Special Report
THE POWER OF HATE
EXTREMISM from page A13
common-sense gun regulations," said NCJW
President Nancy Ratzan.
But others in the Jewish community said
the attack on the Holocaust museum and
Tiller's shooting should not be isolated from
the others, and that a wider net needs to be
cast.
Stern said that while there are places where
the anti-abortion extremists and neo-Nazis
"intersect," he also said that activists in the
two groups are motivated by significantly dif-
ferent worldviews and the two crimes should
not necessarily be seen as having a particular
link.
"There are hateful ideologies that come
from a vareity of directions:' Stern said. "We
should be concerned about them all." Fl
Shooting's Aftermath
Interfaith Reaction
Washington/JTA - Some 200 people attended an interfaith gathering June 11
Paul Goldenberg
Guard Killed from page A13
(roughly translated from
Hebrew as "Kill the Best
Gentiles") as well as many
anti-Semitic essays. He also
created an anti-Semitic Web
site, HolyWesternEmpire.
org , which was hosted by
a resident of Grand Haven,
Mich. After the shooting, the
Web site was turned off.
In 1981, while living in New
Hampshire, von Brunn was
arrested at the headquar-
Moti Shair, center, talks about being at the
ters of the Federal Reserve
entrance of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial
Board. He was carrying a
Museum, about 10 feet from where a
sawed-off shotgun to take
security guard was shot and killed by a
board members hostage. He
white supremacist.
was convicted of attempted
armed kidnapping, second-
from a Holocaust survivor, when she
degree burglary, assault with
heard four shots. She and her family
a dangerous weapon, carrying a pistol
were rushed into the theater, where
without a license and two counts of
they remained for about an hour.
possession of a prohibited weapon.
"I thought we were going to die,"
Von Brunn was sentenced to
Newman said.
four toll years in prison in 1983.
With an attack at a museum
He ended up serving more than six
dedicated to memorializing history's
years.
greatest genocide, she said, "In a
Witnesses told of the chaos and
way, it was history repeating itself in
fear June 10 when the gunfire erupt-
a much smaller way."
ed at the U.S. Holocaust Museum.
The museum had been scheduled
Moti Shair of Silver Spring, Md.,
to host an invitation-only premiere
who was at the museum at the time
of the play Anne and Emmett on
of the shooting with his family in
Wednesday night.
town from Israel, said he had stepped
Written by Janet Langhart Cohen,
outside to take a phone call. He was
wife of former Defense Secretary
just steps away from the gunfire. "I
William Cohen, the production fea-
could hear some of the bullets," he
tured an imaginary meeting between
said.
Holocaust victim Anne Frank and
Shair ducked for cover until the
Emmett Till, an African-American
shooting was over.
lynched in Mississippi in 1955 after
Lindsey Newman, 14, was standing
he
was accused of whistling at a
outside the museum's theater with
white woman. 1_1
her family, waiting to hear a lecture
A14
June 18 2009
at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to mourn the death of security guard
Stephen Johns. Johns was killed on June 10 when a gunman, 88-year-old white
supremacist James Von Brunn, entered the museum and opened fire.
Organized by the InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington and the
Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, the gathering includ-
ed speeches and prayers by clergy from Protestant, Catholic, Muslim, Hindu and
Bahai traditions as well as representatives of the German and Israeli embassies.
Clark Lobenstine, executive director of the InterFaith Conference, told the
crowd, some of whom held candles, that the vigil was designed to show that "hate
has no place in any of our community's religious traditions."
"Let's not let this terrorist divide us and prevent us from coming back here," he
said.
Martin Peled-Flax, the Israeli Embassy's director for domestic political affairs,
said the attack showed that Holocaust denial is a "pernicious ideology that
ultimately leads to insane violence," whether it comes from a "racist and anti-
Semite" in Washington or at the highest levels of "leadership of the world stage,"
an apparent reference to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Museum Chief of Staff Bill Parson thanked the crowd, saying the "tremendous
outpouring since the attack means a lot."
Jews 'Control' Obama
Washington/JTA - A note discovered in the car of the alleged Holocaust museum
shooter declares that President Barack Obama is controlled by Jews.
According to court papers released June 11, the note was discovered in the car
of James von Brunn, the 88-year-old white supremacist who has been charged
with murder in the death of a security guard June 10 at the U.S. Holocaust
Memorial Museum. The car was parked outside the museum.
Inside a notebook, the handwritten note said, "You want my weapons — this is
how you'll get them. The Holocaust is a lie. Obama was created by Jews. Obama
does what Jew owners tell him to do. Jews captured America's money. Jews
control the mass media. The First Amendment is abrogated — henceforth ..."
Von Brunn could face the death penalty if convicted in the murder of 39-year-
old Stephen T. Johns. He also faces a charge of killing while in possession of a
firearm in a federal facility. He remains hospitalized after being shot in the face
multiple times by other security guards after he opened fire on Johns.
Congress Angered
Washington/JTA - Both houses of the U.S. Congress unanimously passed resolu-
tions condemning the shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Congress
also offered condolences to the family of murdered security guard Stephen Johns,
who was killed the day before when a gunman opened fire at the museum.
Rep. Ron Klein, D-Fla., authored the House of Representatives resolution; Sen.
Ben Cardin, D-Md., wrote the Senate version. Both note the bravery of employees
and security personnel at the museum.
The Senate version "condemns anti-Semitism and all forms of religious, ethnic
and racial bigotry" and "condemns acts of physical violence against, and harass-
ment of, people based on race, gender, ethnicity or religious affiliation."
The House resolution says the body will redouble "its commitment to advance
the mission of the museum to educate people about the Holocaust and fight
against anti-Semitism, racism, hatred and intolerance."
AJC Memorial Fund
Washington/JTA - The American Jewish Committee set up a memorial fund to
benefit the family of the security guard killed at Washington's Holocaust muse-
urn. The organization said it will have a place on its Web site (www.ajc.org ) to
contribute to the fund in memory of Stephen Johns.
Those who want to donate immediately should send checks made out to the
American Jewish Committee, with "Holocaust Museum Memorial Fund" in the
memo line, to American Jewish Committee, Washington Chapter, c/o Melanie
Maron, 1156 15th Street, NW, Suite 120, Washington DC 20005.
All of the contributions will go to the Johns family, the AJC said.