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We need to call out white terrorism in America.

Last Saturday, a 19-year-old California man who left three dead at a Gilroy, California, garlic festival before killing himself left a note on Instagram before the attack telling users to read a specific 19th century white nationalist book.

Terrorism experts say that extremists who don’t know each other in real life are finding one another online and trying to “one up” the attacks.

“I call it ‘cascading terrorism,’” Clint Watts, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, told MSNBC.

“At any time around the world there may be one or two extremists that are thinking about an attack. When they see someone in their ideology successfully conduct an attack, it inspires others,” he said.

Law enforcement sources also say it is too soon to draw any conclusion from the posting about a possible motive in Saturday's attack.

The thrust of the message feels familiar to those used in pamphlets spread by the KKK and white nationalists during the 1970s, said James Cavanaugh, a former special agent-in-charge with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, but given new reach in the digital age.

“These guys can reach out to any soul on the internet and poison them,” he said. "It's digital hate."

Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein expressed a need to call out "white terrorism" in the country. "Killing random civilians to spread a political message is terrorism. FBI classifies it as domestic terrorism, but 'white terrorism' is more precise," he tweeted.

LiterateHiker 9 Aug 4
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7 comments

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1

Thank you a very good post.

1

What goes into the attacks we have seen in recent decades? My two cents:

1 Alienation. When you feel like you matter to no one and no one matters to you, it's way easier to release a spasm of murderous rage. Social isolation seems to be booming, with no end in sight. Online echo chambers of the aggrieved just amplify the effect. I don't see a simple solution.

2 Mental health. Health care is often subject to neglect in the US, and no kind of health is more neglected than mental health.

3 Willful ignorance. CDC is banned by federal law from studying firearm violence in enough contexts to prevent meaningful research. It's a public health issue our leading public health agency can't touch.

4 Firepower. If these guys had to rely on muzzle-loaders, they might kill one or two people tops. Under sixty seconds per shot is considered proficient. Sixty seconds is a lot of time to run for cover or simply get out of range. Many rampages are over in less time.

We have on our hands a perfect storm. Making high capacity firearms way harder to get can't hurt. An every man for himself mentality has done us few favors, and is far from universal around the world. We need to find ways to pull together, because being atomized is far from normal for humans.

1

The American media has a history of avoiding upsetting the white portion of the population. Now it is quite apparent that white terror is real, how will it be covered up?
To look at 9/11, the acts were carried out by classic 'others' who looked and acted differently to the American norm. Brown skin, a different version of the same god, different rules and societal norms etc. But this latest attack cannot be hidden as a jilted lover or annoyed employee.
The terrorist was a white American with a gun and ear protection. He set out to kill and cause terror.
No doubt there will be those who will be praising his act of violence against who they see as non-Americans, aliens if you will.
How will POTUS and government try to deal with type of open terrorism? What if white supremacists come out and support this act? Will Trumps just say 'Great guys, they were provoke by brown skin though' and pass it on. Will he suggest that more people carry guns?

2

We need to do more than call it out. We need to shame it, discredit it, and prosecute it whenever possible.

1

I say, publicly line their asses up against a wall in front of a firing squad and shoot them as soon as possible after their attack. There is nearly always more than enough proof they are guilty, when there are photos of them wandering around with a gun . . . . and a large number of witnesses, the press should also be excoriating them as spineless cowards, low-lifes, and with that, you can bet the attacks would stop pronto.

1

Untill people wake up and put an end to idealogy this will never end and most likely esculate and when you have a leader who is indirectly encouraging it to destabalize things with the hope of getting re elected .Those people should be held responsible and considered accomplice to the shooter

2

No shit the orange Nazi is promoting this saying they are not bad people

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