...

These children were killed by gunfire. Gunfire comes from guns. So what's wrong with saying "guns kill children"? I don't get it, seriously.

Spasmoda said...

Vanguard has sunk almost $50 m into Campus Crest Communities? Geez, based on what I've read about the company, I don't think I would go to Vanguard for investment advice.

Anonymous said...

Ted Rollins might be a bad guy, but as an investor, I would be more concerned with the fact that his company seems to be poorly run.

legalschnauzer said...

Spasmoda--

I don't know how these big investment outfits work. But I'm guessing that Vanguard was attracted by the idea of privately developed student housing--and the fact Ted Rollins comes from an extremely wealthy family. I'm thinking they probably invested in an idea and family name, without really knowing whether Ted Rollins was a good CEO or not.

legalschnauzer said...

Anon at 1:19--

I might point out that the words you find objectionable are in the headline.

Even in the digital age, headline writers generally try to make words fit into a certain space. Plus, it's wise to not get too wordy in headlines--and I try to limit mine to no more than two full lines.

In the text of the story, I would have used the phrase "guns that are used to kill children" or maybe "guns that can be used to kill children."

In the headline, I felt both of those phrases were too long and too wordy. Could the headline be better? Maybe, and I could always change it if I think of something better. (That's one advantage of the digital age.) But I don't think it's inaccurate, and I just wanted to point out the thought process that went into it.

Anonymous said...

Well since its the guns and not the people who kill kids, how about a castration bill along with gun control? I think more people have a problem controlling their penises than their guns! I just wish we could focus on trash like Rollins than making us vulnerable to tyrannical psychos and slugs like Rollins. Question? LS, I know you don't have children but for a moment imagine you do. Imagine you walked in your home to find Ted Rollins raping your son or daughter at gun point. What do you think should be done? Also keep in mind how our system actually works which is completely contrary to law.

Anonymous said...

Vanguard Group is THE investment for our "Judicial." Yes, that is right and good for you LS, FINALLY the true investigative journalist hits the bull's eye.

Vanguard is Corrections Corporation of America, the major shareholder of CCA is Dick Cheney. The investments in privatizing prisons to use humans as the sub-filth of trading and exchanging the "Vanguard," vs. the proletariat.

It is time the "Justices" in the U.S. of A. get clean on their retirements. WARS without end kill human fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, and in these circles of human people are always children.

Maybe our new POTUS needs to fiscal cliff the "Judicial" since the Vanguard managed by Goldman Sachs is indeed a killing machine of whatever can be used as a commodity for retirement via the Vanguard investing criminal R.I.C.O.

God you're good LS!

legalschnauzer said...

Anon at 2:50--

Your question is hard to answer. Are you saying Ted Rollins is holding a gun while raping my child? That would be kind of hard to do, wouldn't it? Are you saying Ted Rollins has an accomplice who is holding a gun on my child while Ted Rollins rapes my child?

Are you asking what I would do in such a situation or what I think should be done in such a situation?

Not trying to be a contrarian, but you've posed a difficult and unclear set of circumstances here.

If I came upon anyone (Ted Rollins or not) raping anyone (my child or not), I hope I would try my darnedest to intervene, stop the crime, get the perpetrator under control so that authorities could arrest him, and aid the victim. What happens from there probably would be mostly out of my hands. But I hope I would do anything I could to help achieve justice and assist the victim. And in your scenario, that probably would mean putting my safety at risk.

If I had a gun, would I try to shoot the rapist (Ted Rollins or someone else)? No, out of fear that I would kill the victim in the process, assuming they were in close proximity to each other.

legalschnauzer said...

Anon at 2:51--

Your comment is very interesting. I was not aware that Vanguard Group was involved the private-prison business. Here is URL for one article on the subject:


http://borderlinesblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/cheney-gonzales-vanguard-group-in.html

legalschnauzer said...

Here is a Truthout article from earlier this year about Corrections Corporation of America (CCA):


http://truth-out.org/news/item/8875-corrections-corporation-of-america-a-study-in-predatory-capitalism-and-cronyism

Anonymous said...

Yes, LS, Vanguard is the key to our "Judicial" and its ability to hide from the people in majority, how the vile evil gets to continue on while the masses get to pay with all our material "wealth," and lives.

Lives are the key.

