domestic terrorists

Knoxville Terrorist was a fan of O’Reilly, Hannity, Savage

According to the Knoxville News:

Police found right-wing political books, brass knuckles, empty shotgun shell boxes and a handgun in the Powell home of a man who said he attacked a church in order to kill liberals “who are ruining the country,” court records show.

Knoxville police Sunday evening searched the Levy Drive home of Jim David Adkisson after he allegedly entered the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church and killed two people and wounded six others during the presentation of a children’s musical.

Knoxville Police Department Officer Steve Still requested the search warrant after interviewing Adkisson. who was subdued by several church members after firing three rounds from a 12-gauge shotgun into the congregation.

Adkisson targeted the church, Still wrote in the document obtained by WBIR-TV, Channel 10, “because of its liberal teachings and his belief that all liberals should be killed because they were ruining the country, and that he felt that the Democrats had tied his country’s hands in the war on terror and they had ruined every institution in America with the aid of media outlets.”

Adkisson told Still that “he could not get to the leaders of the liberal movement that he would then target those that had voted them in to office.”
Adkisson told officers he left the house unlocked for them because “he expected to be killed during the assault.”

Inside the house, officers found “Liberalism is a Mental Health Disorder” by radio talk show host Michael Savage, “Let Freedom Ring” by talk show host Sean Hannity, and “The O’Reilly Factor,” by television talk show host Bill O’Reilly. For mental health rehab centers and options, people can check WhiteSands iop rehab and take their services.

The shotgun-wielding suspect in Sunday’s mass shooting at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church was motivated by a hatred of “the liberal movement,” and he planned to shoot until police shot him, Knoxville Police Chief Sterling P. Owen IV said this morning.

Adkisson, 58, of Powell wrote a four-page letter in which he stated his “hatred of the liberal movement,” Owen said. “Liberals in general, as well as gays.”

Continue ReadingKnoxville Terrorist was a fan of O’Reilly, Hannity, Savage

Terrorist opens fire in UU Church in Knoxville, TN

I’m sure you’ve heard the news by now that the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, Tennesee was the target of a mass shooting. Two people were killed and 5 more are in serious condition after Jim D. Adkisson, 58, walked into a children’s Sunday school play and opened fire on the crowd.

Like many Unitarian Universalist churches including the Unitarian Universalist Church of Indianapolis, and the church of the minister who married us, Andy Burnette of the Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Danville, The TVUUC was a “welcoming congregation” that believes all people, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people, deserve respect and support, and are welcome members of the church.

According to the latest news reports, Adkisson chose the church because he wanted to target liberals and gays, whom he felt were responsible for the current economic crisis, and for his particular economic situation. He left a 4-page long note in his car, and was also reportedly speaking out to the congregation as he was firing. He carried 76 rounds of ammunition with him, and intended to continue firing until the police arrive to kill him. Fortunately, he was subdued when one member of the congregation grabbed the rifle and 3 men wrestled him to the ground. The Knoxville News coverage has more information about the victims of the shooting.
My wife Stephanie is a third-generation member of the Unitarian Universalist church.

Continue ReadingTerrorist opens fire in UU Church in Knoxville, TN

What the liberal hawks got wrong

Slate has an interesting series of articles posted by several liberals who supported the Iraq war in its early stages, entitled “Why Did We Get It Wrong?” I applaud their willingness to recognize that they were indeed wrong, but I wonder why they’re not asking the other question — why didn’t they listen to the people who had it right? There certainly were a lot of them who did have the right answers, but they were pretty much shit on and ignored by Slate and lots of other liberal hawks.

Reading each of the essays is an exercise in skepticism, because none of their arguments really ring all that true. They sound like excuse-making after the fact. Among the cheap rationalizations, Richard Cohen’s argument stands out in my mind as particularly pathetic:

Anthrax. Remember anthrax? It seems no one does anymore–at least it’s never mentioned. But right after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, letters laced with anthrax were received at the New York Post and Tom Brokaw’s office at NBC. In the following days, more anthrax-contaminated letters were received by other news organizations–CBS News and, presumably, ABC, where traces of anthrax were found in the newsroom. Weirdly, even the Sun, a supermarket tabloid, also got a letter, and a photo editor, Bob Stevens, was fatally infected. Other letters were sent to Sen. Tom Daschle’s Capitol Hill office, and in Washington, D.C., a postal worker, Thomas L. Morris Jr., died. There was ample reason to be afraid.

