Shooting, hostage-taking at Wisconsin Sikh temple

[Donerail]

He must have thought they were Muslims. 

He probably did actually, I cant think of any reason anyone would hate sikhs.

This is a well established pattern. After 9/11, it was Sikhs who were mostly targeted by anti-Muslim bigots. But we can wait and see what the case was here.

Brings to mind this.

[The Mikado]

The most likely issue here is that turban-wearing Sikhs look more like bin Laden than actual Muslims do.

I really don't think this is the case.  The shooting happened on the day there was a major Sikh cleric visiting that congregation from India.  That really suggests to me that he knew exactly what Sikhs are and had a grudge against them, not a misplaced anger at Islam.

Maybe he had an ex-girlfriend or something in the congregation?

[J. J.]

Truly tragic.

[they don't love you like i love you]

I doubt this had to do with him mistaking them for Muslims either. It's not too hard to look up up mosques. Need to find out more about the guy who did it. Pretty awful indeed.

[Eraserhead]

The Sikhs? Really? Okay, that's just a little weird.

[J. J.]

The shooter was in the Army 1992-98, had a less than honorable discharge, and was thought to be a white supremacist. 

[John Dibble]

The shooter was in the Army 1992-98, had a less than honorable discharge, and was thought to be a white supremacist. 

More info here...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/sikh-temple-shooter-was-military-veteran-who-lived-nearby/2012/08/06/648d8134-dfbd-11e1-a421-8bf0f0e5aa11_story.html

It's still possible he may have confused them for Muslims, but being a white supremacist he may have just chosen to attack the Sikh temple just because they were different and they were located close to him.

[anvi]

What a terrible tragedy.  And with it, what a terribly tragic irony that members of a religious tradition that, from their historical inception in the 16th century, took very strong stands against gender discrimination, against widow-burning, against animal sacrifice, against a priestly hierarchy, and argued for religious and social inclusivism, fell victim to a racial supremacist. 

Of course, we don't know whether the shooter mistook Sikhs for Muslims in this case.  But since 9/11 there have been a number of incidents across the country, as noted above, where Sikhs were targeted by perpetrators who took them to be Muslims..and that too is tragically ironic, given that Sikhs rebelled against the Muslim Mughal rulers in India for more than two centuries.   

[minionofmidas]

He must have thought they were Muslims.  

He probably did actually, I cant think of any reason anyone would hate sikhs.

I can think of a few, but you'd have to be either a Hindutva extremist or a Muslim extremist from India. Or maybe a really, really hardcore fan of Indira Gandhi.

[krazen1211]

Sbane has more or less posted what I was thinking... except one thing, why do these happen in your country much more than anywhere else? This is a very serious question so I am eagerly awaiting the inevitable moment when this thread gets derailed into yet another pointless debate about weapons access.

They don't. This is what happens elsewhere. Here in America we shoot the perp dead.


http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-police-sikh-shootings-20120806,0,4837148.story

Sadly, I don't have to wonder. On May 28th 2010, four gunmen entered two mosques in Pakistan and started shooting at a slew of worshipers belonging to the members of my community, the Ahmadiyya Muslims (which the Pakistani government classifies as a religious minority)

In Pakistan, the media broadcasted live images of the gunmen shooting at worshipers while the police stood by the sidelines. The pundits partly held the victims responsible for "provoking" the attacks by practicing their faith while reactions from Ahmadiyya Muslims went unreported. The attacks left the nation divided at best and united at worst — united in disparaging the Ahmadiyya Muslims, that is.

[John Dibble]

Pat Robertson, in his usual classy fashion, has concluded that this attack happened because atheists hate God.

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/pat-robertson-concludes-sikh-temple-shooting-because-atheists-hate-god/

Of course never mind the fact that there has been absolutely no mention of what the shooter's religion is, and if you were to care to guess that since he's an American white supremacist he's statistically more likely to be a theist of the Christian persuasion. (Note - this isn't a knock against Christians in general, just pointing out Pat's usual disregard for facts)

Stay classy, Pat. Stay classy.

[Lief 🗽]

The right is already starting with the "if only the victims had all had guns with them" nonsense: http://wonkette.com/480261/nice-nonviolent-faith-you-have-here-shame-if-anything-happened-to-it

[World politics is up Schmitt creek]

Sbane has more or less posted what I was thinking... except one thing, why do these happen in your country much more than anywhere else? This is a very serious question so I am eagerly awaiting the inevitable moment when this thread gets derailed into yet another pointless debate about weapons access.

They don't. This is what happens elsewhere. Here in America we shoot the perp dead.


http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-police-sikh-shootings-20120806,0,4837148.story

Sadly, I don't have to wonder. On May 28th 2010, four gunmen entered two mosques in Pakistan and started shooting at a slew of worshipers belonging to the members of my community, the Ahmadiyya Muslims (which the Pakistani government classifies as a religious minority)

In Pakistan, the media broadcasted live images of the gunmen shooting at worshipers while the police stood by the sidelines. The pundits partly held the victims responsible for "provoking" the attacks by practicing their faith while reactions from Ahmadiyya Muslims went unreported. The attacks left the nation divided at best and united at worst — united in disparaging the Ahmadiyya Muslims, that is.

You're comparing us to Pakistan.