High crimes against humanity?!

Please, it's a cult, dark, satanic and very carefully umbrella hidden: Vanguard Group.

WE THE PEOPLE must demaqnd ALL the so called "Judicial" AND the courts, too: expose their retirement portfolios.

Once the retirement is no longer AR 15 rifles like the one Ronald Frashour III in Oregon used to kill a young man in cold blood, and in the judges portfolios?

Oh yes, these mofos love to hunt, like in the south, so in the north, east, west and wherever humans can be killed for the stealing of verve, and of course the retirements have been quite lucrative during the Terror War.

Expect real change and not until, the entire system of "government" has been made to be accountable for using weapons as the major way to "retire."

Rollins is simply doing the best job at "American Goth" as was and is intended.

Children early in age need to learn how to use a gun properly and then when a Rollins gets predatory, the child can protect their lives according to the U.S. Constitution's SECOND AMENDMENT.

Every American needs to learn how to shoot pedophiles and misogynists, dead, get expert in the first chamber ~cocked, locked, loaded and bulls' eyes, every time.

Anonymous said...

http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/dick-cheney-indicted-organized-crime-te

More news coming out of TX...

Cheney is accused of investing some $85 million in the Vanguard Group that houses federal inmates. The grand jury accuses Cheney and Alberto Gonzalez of engaging in organized criminal activity.

Too bad he didn't have to do a perp walk for us.

Michael Froomkin has more:

CNN, Cheney, Gonzales indicted for alleged prisoner abuse: Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales have been indicted on separate charges related to alleged prisoner abuse in federal detention centers, Willacy County, Texas, District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra told CNN Tuesday.

The indictment stems from Cheney’s investment in the Vanguard Group — an investment management company that reportedly has interests in the prison companies in charge of the detention centers, according to The Associated Press. It also charges Gonzales halted an investigation into abuse at the detention centers while he was attorney general.

You might think there are some federalism issues here. And there are. You might think there are some qualified/absolute immunity issues here, and there are. (Cf. In re Neagle, 135 U.S. 1 (1890) (creating federal officer immunity defense.)) But what you might not know is that there’s a federal removal statute that deals with state criminal prosecutions, 28 U.S.C. § 1442(a)(1):

Anonymous said...

Maybe I should have said he obviously broke into your home and your child was restrained in the process of the act. And yes it is possible he could be holding a gun at the time. So your saying you would try to intervene and stop the act? He has a gun remember? And you would wait for the police to arrive and justice to be served? Well isn't the whole point of your blog to reveal the injustice of the justice system? You must know by now that child rapists and murderers are the first to be released. Most never serve more than a few days even after conviction!

Anonymous said...

Cheney indicted for prison profiteering in Texas | the narcosphere

narcosphere.narconews.com/.../cheney-indicted-prison-profiteering-texas

Nov 18, 2008 ... WILLACY COUNTY, Texas -- US Vice President Dick Cheney was indicted ...
Cheney invested millions in the Vanguard Group, an investment ... prison corporations GEO Group and CCA (Corrections Corporation of ... induced for the purpose of prison profiteering by US officials reaping enormous profits.

Daily Kos: Dick Cheney Indicted! (It's real, w/updates!!)
www.dailykos.com/.../-Dick-Cheney-Indicted-It-s-real-w-updates

Nov 18, 2008 ... The indictment criticizes Cheney's investment in the Vanguard ... If your diary
covers an election or elected official, use election tags, which are generally the
state abbreviation followed by the office. CA-01 is the first district House seat. ......
sue him for a million or so dollars.. thus getting some justice on him.

Page 1 of comments on Dick Cheney Indicted by Texas Grand Jury ...
www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=MyekPLwIXHA

Dick Cheney is a traitor treasonist to the Union if held to his own standards. ......
My buddy was in a CCA prison. two meal a day and a bottle of water with no way
to ...... he shot a LAWYER in the face and not even the lawyer would sue cheney.
...... The indictment cites Cheney's investment in the Vanguard Group, a major ...

Corrections Corporation of America « Did You Know

rainbowwarrior2005.wordpress.com/.../corrections-corporation-of-america/

A CCA spokesperson touted prison privatization as a cost-saving initiative. .... It
got so bad that the city of Youngstown had to sue to close down the private prison
... by a Texas grand jury of Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General ... Cheney's stake in the Vanguard Group, which holds interests in the private ...

legalschnauzer said...

