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.