You're setting the bar for favorable comparison in the ground, you know.

[Svensson]

The right is already starting with the "if only the victims had all had guns with them" nonsense: http://wonkette.com/480261/nice-nonviolent-faith-you-have-here-shame-if-anything-happened-to-it

By which you mean one person. Lovely to see petty prejudice holds up even in the wake of hate crimes.

Horrible, horrible news at any rate. Condolences to all affected, with infinite relief that the shooter has been taken out of the mortal world for good.

[Free Palestine]

Terrible.

If it's confirmed that the shooter was a Nazi, I hope we can all finally realize that Nazism is a very real threat to humanity and unite against it.

[krazen1211]

Sbane has more or less posted what I was thinking... except one thing, why do these happen in your country much more than anywhere else? This is a very serious question so I am eagerly awaiting the inevitable moment when this thread gets derailed into yet another pointless debate about weapons access.

They don't. This is what happens elsewhere. Here in America we shoot the perp dead.


http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-police-sikh-shootings-20120806,0,4837148.story

Sadly, I don't have to wonder. On May 28th 2010, four gunmen entered two mosques in Pakistan and started shooting at a slew of worshipers belonging to the members of my community, the Ahmadiyya Muslims (which the Pakistani government classifies as a religious minority)

In Pakistan, the media broadcasted live images of the gunmen shooting at worshipers while the police stood by the sidelines. The pundits partly held the victims responsible for "provoking" the attacks by practicing their faith while reactions from Ahmadiyya Muslims went unreported. The attacks left the nation divided at best and united at worst — united in disparaging the Ahmadiyya Muslims, that is.

You're comparing us to Pakistan.

You're setting the bar for favorable comparison in the ground, you know.

Hmm? Who compared what to what? If you think that such things happen only here, you certainly have not been paying much attention to the rest of the world.

Or should I mention what happened in Norway last year?

[Tender Branson]

Also:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

[Zioneer]

And a Sikh Temple in Utah associated with the Oak Creek temple beefs up security after the shooting. Kind of interesting, as I've passed by the Taylorsville Sikh Temple a lot, but I didn't realize it was connected with any other Sikh place of worship.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Am I the only one here who thinks it is strange that these random mass shootings occur right after the UN introduces a global gun ban. I am not saying it is, but it is one lucky coincidence for both sides of the conspiracy theory debate....This post belongs in the deluge.

[minionofmidas]

the UN introduces a global gun ban

Deluge material right there.

[World politics is up Schmitt creek]

Sbane has more or less posted what I was thinking... except one thing, why do these happen in your country much more than anywhere else? This is a very serious question so I am eagerly awaiting the inevitable moment when this thread gets derailed into yet another pointless debate about weapons access.

They don't. This is what happens elsewhere. Here in America we shoot the perp dead.


http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-police-sikh-shootings-20120806,0,4837148.story

Sadly, I don't have to wonder. On May 28th 2010, four gunmen entered two mosques in Pakistan and started shooting at a slew of worshipers belonging to the members of my community, the Ahmadiyya Muslims (which the Pakistani government classifies as a religious minority)

In Pakistan, the media broadcasted live images of the gunmen shooting at worshipers while the police stood by the sidelines. The pundits partly held the victims responsible for "provoking" the attacks by practicing their faith while reactions from Ahmadiyya Muslims went unreported. The attacks left the nation divided at best and united at worst — united in disparaging the Ahmadiyya Muslims, that is.

You're comparing us to Pakistan.

You're setting the bar for favorable comparison in the ground, you know.

Hmm? Who compared what to what? If you think that such things happen only here, you certainly have not been paying much attention to the rest of the world.

Or should I mention what happened in Norway last year?

You don't have to, because I'm aware of it. The fact remains that for some reason you chose Pakistan as your basis for comparison despite obviously being aware of other countries that are actually Western democracies also, at least at face value, demonstrating the point you wanted to make.

[hawkeye59]

Sbane has more or less posted what I was thinking... except one thing, why do these happen in your country much more than anywhere else? This is a very serious question so I am eagerly awaiting the inevitable moment when this thread gets derailed into yet another pointless debate about weapons access.

They don't. This is what happens elsewhere. Here in America we shoot the perp dead.


http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-police-sikh-shootings-20120806,0,4837148.story

Sadly, I don't have to wonder. On May 28th 2010, four gunmen entered two mosques in Pakistan and started shooting at a slew of worshipers belonging to the members of my community, the Ahmadiyya Muslims (which the Pakistani government classifies as a religious minority)

In Pakistan, the media broadcasted live images of the gunmen shooting at worshipers while the police stood by the sidelines. The pundits partly held the victims responsible for "provoking" the attacks by practicing their faith while reactions from Ahmadiyya Muslims went unreported. The attacks left the nation divided at best and united at worst — united in disparaging the Ahmadiyya Muslims, that is.

You're comparing us to Pakistan.

You're setting the bar for favorable comparison in the ground, you know.

Hmm? Who compared what to what? If you think that such things happen only here, you certainly have not been paying much attention to the rest of the world.

Or should I mention what happened in Norway last year?

You mean the country with 1/7 of our homicide rate? Yeah, some massacres happen, but we can stop nearly all of them with gun control, or at least significantly reduce our gun death and homicide rates. A