White Supremacists: Terrorism in America

You might believe terrorists are from other countries. The reality is most terrorists in the United States are domestic white supremacists. The Anti-Defamation League has concluded: "Since 2009 the overwhelming majority of terrorist killings in the United States have been committed by white people motivated by a specific ideology: the belief that America belongs to them and must be protected from 'globalist' elites and immigrants of all kinds."

Consider the fact that Trump's father was a member of the Klu Klux Klan (KKK) and was arrested during an altercation with police at a KKK Rally in 1926. He was not protesting the KKK. Trump's father was born in Brooklyn, NY and his mother was born in Scotland. It's a fact that Trump's father was a member of this white terrorist organization which killed blacks, Jews, immigrants, Catholics and others who they wanted eliminated because of their hatred of these groups. Trump and his father were fined for discriminating against minorities by refusing to rent to them.

It is interesting to note that some of the white supremacists have actually said they were emboldened to do their acts of violence because of how Trump speaks about immigrants and people of color. It is true that he called undocumented immigrants rapists and murderers. He thinks that white supremacists who kill are a "small group of people that have very, very serious problems." The truth is they are connected to organizations with thousands of members. Some are loners who are not affiliated with any organizations yet have a white supremacist philosophy. Many have written manifestos about their nativist philosophy. Their terrorism is different than ISIS terrorism. ISIS and other Islamic terrorism is based on following what a strong leader declares to be the right actions at various locations. The white supremacists have a more grass roots leadership than ISIS does. They organize on line and each attack inspires others to do the same. They have easy access to weapons because of our gun laws in many of our states. Some white supremacists receive training and technical support from white supremacists in other countries, while other do not do that at all. Islamic terrorists often have to raise money for their weapons and are watched more by the FBI.

The United States Criminal Code does not have laws on white supremacist terrorism like the code has for international and jihadist terrorism. Because of this less money is used for domestic terrorism. The FBI has thwarted a number of domestic plots despite the lack of adequate resources. Congressional members don't like to talk about white nationalists because some of their supporters have a similar philosophy. FBI Director Wray has actually called white nationalist terrorism a "persistent, pervasive threat." It would help to at least gather statistics about them to provide evidence of why we need to change our criminal code and put more resources toward dealing with problem.

Many of these groups stock pile weapons like the survivalists, Christian White Identity Groups, the Neo-Nazis, the KKK and Posse Comitatus. Many years ago in northern Minnesota members of the Posse Comitatus had an enclave in Cass Lake. W.E. Schmidt, a member of a tax protesting Christian White Identity Group, was arrested for amassing large numbers of weapons at his home. He was arrested at a Perkins Restaurant in Bemidji, Minnesota. These groups are real and in your own state. The gun laws in many states do not limit this activity of amassing of weapons, which is a very big problem. Universal background checks would help to address some aspects of this situation. Most people favor some regulation on who should be allowed to own weapons, yet legislators oppose even basic laws regulating these dangerous people. The Second Amendment actually states that the militia should be a "well regulated militia," so it seems reasonable to put some regulation on dangerous individuals. During the Minnesota State Legislative for 2019, the DFL House put forth universal background check bills in their chamber, but the Republican Senate would not even consider any regulation despite the majority of the public favoring this legislation. The leaders had a total say over what was heard, despite the views of the public. This system needs to change, so these legislators need to agree with public opinion or be voted out of office. The public does have to stand up and demand change here through the vote.

On April 19, 1995 the Oklahoma City Federal Building Bombing occurred at 9 a.m. The photo of the destruction illustrates the destruction. A rental truck exploded and killed 168 people in the building. About 650 people were injured and 19 children were killed in the day care center in the building on that day. Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were convicted of this terrible crime. They were members of a survival group who were white supremacists. Fortier, a friend of McVeigh's, was also convicted for failing to warn authorities of the plot to bomb the building. McVeigh was executed and the others served long prison sentences for their crimes.

As people of faith and as Hindus, it is up to us to demand that our federal and state legislators do something about white supremacist terrorism in America. States which have enacted full background checks have reduced death by murder and suicide by 40%. We also need to put white supremacist terrorism in the Criminal Code and fund its prevention. We need to stand up against the white supremacist nativist philosophy. Our neighbors, friends, loved ones and children are being killed and injured by these individuals. International terrorism is a problem; however, we have funded resources for this type of terrorism on a much larger scale. We need equal resources toward preventing white supremacist terrorism. Many Hindus are people of color and immigrants and could be targets of these white supremacists. We need prayer and action on the issue now!

JAI SHRI MA! JAI SHRI ACTIVISM! JAI SHRI AHIMSA!

Radhapriestess