Discussion for article #237568
Man in the foreground of the photo says it all…
When is a hate crime terrorism? Edit: Not a rhetorical question.
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"n a statement, Gov. Nikki Haley asked South Carolinians to pray for the victims and their families and decried violence at religious institutions.
“We’ll never understand what motivates anyone to enter one of our places of worship and take the life of another,” Haley said."
Right, what could the motive possibly be? We’ll never understand why a white man shoots up a black church
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This is homegrown, right-wing terrorism, pure and simple. Wishing black people dead, and acting on that wish, is trying to advance a political agenda. Using violence as a means to that goal makes it terrorism.
But, because the shooter was white, the mainstream media and punditry won’t call it that. Instead, we’ll get endless stories about how the shooter was such a nice boy, even if a bit troubled or disturbed.
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There are legal definitions for hate crimes and terrorism, and for resource allocation they need to be classified accordingly. This one just happened, but all indications are hate crime here, subject to change on further investigation obviously. The motive was probably race, not politics. Both types of crimes are horrific, but they do need to be classified correctly.
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Wanting to eliminate or suppress black people and making them fear for their lives is a political agenda. Sure, it’s based in hatred, but it’s also political.
Muslim extremists hate Christians, but we don’t hesitate to call their actions terrorism and not “hate crimes”. Don’t see that politics and hatred are mutually exclusive.
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This is a hate crime because it was done at a church?!? I guess there is some evidence that the killer was a crazed, militant atheist or something.
Another in a long line of South Carolinians “nullifying” clear thinking.
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How long will it take for the Reich-wing to blame this on Obama? I’m not trying to be sarcastic, I really believe that will happen.
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When more people have guns, more people will use them, and more innocent people will die. Otherwise, the solution to nuclear war would be to give everyone a nuke.
Even Reagan didn’t believe that.
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I blame Rush. In so many ways.
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The NRA is a terrorist organization and it’s members are accomplices to acts of terrorism.
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He was trying to start a race war, I think.
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Like I said we need to see the full agenda of this whacko. It might be motivated by politics and classified as a hate crime and terror act, sure. Way to early to say that though. He needs to be caught and then the crime needs to be investigated. If he just had a fight with some black people and decided he wanted to kill a bunch of black people, that’s a hate crime. If he is part of some organization or had a purely political motive, then it might be classified as terrorism.
I would note that in most terror attacks, many of the victims are of the same race and religion as the attackers. On 9/11, hundreds of Muslims were killed by Muslim terrorists. Adam Lanza was motivated by hate too, but Sandy Hook was not a terror attack or a hate crime. If a guy kills his wife because he hates her, that does not make it a hate crime. Also remember the Muslim Fort Hood Shooter was classified as workplace violence, not terrorism. A lot of conservatives were upset about that, but they were wrong. The ultimate factor there was that he was being deployed.
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I think it is initially being speculated as being a hate crime because a white guy specifically targeted a lot of black people. Yes, maybe he was homeless and tried to sleep there and they tossed him out and it pissed him off…but I seriously doubt that it was happened.
until they determine otherwise and prove it, I am taking it for granted this person and those he was trying to impress all listen to right wing hate radio. Those hate jocks don’t outright call for terrorism like this, but they hint at it and allude to it and encourage it every way but openly, and it is this subtle, seething, slithering influence that drives insane people among their audience to act out their confusion.
Like I said, until they prove otherwise, just take it for granted. They aren’t about to release the truth, which is likely that this killer, like so many others, has a traceable history entwined inextricably in the trashtalk and hatred of rightwing hate radio.
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What a horrible story to see first thing in the morning. So tragic and senseless.
Hate-filled attitudes producing murderous monsters.
Rest in peace. There will be little enough of that for those left behind. Dare I hope it might bring people together? Can some good come out of this?
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I blame Rush. In so many ways.
Hey, the guy was just blowing off a little steam!
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I can only imagine the vile talk that made the rounds after that North Charleston policeman was charged with murdering Walter Scott.
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that will never happen… when was the last time you read about some shooter’s personal radio and TV shows, or which hate jocks he may have tuned int to? what websites did they visit? what books were they reading? The public knowing these patterns across multiple shootings might help uncover others before they can act, but the media seems stubbornly resistant to telling that story.
The fact is, if this fellow had a duffle bag full of Islamic literature, it would get reported as an act of terrorism… the fact he probably has Rush Limbaugh’s books on his list and listens to Savage and Bleck and Coulter and Nugent every chance, will never be connected and those dots tell a serious story, but unless it relates to religious jihadi’s, it will never be released to the public.
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