Discussion for article #233221
In light of this report…it would behoove the US to look at the perpetrators who are…
Overwhelmingly angry, armed, and white males!
I get the feeling many believe it can’t be a hate crime if he is an atheist. I’d like to know where he got his “news”. Did Hicks watch Fox and listen to Rush? That might be some of the fuel for the hate. I can tell you that my Fox watching in-laws talk hate about most anyone who isn’t white and Christian (not that they ever enter a church themselves).
If you look at the common denominator for much of this vile hate, you will likely find they spend a lot of time in front of the TV watching Fox where hate is spewed 24/7.
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All we know about his political leanings is that in the last two elections he voted once as a Democrat and once as nonpartisan. But nice attempt in making him a right winger. I know it hurts many here that this nut didn’t turn out to be a local Tea Party member or Christian Conservative. Because if he was this would be running non-stop on MSNBC blaming Fox News and talk radio for creating a backlash against Muslims.
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If an atheist shoots someone, it’s the guns fault.
I have relatives that have had their hatred amped up by Dawkins and Harris. It’s troubling to see otherwise educated people sink into the same thinking they rightfully criticize. Now this shooting. At least their numbers are relatively low. However, though few will resort to this sort of thing, the wacko fringe atheists may. The bigger problem lies in what they support from a political point of view since we are soon to be marched to war again in the Middle East.
The problem is that it is very difficult to prosecute under the federal hate crime statute (18 US Code § 249). Keep in mind that murder is not a federal crime unless it involves the murder of a federal employee or is committed on federally-owned land. Furthermore, the feds can’t prosecute if the state has jurisdiction unless the state asks the federal government to assume jurisdiction or if the state declines to prosecute. However, all of the jurisdictional restrictions notwithstanding, the federal government can investigate potential hate crimes without restriction
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What’s known about the guy’s views at this point are more consistent with fuzzy-headed libertarian gun nut douchbroism than with liberalism.
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The guy hated the entire Right wing conservative movement. His “likes” included a page called “Mitt Romney sucks,” “dogs against Romney” and “liberals against conservative propaganda.” So he is not listening to FOX. He was also a gun nut, so he is by no means a liberal either.
I would not tie him to a conservative or liberal category, though FOX and MSNBC will each be trying to do that.
He’s an asshole.
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The more I read about this guy, how he went about to kill his victims, the more I am convinced he was well beyond the feeling of hate. He killed those people as he would have killed a spider or a roach, no feelings involved whatsoever. I also tend to believe that the fact his victims were Muslims played a role on him not feeling any restraint on killing them. They annoyed him and he plainly killed them, just like that.
Seems to me that data also says jihadists need to be looked at, as well as white males, as well as many other types. And if you visit the FBI page all these people, including white male militia types, are in fact being looked at…as they should be. The notion that only white males should be looked at is pretty silly though.
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The Jihadists are being looked at while the majority perps are being blanketed over!
Except that’s not true.
http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2013/05/07/reported-minnesota-militia-member-arrested-in-terror-plot/
I know a few FBI guys as well. Trust me, the white supremacist nut jobs are definitely “on the radar” big time. If you think the FBI is eager to have armed militias all over the place, you just are totally mistaken.
What’s funny is the FOX nuts say the opposite, only the white boys are being looked at.
In “reality” both jihadists along with militia nuts are being watched carefully. And that is a good thing.
11 of the top 20 are white. Underrepresented.