Right Wing Terrorists Strike Again

You have undoubtedly heard about the jackass in Austin, Texas that ended his life in a shooting spree, firing over 100 bullets at various government buildings, and the Mexican consulate.  The mainstream press was quick to dismiss him as an apolitical kook, and seemed far more interested in the fact that he attended Renaissance Faires than it was in figuring out what he believed.  On the right, of course, we had the expected barrage of attacks on anyone who dared to suggest that he might be one of their own.

A small taste:

"White supremacists worry Austin antigovernment shooting will harm their reputations... 

White supremacists on the Stormfront forum are claiming that the Austin man who opened fire on a federal courthouse, a police headquarters, and the Mexican consulate last week is a “false flag” designed to stir up hatred against white Americans, SITE reports.  “Half cocked attacks on the part of ‘an angry white male’ is a dream come true for any Jewish or darkie gun grabber and agent of genocide against whites,” (one commenter) said. “The putrid smell of a Zionist or Mexican false flag against whites and the U.S. Constitution hangs heavy in the air here.”

Well, guess what?  The guy turns out to be an adherent of the "Phineas Priesthood," a relatively amorphous group of Christian Identity followers which commits itself to violence against the usual subjects- Jews, Blacks, Immigrants and White "race traitors."  This organization has a long history of murderous acts, going back to Byron de la Beckwith, the murderer of Medgar Evers, and a long list of vicious acts in support of the Aryan Supremacist beliefs that form the core of Christian Identity.

While millions of Americans have been induced into a state of perpetual fear about ISIS, a group that has never gotten within 10,000 miles of the U.S, right wing terrorism continues unabated- the last one before this the murder of a policeman and the wounding of another a couple of weeks ago by a Sovereign Citizen in Florida.These people are a real clear and present danger, but the howling of Conservatives has so far prevented any serious discussion about the threat they represent.  The press will keep their heads averted until a real tragedy takes place, like what could have easily happen at the Bundy Ranch, and then a lot of them will blame the government, as they are still doing about the Branch Dividians and the Ruby Ridge incident, both of which were precipitated by far right religious terrorists.  Randy Weaver, the principal party in the Ruby Ridge incident, had, in fact, at least some connection with the Christian Identity movement.

In the meantime incidents like this serve the goal of intimidating people from paying too much attention to this explosive phenomenon, guaranteeing that we are unprepared when things get really ugly.

If you would like to read something about the Phineas Priesthood and its links to the far right in general, you might try this, from the ADL.

Addendum:  Here's a pretty good post about this, from Think Progress.

Comments

joseph said…
Michael Brown is killed and nobody at the Bundy ranch, who were surely more of a threat, is even shot at. What's the difference? Thee must be something.

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