It was a deeply troubling Saturday morning here in Pittsburgh. As you all must know by now, a man who has been bombarded with lies from the right (that a Jewish “cabal” was paying for an “invasion” of brown people coming to America and storming our border) entered our Tree of Life Synagogue and opened fire killing 11.
As I was watching our local news live, with tears streaming down my face, I could not help but remember April 4, 2009. I was doing the exact same thing on that day as well. On that morning, though, all I knew was I was watching a live shootout as police officers laid in the street and other police were attempting to get to them without being shot themselves. Three Pittsburgh Police officers, Paul Sciullo, Stephen Mayhle and Eric Kelly, all died on that fateful day.
We later found that that shooter posted that he believed that "the federal government, mainstream media, and banking system in these United States are strongly under the influence of -- if not completely controlled by -- Zionist interest. An economic collapse of the financial system is inevitable, bringing with it some degree of civil unrest if not outright balkanization of the continental US, civil/revolutionary/racial war . . . This collapse is likely engineered by the elite Jewish powers that be in order to make for a power and asset grab." His mother also said that he really like listening to Glenn Beck and he was afraid that “Obama was going to take away his guns”.
So, within THREE MILES of each other and in two separate events, 14 people were MURDERED by right wing zealots who decided they would take action and vent their anger and hatred after getting radicalized by the far right.
Fear. It’s the only thing they have. But don’t forget guns. Fear and guns.
God help us all.