Far-right shootings raise fear of hate offensive in America
The killing of a black security guard at the Holocaust Museum in Washington last week was the latest example of a surge in extremist violence, as the election of Barack Obama and the economic crisis breed resentment in a fanatical, racist minorityPaul Harris, New York
The Observer, Sunday 14 June 2009
A series of attacks by rightwing extremists has raised fears of a new wave of violence triggered by the economic crisis and the election of the country's first black president.
Since the inauguration of Barack Obama this year a series of shootings have taken place, with targets ranging from an abortion clinic to a liberal church and police officers. The attacks have often been fuelled by a potent mix of race hate and conspiracy theories.
Last week's shooting by neo-Nazi James von Brunn of a black security guard at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC, a few blocks from the White House, was the most recent incident. Now many experts are worried that extremists will eventually take aim at Obama himself.
"There is now a worry that Obama is going to be a target. It is a really serious situation. It is simply because of the colour of his skin," said Heidi Beirich, director of research at the Southern Poverty Law Centre, which closely monitors hate groups in the United States. In papers left in Von Brunn's car after last week's shooting, investigators have already found anti-Obama statements. Von Brunn wrote in a note: "The Holocaust was a lie. Obama was created by Jews." Von Brunn, who shot dead Stephen Johns before being shot himself, is in hospital and has been charged with murder.
The shooting has sent shock waves through the US, but in fact it is the tip of an iceberg of incidents over the past year involving far-right gunmen or those inspired by conspiracy theories and inflamed by conservative media pundits. ............(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/14/rightwing-extremists-racists-us 
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
