On Monday, Rep. Ilhan Omar claimed that “Far-right extremists were linked to every extremist murder in the U.S. last year, including the Tree of Life and Parkland shootings”:
It’s overdue! Far-right extremists were linked to every extremist murder in the U.S. last year, including the Tree of Life and Parkland shootings.
They are not operating in a vacuum. This is a crisis and it deserves national attention. https://t.co/i2buqaYGpA— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) March 18, 2019
She then linked to this report from the ADL to back up her claim:
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) March 18, 2019
The problem here is the report from the ADL includes murders, like in Parkland, they even admit have no links to right-wing extremism:
Among the five extremist-related shooting sprees in 2018: Tree of Life Synagogue, Pittsburgh, PA: 11 dead; Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Parkland, FL: 17 dead; Waffle House, Nashville, TN: four dead.
From the report (emphasis ours):
“Parkland, Florida, February 14, 2018. Nikolas Cruz launched a deadly shooting spree at his former high school,
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, killing 17 people and wounding 17 more. According to CNN, Cruz, 19,
belonged to a racist Instagram group and hated blacks and Jews, even claiming Jews wanted to destroy the
world. Cruz also allegedly referred to women who engaged in interracial relationships as “traitors.” A South Florida
Sun-Sentinel article reported that Cruz had racist and Nazi symbols on his backpack and that he had etched
swastikas onto ammunition magazines left behind at the school after the shooting. However, little evidence has so
far emerged to suggest that the MSDHS shooting spree itself was conducted as a white supremacist attack.28″
Recommended
Here’s another one from the report. Domestic violence is now right-wing extremism?
“Robstown, Texas, July 27, 2018. Richard Starry shot and killed four relatives at a local nursing center and at his
home in an apparent act of domestic violence before killing himself. According to local media, Starry had been a
member of a white supremacist group while in prison.18″
Also, “radical Islam” is now considered evidence of right-wing extremism as well:
“Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, March 12, 2018. Corey Johnson, 17, killed a 13-year-old and severely injured two
others in a stabbing spree during a sleepover. One victim was stabbed 32 times but survived. Johnson was charged
as an adult with first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder. He had a long history of violent tendencies
and extremist beliefs, including an interest in white supremacy. However, in the year before the attack he had
become interested in radical Islam (and had even been reported to the FBI by local law enforcement). After his
arrest, Johnson reportedly told investigators he had stabbed his victims “because of his Muslim faith.”26″
And the Waffle House example above? A “serious history of mental illness” that gets the suspect “ruled incompetent to stand trial? Bingo. More right-wing extremism:
“Nashville, Tennessee, April 22, 2018. Travis Reinking opened fire inside a Waffle House, killing four people
and wounding or injuring four more. Reports from co-workers and police officers who had previously known or
encountered Reinking stated that he was a sovereign citizen. However, Reinking also has a serious history of
mental illness and the shooting appears to have been non-ideological in nature; he has been ruled incompetent
to stand trial.24″
Moorish sovereign citizens, who believe “African Americans constitute an elite class within American society with special rights and privileges that convey on them a sovereign immunity placing them beyond federal and state authority,” are also right-wing extremists when a dispute over the sale of a car leads to murder:
“Sumter, South Carolina, August 11, 2018. Demetrius Alexander Brown, a self-proclaimed Moorish sovereign
citizen, was arrested for the fatal shooting of Sharmine Pack following a dispute about a vehicle sale at an auto
repair shop. 17″
Shoot an acquaintance? Yep . . . more right-wing extremism:
“Abingdon, Virginia, May 4, 2018. Roger Melvin Tackett was charged with first degree murder and other crimes
after fatally shooting an acquaintance following a dispute. According to police, Tackett has multiple white
supremacist tattoos.23″
You can read the rest of their examples here (pages 23-34), but there are only a handful that can truly get linked to right-wing extremist or white supremacist groups.
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