7 Killed in Shooting at Sikh Temple - Domestic Terrorism Suspected

While the details are still being investigated by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies, it appears that the shooting spree that killed six (seven counting the shooter who was killed by police return fire) may have been a case of domestic terrorism - which the FBI defines as “the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.”  Reports from CNN indicate that the shooter was a white male around forty who had tattoos that caused authorities to suspect terrorism.   Sikhs are sometimes confused with Muslims and some believe that the temple may have been attacked in a case of mistaken identity.  If suspicions prove true and would be anti-Muslim terrorism is confirmed it will go a long way to underscore the danger of lunatics like Michele Bachmann running around mouthing batshitery about Muslim conspiracies.  And once again we see a case of automatic weapons being used to inflict large scale shootings.  I feel sorry for those who may have needlessly lost loved ones today because of possible religious based bigotry.  First here are highlights from the Los Angeles Times:

Tattoos on the body of the slain Sikh temple gunman and certain biographical details led the FBI to treat the attack at a Milwaukee-area temple as an act of domestic terrorism, officials said Sunday.

The shootings in Oak Creek, Wis., left seven dead, including the gunman, and three critically wounded. One of the injured was a police officer who was expected to survive.

A federal official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media refused to say whether the gunman was thought to belong to a hate group or some other violent group because the investigation was still unfolding.

The designation of “domestic terrorism” under the FBI’s rubric — which was not applied to the Aurora, Colo., theater shooting — implies a political agenda. The FBI defines terrorism as “the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.”

TMJ 4, citing police sources, reported that two semiautomatic handguns had been recovered and that police were searching a red truck in front of the temple.

The Sikh faith originated in India in the 15^th century. Male followers wear turbans and women wear head scarves. In the U.S., Sikhs occasionally have been mistaken for Muslims. They have also been victims of hate crimes. 

CNN also has coverage and here are a few excerpts:

Authorities have not identified the gunman by name, though Thomas Ahern, a spokesman with the ATF's Chicago division, described him as a white male roughly 40 years of age.

The Sikh religion originated in northern India around 1500 and has about 25 million followers, 700,000 of them in the United States, according to the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund. Because of their customary beards and turbans, Sikh men are often confused for Hindus or Muslims -- and have been the targets of hate crimes since the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington, said Surinder Singh, a spokesman for the Guru Nanak Mission Society of Atlanta.
 

Kaleka said the gunman started shooting in the parking lot, "then entered into the temple and proceeded to open fire."

"It seems the few casualties that have been divulged to me have been the equivalent of priests, the holy leaders of our people," he said. "My uncle is one of the administrators of the temple. It's mainly those individuals who have been targeted or shot. Maybe it's because the ladies were fortunate enough to dodge it out, but so far most of the people I've heard have been shot and killed were all turbaned males."

It will be interesting to learn what the shooters motive might have been.  If it was religiously based, these six victims will join the list of millions who have died throughout history because of the foul fruits of religion and hatred of those who are different.

 

Operation Rescue Reportedly Needs Money, Close to Shutting Down

According to the wingnut news site CNSNews.com Operation Rescue, founded by pro-life extremist Randall Terry, is close to running out of money and shutting down. Could it just perhaps be because would be donors do not want to be associated with an organization whose founder and former leader has never denounced the murder of abortion providers and who has in fact comp licitly condoned the actions of the murders? The most recent example is the murder of Dr. George Tiller and Terry's extremist remarks at the time. While most folks do not know that Terry and Operation Rescue have parted ways some years back. Like it or not, Randall Terry - who is also an extreme homophobe - continues to be the face associated with Operation Rescue. The other irony is, of course, that due to their opposition to contraception, birth control and sex ed education, groups like Operation Rescue actually cause the number of abortions in the USA to fail to fall to rates similar to those in Europe where there are comprehensive sex education and birth control projects. Here are some story highlights:

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Wichita, Kan. (AP) - Operation Rescue, one of the nation's highest-profile groups in the anti-abortion movement, has told its supporters it is facing a "major financial crisis" and is very close to shutting down unless emergency help arrives soon. The group's president, Troy Newman, blamed the economic downturn for its money woes in a desperate plea e-mailed Monday night to donors. But the Wichita-based organization has also been under attack from both fringe anti-abortion militants and abortion rights supporters since the May 31 shooting death of Dr. George Tiller.