…

For this and other reasons, the anthrax letters appeared linked to the awful events of Sept. 11. It all seemed one and the same.

Anthrax is never mentioned because people on the right want it swept under the rug. I said it at the time and still believe it — the Anthrax letters were sent by a domestic, right-wing Christian terrorist. It’s the only explanation that makes sense, given the targets of the attacks — liberal politicians, the figures prominently labeled as “liberal” media. Notice no one from Fox News got a letter.

Another telling clue is that false Anthrax scares had been directed at abortion clinics country-wide, including here in Indianapolis, for months and years before the real ones took place in 2001 and 2002.

(In fact, that’s where I first met the late Julia Carson — at a candlelight vigil on the Circle to call attention to the threats here in Indianapolis, sometime in 1998 or 1999. No one had called her and asked her to speak; she just showed up because she heard about the vigil and wanted to light a candle and stand with a group of women. I had a long conversation with her about Planned Parenthood, women’s rights, gay marriage and a number of other topics. She was funny, articulate and very kind.)

But back to the point — Anyone with eyeballs could see that the two threats had nothing to do with one another. I can’t imagine why Cohen is making the excuse that they’re linked. He suggests Saddam had “messed with anthrax” but I never heard any evidence of that. It was clear from news accounts the source was from inside the United States; that it wasn’t smuggled into the country, there wasn’t any evidence that any foreign-born person could have gotten close to getting ahold of the substance; all the links to the strain used were domestic, and people with right-wing Christian beliefs. His excuse is just silly, and strains credulity.

Continue ReadingWhat the liberal hawks got wrong

Indiana Intolerance – Day of Silence Leads to Anti-Gay Bomb Threats

The “National Day of Silence” is an annual, nationwide school event designed to bring attention to the bullying, harassment and violence directed at gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered kids in school settings. I’ve tried to mention it mentioned the event the past couple of years here to promote what I think is a worthwhile event. This years’ event was yesterday. In New Castle, Indiana, the event lead to bomb threats and other violent threats, so the school had to be locked down:

But the silent protest brought threats of weapons and violence at New Castle Chrysler High School. School leaders learned of the threat with a phone call Tuesday “from someone who identified himself as a parent who said their child came home and said they heard there was going to be some violence at the school today. It gave us concern that maybe we needed to step up security a little bit today to make sure the students would be safe,” said John Newby, New Castle Schools superintendent.

From the start of class, the school went into complete lockdown for the entire day.

“They took us all to the fieldhouse and we sat there for like two hours. They took us one by one and they scanned us with metal detectors,” said Skylar Ward, student.

In the past I called protestors against the Day of Silence what I believe they are – Christian terrorists (See “Bash a Fag For Jesus“) – turns out my words are quite accurate. On the heels of the Virginia Tech tragedy, this is pretty telling about what people in Indiana are like: homophobic and violent.

Continue ReadingIndiana Intolerance – Day of Silence Leads to Anti-Gay Bomb Threats

Rosie O’Donnell and Christian Terror Cells in the US

The American Family Association, Concerned Women for America, Faith and Action and World Net Daily are all busy bashing Rosie O’Donnell for saying “Radical Christians are no different than murderous radical Muslims.”

God damn it. What she said is way tamer than what I said in the recent past with a big fat list of armed, dangerous Christian Terror Cells in the United States.

Why the heck aren’t all these people crying out against me?!! Huh??! I’m doing far more than my share to piss of the religious right, and I’m just not getting any credit. Harrrumph.

