A Sikh worshiper wipes away tears after a gunman opened fire on his temple killing six people. |
WADE MICHAEL PAGE IS THE SIKH TEMPLE SHOOTER!
He is a 40 year old former military specialist veteran who may of had ties to White supremacist groups.
According to law enforcement officers speaking on condition of anonymity, the apparent shooter has tattoos that may represent activity in hate groups.
The Sunday shooting of the Oak Creek, Wisconsin Sikh Temple has the nation coping with another domestic terrorist attack upon innocent Americans who worship.
When they release the name of the person, the blame game begins. Conservatives would love to distance themselves from the tragedy by claiming that the individual was either a "Democrat" or "liberal" activist. Conservatives hate when the mainstream media focuses on the individual's race or political affiliation when it comes to a suburban mass shooting. They figure that the individual would be a White male who stockpiled firearms and magazines and harbored an apparent bigotry towards a person or group. The White conservative male is one of the most reactionary human being in this country. They're wrapped around the American flag shielding bigotry. These people are harboring bigoted views towards race, gender, sexuality, nationality, religion, political and economic standings.
Michael Savage is a conservative agitator who rails against Islam. He is known by his firebrand version of conservatism that could inspire an individual commit an act of violence. He wrote numerous books denouncing liberalism, Islam and President Barack Obama. |
Before we get to the tragedy, we want to first talk about the 2009 declassified report about the rise of right wing extremism. Conservative talk radio, bloggers, the Republican Party and Fox News were crowing about Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric Holder profiling the Tea Party and those in the conservative movement. The conservatives were thinking that President Barack Obama wanted to stifle "freedom of speech" and "take the guns" from patriots.
The Department of Homeland Security’s Extremism and Radicalization Branch, Homeland Environment Threat Analysis Division warned about the rise of extremism because of shifting demographics, the first Black president, a struggling economy, and high unemployment. These are the core driving forces to bringing forth an extremist. The Department of Homeland Security has coordinated with the FBI in apprehending those who are likely to carry an act of domestic terrorism in the name of conservatism.
Frank Gaffney is a notorious right wing extremist. He is an Islamophobic individual who allies with Pam Geller, a former beauty queen turned extremist. They both promote anti-Muslim and anti-Sikh propaganda. |
ABC News reported the right wing extremist memos attracted heat in the conservative bloggosphere, from Newt Gingrich, Michelle Malkin, Powerline, and elsewhere.
The report states that while DHS "has no specific information that domestic rightwing terrorists are currently planning acts of violence…rightwing extremists may be gaining new recruits by playing on their fears about several emergent issues."
DHS defines "rightwing" as "broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly anti-government, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration."
The "emergent issues," the DHS report states, include both "the election of the first African American president" and "a prolonged economic downturn—including real estate foreclosures, unemployment, and an inability to obtain credit," which DHS says "present unique drivers for rightwing radicalization and recruitment."
"A recent example of the potential violence associated with a rise in rightwing extremism may be found in the shooting deaths of three police officers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on 4 April 2009," the report states. "The alleged gunman’s reaction reportedly was influenced by his racist ideology and belief in antigovernment conspiracy theories related to gun confiscations, citizen detention camps, and a Jewish-controlled ‘one world government.’"
Pam Geller promotes anti-Muslim and anti-Sikh propaganda with Frank Gaffney. |
"Over the past five years, various rightwing extremists, including militias and white supremacists, have adopted the immigration issue as a call to action, rallying point, and recruiting tool," the report states.
"Debates over appropriate immigration levels and enforcement policy generally fall within the realm of protected political speech under the First Amendment, but in some cases, anti-immigration or strident pro-enforcement fervor has been directed against specific groups and has the potential to turn violent."
The report states concern that returning "veterans possess combat skills and experience that are attractive to right wing extremists," who may attempt to recruit and radicalize the veterans "in order to exploit their skills and knowledge derived from military training and combat. These skills and knowledge have the potential to boost the capabilities of extremists—including lone wolves or small terrorist cells—to carry out violence. The willingness of a small percentage of military personnel to join extremist groups during the 1990s because they were disgruntled, disillusioned, or suffering from the psychological effects of war is being replicated today."
"After Operation Desert Shield/Storm in 1990-1991, some returning military veterans—including Timothy McVeigh—joined or associated with rightwing extremist groups," the report states. "A prominent civil rights organization reported in 2006 that ‘large numbers of potentially violent neo-Nazis, skinheads, and other white supremacists are now learning the art of warfare in the [U.S.] armed forces. The FBI noted in a 2008 report on the white supremacist movement that some returning military veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have joined extremist groups."
Alex Jones the founder of PrisonPlanet and InfoWars leads a movement of conspiracy themed stories that could inspire lone wolf domestic terrorism. His involvement in conspiracy theories attract right wing extremism. |
Sean Hannity and Dr. James Dobson chatted about this report on Fox News last night, which Hannity interpreted as targeting "people who think maybe we’re not controlling our borders" and "people who have pro-life bumper stickers."
“What do you think of that interpretation, especially coming from a guy that started his political career in the home of an unrepentant terrorist who bombed our Pentagon and Capitol and sat in Reverend Wright’s church for 20 years?” Hannity asked.
Dobson said "there are no Timothy McVeighs out there right now. They’re making a big deal out of something that hasn’t happened and may not happen."
Notorious conservative agitators and instigators include Bill O'Reilly Alex Jones, Frank Gaffney, Pam Geller, Michael Savage, Andrew Breitbart, Sean Hannity, Pat Robertson, James Dobson, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh. These individuals have inspired a deranged individual to commit an act of domestic terrorism. Yet they deny they're responsible. They believe that if the person had mental issues, they should blame the medical field for the individual.
This will get the National Rifle Association a rally call to get fundraising from their supporters. This will bring forth liberal Democrats and the Brady Campaigns calls to having reasonable gun control. This will be a political hot potato for both President Barack Obama and the Republican nominee Mitt Romney.
Both candidates are considered soft on guns according to the NRA. But this issue will be once again front and center again. President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney will avoid talking about gun control. They fear that if they mention reasonable gun control, they may lose the election.
The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the individual is a White male in his 40s and acted alone. Contrary to multiple panicked reports from the scene, officials say they believe there was only one shooter.
Oak Creek police handed control of the investigation to the FBI on Sunday afternoon.
Federal officials cautioned against thinking that a concrete link to a domestic terrorism group or hate group had been established.
“The investigation will have to continue to see and determine the motive,” said a federal law enforcement official who had been briefed on the early planning for the case. “We don’t know much about the motive at this point.”
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.
Officials said it took a long time to clear the scene with SWAT teams because of conflicting reports about multiple shooters. Police later said they think there was only one gunman, who has been described as white, with a large build and in his 30s.
“The city of Oak Creek is outraged by the senseless act of violence that happened in our city today,” Mayor Steve Scaffidi said at a news briefing.
In a statement, President Obama said he was “deeply saddened” by the news. “As we mourn this loss, which took place at a house of worship, we are reminded how much our country has been enriched by Sikhs, who are a part of our broader American family,” he said.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney called the shooting “a senseless act of violence and a tragedy that should never befall any house of worship.”
The Sikh faith originated in India in the 15th 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.
It’s the area’s second mass shooting involving a religious community in the past seven years. In 2005, a gunman killed seven and then committed suicide at a church meeting in Brookfield, Wisconsin.