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Tiller's killing has also been a public relations nightmare for the group - despite its public condemnation of the slaying - since the name and phone number of the group's senior policy adviser was found in Roeder's car when he was arrested. A television crew zoomed in on the scrawled note inside the car in images that made their way to the Internet.

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The Internal Revenue Service revoked Operation Rescue's tax-exempt status in 2006 for prohibited political activity during the 2004 election. That means donations to the group are no longer deductible on taxes. Newman has said the IRS revocation did not affect donations. Meanwhile, other groups in the abortion fray have not noticed a similar decline in contributions.

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"They have publicly denounced his murder, yet they move their headquarters to Wichita and spend years harassing and trying to put him out of business," Saporta said. "And people involved with Operation Rescue had also been in communication with Scott Roeder so their hands aren't necessarily 100 percent clean in this scenario." Abortion rights supporters contend some of Operation Rescue's activities contribute to the atmosphere that encourage people like Roeder to take the law into their hands.

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Operation Rescue's fundraising letter hinted at a secret project it hoped to launch in the next 30 days that would be a "new phase in the pro-life fight." But while the group's fundraising efforts are often tied to some new anti-abortion activity, its latest letter had an unprecedented tone of desperation.

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Sometimes people and organizations reap what they sow and Operation Rescue has historically taken extreme positions and engaged in over the top actions that have now apparently come back to haunt it. I will not shed a tear if the organization shuts down.

Another Far Right Terrorist Killing

George Tiller had barely been buried for more than a few days and now another deranged far right shooter has killed another person motivated by their hate-based beliefs that discriminate against others who are different. This time the scene of the shooting was the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., and the victim was an innocent security guard, Stephen T. Johns (pictured at left). The shooter? A white supremacist who has a trail of tirades against Jews and African Americans - I can only assume that he was not likely to have been a fan of LGBT Americans either. As the Washington Post is reporting, the killer, James W. von Brunn, stepped through the doors of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, took two paces, lowered his rifle at a security guard and, before anyone could react, opened fire. I hate to say it, but Von Brunn sounds like he would have eagerly participated in a Sarah Palin campaign rally last year. Increasingly, Von Brunn, Tiller's killer, and others like them are the face of the GOP and they are rallied to act by the talking heads of Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and many of the professional Christian organizations who denigrate not only gays but Jews, Hispanics and blacks as well. As I have said before, these far right organizations are a clear and present danger to society and need to be exposed for the hatred that they foster. Here are highlights from the Washington Post:

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The guard, who did not have time to draw his gun, fell bleeding and fatally wounded to the polished floor. Other guards fired back, cutting down the assailant. Terrified patrons, many of them children, dived for safety. And what moments before had been a bright weekday in June became a tableau of violence.

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The attack inside the famed Holocaust museum, as described by bystanders and authorities, turned the crowded building and Washington's nearby tourist-thronged Mall into a scene of fear and chaos, with black-clad SWAT teams, hovering helicopters and racing emergency vehicles. Stunned witnesses described a fusillade of gunfire -- five shots or more -- the blood-streaked floor and the screams of frightened visitors inside the museum and on the street.

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The suspect, identified by law enforcement sources as James W. von Brunn, 88, of Annapolis, was said to be a longtime, "hard-core" supremacist whose Internet writings contain extensive, poisonous ravings against Jews and African Americans.

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Police recovered a notebook in the suspect's possession that apparently contained a list different District locations, including Washington National Cathedral. Police bomb squads were sent to at least 10 sites.

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Von Brunn is said to have been a leading writer in the white supremacist fringe for many years. He also appears to be the author of a recent Internet posting suggesting that President Obama's background is being hidden from the public.

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His online book, "Kill The Best Gentiles," contains hundreds of pages of conspiracy theories that include Holocaust denial, the ancient hoax of the "Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion" and wild webs of fantasy about Jewish plotting against white people.

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"This is a longtime white supremacist and anti-Semite approaching the end of his life who may have decided to go out shooting," said Mark Potok, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit group in Alabama that tracks right-wing extremists.