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Christian Terrorist Cells in the USA

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This week’s Top 10 Conservative Idiots, No. 249 has a nice roundup of recent domestic terrorist incidents perpetrated by Christian Terrorists within the United States. They gathered the list to contrast with the silly drum-banging that the Bush Administration did recently about the so-called Muslim terrorist cell from Miami — the guys who had no actual weapons, plan, finances or connections and who could no more have bombed the Sears Tower than I could armed with a shovel.

But check out this big fat list of blood-thirsty, fully armed killers, all of whom have at least one thing in common — they hate the hell out of me.

2001: According to the Feminist Majority Foundation in Arlington, Virginia, Over 170 abortion clinics and doctors’ offices in 14 states and the District of Columbia received threatening letters claiming to contain anthrax. The envelopes had return addresses from the U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Marshall Service with postmarks from Atlanta, GA; Knoxville, TN; Chattanooga, TN; or Columbus, OH. The envelopes were also marked, “TIME SENSITIVE: Urgent Security Notice Enclosed.” When opened by clinic staff, all letters contained a white powder with a letter stating, “You have been exposed to anthrax. We are going to kill all of you. Army of God, Virginia DARE Chapter.”

2003: A nurse has been charged with firing a shotgun at an abortion clinic in Asheville before it opened on Thursday, according to police. Brenda Kaye Phillips, 44, a registered nurse, was charged a misdemeanor count of damage to property for shooting at the Femcare Women’s Clinic. The same clinic was the target of bomb four years ago.

2003: Klan leader David Wayne Hull was arrested at his Washington County, Pennsylvania, home on February 13 for allegedly planning to blow up an abortion clinic. Federal prosecutors charged Hull, a forty-year-old Imperial Wizard of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, a small Pennsylvania-based group, with receiving, manufacturing, possessing and transferring a destructive device in violation of the National Firearms Act. At a preliminary hearing in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh on February 18, prosecutors accused Hull of trying to buy hand grenades from a witness cooperating with the FBI. According to an unsealed criminal complaint, Hull told the informant he was “going to blow up abortion clinics.” Authorities say that Hull told the informant he made his car a “suicide bomb on wheels.” In July 2002, Hull attended the “Aryan Nations World Congress,” convened by the Pennsylvania faction of the neo-Nazi Aryan Nations. He is also a follower of Christian Identity, a racist and anti-Semitic sect whose adherents believe that white people are God’s chosen people, descended from the lost tribes of ancient Israel, and that minorities are soulless “mud peoples.”

2004: A man who was accused of plotting to firebomb abortion clinics, churches, and gay bars was sentenced yesterday to five years in federal prison. Stephen John Jordi, 36, pleaded guilty in February to a single charge of attempted arson of an abortion clinic. Prosecutors had asked Judge James Cohn to sentence Jordi under a federal terrorism law and sought seven to 10 years. Cohn refused, saying federal sentencing rules require that plots have an international component to be considered terrorism. “This crime was strictly domestic and in no way transcended national boundaries,” Cohn said. Jordi and a government informant bought gasoline cans, flares, starter fluid, and propane tanks the day he was arrested last November after casing several South Florida abortion clinics and talking about bombing one in Macon, Ga., according to the FBI. Prosecutor John Schlesinger said he “respectfully disagreed” with the judge’s decision not to sentence Jordi as a terrorist.

2005: A 24-year-old Shreveport woman and her 18-year-old boyfriend have been charged with attempting to bomb an abortion clinic. Authorities say Patricia Hughes and Jeremy Dunahoe were arrested and booked into City Jail. Hughes was charged with manufacturing and possession of a delayed incendiary device. Dunahoe was charged as an accessory. Hope Medical Group for Women wasn’t damaged when someone tossed a Molotov cocktail at it about 10:45 the night of December 12th.

2005: A suspicious fire damaged an abortion clinic, and federal agents launched an investigation, authorities said Tuesday. The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives joined local authorities in the investigation of the blaze late Monday at the Presidential Women’s Clinic. No one was injured. Details on the extent of damage were not immediately available. It appeared that lighter fluid or some other accelerant was used to start the blaze, fire department spokesman Phil Kaplan said. A July 2004 fire damaged another Palm Beach County abortion clinic and a 2003 blaze damaged one in neighboring Broward County.