Anon at 3:41--

I'm probably the wrong person to take this question. I don't even like carrying a cell phone on me, so it's unlikely I would be carrying a gun in such a situation. It's hard to know how any of us would act if faced with such an extreme situation, but I probably would wind up getting killed, one way or another.

I think you and I are on the same page regarding the justice system. I am much more concerned about the dangers from corrupt judges, lawyers, and business types than those posed by rapists. I know rapists exist and do awful damage. But it's the white-collar criminals that have done by far the most harm to my family unit.

legalschnauzer said...

Whatever happened with that Cheney/Gonzalez case in Texas? It stalled somehow?

Anonymous said...

anon 3:41 maybe your imagination needs to be more proactive and write not here at LS, BUT, scribe to the prisons, judges, et al.

You can demand the courts that retire on Vanguard Group, to stop the crime sprees which are set-up for the retirement portfolios and of course these freaks of nature enjoy the human sacrificial lambs, else how can they dress up in robes and pretend to be "justice?!"

Anonymous said...

http://www.juanangelguerra.com/

send him your question

Anonymous said...

"... Ironically, in sharp contrast to the Mayan prophesy of “renewal, the real World we live in at the outset of the 21st Century is marked by a formidable economic and social crisis which is impoverishing millions of people, literally destroying people’s lives.

.. In the figurative sense, we are in the midst of an unfolding “doomsday scenario” of a complex political, social and economic nature: it’s man made, it’s “Made in America”; it is the consequence of the fracture of the judicial system, the evolving Homeland Security apparatus, the fraudulent deregulation of financial markets, the mismanagement of the real economy.

.. These fundamental shifts in America’s institutional and social fabric are coupled with a far-reaching global military agenda and a self-serving US foreign policy. The latter under the helm of Secretary Hillary Clinton points towards potential a breakdown of the channels of international diplomacy.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-mayan-2012-prophecy-the-end-of-the-world-is-man-made-orwellian-doomsday-made-in-america/5316231

LS, your investigative journalism has brought this "man made in America," via THE VANGUARD GROUP, to a new level of understanding.

THANK YOU again and again, forever!

Anonymous said...

This country is in trouble.

No matter how the investors and their clients choose to do "fiscal cliff," they're exposed.

Investors set up a system that was sold as though "law." This has paid a very lucrative sum of investment to the clients of the investors, while the investors have become global trillionaires.

The problem is, this system is a crime operation, R.I.C.O. and the investors, clients and any and all the attachments to this system are criminals.

We're human sacrifices in the year 2012, under the Vanguard Group retirement portfolio of a so called "government."

First, we're the government, all.

Second, government is not the secret umbrella criminals known as the B.A.R.s, with every licensed and non, "lawyer."

No question about the retirement portfolios of the B.A.R., Vanguard Group and Goldman Sachs' managing.

We're in trouble.

Anonymous said...

Cassandra:

Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Quelle Surprise! The Geithner Doctrine Not Only Puts Banks Above the Law, It Also Serves to Excuse Their Bad Behavior

Our Treasury Secretary, also known as the Bailouter in Chief and “Foamy,” has a default explanation for why ordinary citizens must bend over every time banking interests are threatened. The more formal statement of this policy is the Geithner Doctrine, which is “nothing must be done that will destablize the banking system.” However, Geithner also subscribes to the Humpty Dumpty School of Language, in which words mean what he chooses them to mean, nothing more or less. So “destabilize” means “hurts the profits or reputation of” and “banking system” means “any bank that is pretty big and/or well connected”.
Read more at

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/12/quelle-surprise-the-geithner-doctrine-not-only-puts-banks-above-the-law-it-also-serves-to-excuse-their-bad-behavior.html#sVOrELo7SLzsPZst.99

jeffrey spruill said...

LS: Believe me.I know what it feels like to duck and dodge one of America's wealthiest and most powerful families and have found they are above the law.

http://hamptonroads.com/node/103941

And I know Eric Holder knows EXACTLY what I'm talking about.

Anonymous said...

I suppose you missed my point! They ARE the rapists! I can promise you they are capable of that scenario! Although I think I see where you are headed with this and I like it!