The museum is closed today and the flags flying at half mast.
Coincidence or not, yesterday's shooting, which ended in the death of museum guard Stephen Tyrone Johns, occurred on the anniversary date of the
end of the Six Day War (1967).
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One thread at Stormfront refers to the murderer, James Von Brunn, as a "white racialist treasure." The thread was posted in 2004. I won't link to it.
Yesterday's Examiner published the following article a few hours after the shooting and contains some interesting information that I haven't seen mentioned elsewhere:Holocaust Museum shooter von Brunn a 9/11 'truther' who hated 'neo-cons', Bush, McCain
The man accused of opening fire at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC on June 10, James W. von Brunn, left a trail of unhinged writings around the internet.
The anti-semitism of von Brunn is the first thing one notices when visiting these bizarre websites. However, like those of most "white supremacists", many of von Brunn's political views track "Left" rather than "Right." Clearly, a re-evaluation of these obsolete definitions is long overdue.
For example, he unleashed his hatred of both Presidents Bush and other "neo-conservatives" in online essays. As even some "progressives" such as the influential Adbusters magazine publicly admit, "neoconservative" is often used as a derogatory code word for "Jews". As well, even a cursory glance at "white supremacist" writings reveals a hatred of, say, big corporations that is virtually indistinguishable from that of anti-globalization activists.
James von Brunn's advocacy of 9/11 conspiracy theories also gives him an additional commonality with individuals on the far-left.
None of this will surprise readers of Jonah Goldberg's bestseller Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Change, which clearly demonstrates that "fascism" of the kind advocated by the British National Party (BNP) and the likes of James W. von Brunn is just as likely to reflect "leftwing" views as "rightwing" ones.
In fact, anti-semitism is something the New Left and the "Far Right" have had in common since the 1980s, which is why so many former leftists like David Horowitz defected from one side to the other during the Reagan era and beyond. It also helps explain the otherwise baffling alliance between the Left and radical Islam.
That this shooting occurred shortly after President Obama's former mentor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, blamed "the Jews" for his lack of access to his former parishioner is a troubling confluence of events as well.
Anecdotal reports on the local D.C. news are saying that Von Brunn was "weird" and volatile. According to the Washington Post:James W. von Brunn was growing despondent.
John de Nugent, an acquaintance who describes himself as a white separatist, noticed the change when they last spoke two weeks ago.
"He said his Social Security had been cut and that he was barely making it," de Nugent said. "He felt it was the direct result of someone in Washington looking at his Web site."
In one of his e-mail blasts expressing his white supremacist views, the man police sources say shot and killed a security guard yesterday at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum told readers that they shouldn't expect to hear from him again. Von Brunn was shot and critically wounded by museum guards.
He was about to give away his computer, his primary connection to the fringe world of radical racists. He was living hand to mouth.
The e-mails were getting violent in tone: "It's time to kill all the Jews."
Von Brunn, who lives in Annapolis, was known for decades to fellow white supremacists who read his elaborate conspiracy theories on his Web site and met him through a network of radical racist groups. He was smart enough to join Mensa, but even admirers considered him a loner, a hothead and a man consumed with hatred.
[...]
Von Brunn's neighbors said yesterday that they invited him to their home for a drink recently. Apropos of nothing, they said, he raised his belief that the Holocaust did not occur.
[...]
Von Brunn's ex-wife said she divorced him about 30 years ago when she could no longer take his racist beliefs.
"When he talked about [race], he would get verbally abusive because I didn't really want to talk about it," said the 69-year-old woman, who lives in Florida and said she would speak to reporters if they would agree not to name her. "It was always against the Jews and the blacks."
The woman said she had not talked to authorities about the man she was married to for a decade.
"We absolutely detested his beliefs," she said. "I am disheartened the young guard was killed."
She said von Brunn once predicted that he would "go out with his boots on."...
You can read the entire article HERE.
A memorial Facebook site has been set up for Stephen Tyrone Johns, who was cold-bloodedly murdered yesterday at his post in the museum. You can read details about Mr. Johns, "Gentle Giant," HERE. Please pray for his family.
And let us thank God that none of the tourists inside the museum yesterday were hurt. Some 2000, including schoolchildren on field trips, were touring at the time.
Note: The news this morning continues to mention that Von Brunn extensively used the web. Are these reports on the news tacit calls for government control of the web?
Labels: anti-Semitism, Current events, Local news, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington Examiner, Washington Post
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