2006: Evidence teams plan to put on protective gear and seal the room as they search for any clues left behind on a contraption that investigators are calling a “weapon of mass destruction.” Technicians will be looking for fingerprints and any other evidence that may have been left on the device, which was pumping a mix of water and a caustic chemical into a sex shop when neighbors found it Sunday morning, detectives said. The evidence crew will be breathing the air inside the room, but won’t have any unprotected contact with the plastic jugs, duct tape, and hoses that make up the device. In Waldo, people have held prayer vigils and protests aimed at an adult bookstore along US 301, trying to keep the “Cafe Risque” from opening its doors on time.

2006: A man who told police he made a pipe bomb to attack an abortion clinic was arrested Thursday, shortly before the device went off in a friend’s home while authorities tried to disable it, according to court documents. … Weiler faces four federal counts including making a destructive device and possessing an illegal handgun. He was being held Thursday. Phone messages left at Weiler’s home were not returned. A car in the driveway had a frame around the front license plate that read “Choose Life” and “God is pro-Life.”

Notice that emphasized quote above — according to our federal government, a plot has to have an “international component” to be considered terrorism. WTF?!?!

Why? Any political act designed to terrorize a group of people is terrorism, including all the above incidents, all of which meet the definition far better than a bunch of disgruntled Miami dudes who basically sat around talking smack and not much else.

Continue ReadingChristian Terrorist Cells in the USA

What? No Christian Terrorists?

Of course they don’t consider Christian Terrorists like bomber Eric Rudolph and the Anthrax killer “Terrorists.” Because these are the people who give money to Republican election campaigns. Can’t offend the people who put you in office, even if they do blow shit up and kill democrats and gay people.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) does not list right-wing domestic terrorists and terrorist groups on a document that appears to be an internal list of threats to the nation’s security.

According to the list — part of a draft planning document obtained by CQ Homeland Security — between now and 2011 DHS expects to contend primarily with adversaries such as al Qaeda and other foreign entities affiliated with the Islamic Jihad movement, as well as domestic radical Islamist groups.

It also lists left-wing domestic groups, such as the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), as terrorist threats, but it does not mention anti-government groups, white supremacists and other radical right-wing movements, which have staged numerous terrorist attacks that have killed scores of Americans. Recent attacks on cars, businesses and property in Virginia, Oregon and California have been attributed to ELF.

Continue ReadingWhat? No Christian Terrorists?

Bush Administration Shields Christian Terrorists

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Salon Magazine has an article about Christian Terrorist Clayton Waagner, the man who was convicted last week of sending over 550 envelopes of fake anthrax letters to women’s health clinics across the country, including Planned Parenthood clinics here in Indianapolis. Prior to the anthrax threats, Waager had escaped prison where he was being held on weapons and stolen vehicle charges, and went on the run robbing banks, stalking women’s health clinics and preparing violent activities against doctors with other Christian terror cells before he was caught on the anthrax charges.

What’s interesting about all this is how Ashcroft’s Justice Department bent over backwards during Waagner’s trial to ensure that his terrorist past and connections to right-wing anti-abortions groups never got brought up, and to ensure that the media didn’t do any real coverage of Waagner’s trial or history. They also worked hard to downplay how much anguish and chaos the anthrax threats created for the people who received them.

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Republicans Say Democrats are Terrorists, Wall Street Journal Agrees

From the NY Times:

“With costs and casualties rising in the war on terrorism, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld struck back today at the administration’s widening circle of critics, saying they were complicating an already difficult task. Mr. Rumsfeld did not mention any of the domestic critics by name. But he suggested that those who have been critical of the administration’s handling of the war in Iraq and its aftermath might be encouraging American foes to believe that the United States might one day walk away from the effort, as it has in past conflicts.”

[Emphasis mine.]

And Tuesday, and op/ed headline in the Wall Street Journal: “Bush Parries a Terror Attack, From the Democrats”

Continue ReadingRepublicans Say Democrats are Terrorists, Wall Street Journal Agrees