Surely, this is yet another nutbag acting alone:
The fire at the Islamic Society of Joplin was reported about 3:30 a.m. Monday, the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office said. The sheriff’s department said the building was a total loss. No injuries were reported and no charges have been filed.
Imam Lahmuddin, who leads the mosque and was in the building until late Sunday, said he was “sad and shocked” about the fire.
“I’m still in front of the building looking at the damage and nothing can be saved,” Lahmuddin said in a telephone interview Monday. “But since we are people of faith we just can remember that this is a thing that happened because God let it happen, and we have to be patient, particularly in the month of Ramadan, control our emotions, our anger.”
Authorities sifted through the black debris Monday. Only remnants indicated a building had been there, including some stone pillars that were still standing and a few pieces of charred plywood loosely held up by a frame. At least a dozen law enforcement vehicles and a fire truck were at the scene.
A blaze at the same building July 4 caused minor damage and was determined arson. No arrests were made and the FBI has offered a $15,000 reward for information leading to charges in that fire.
Whatever this arson is, it isn’t domestic terrorism. I mean, sure, it’s the second fire at that same mosque in a matter of weeks, but it’s not domestic terrorism. Don’t dare call it that.
By the way, I’m still waiting for folks to start claiming that the victims of yesterday’s temple shooting should have been armed. I’m sure Louie Gohmert and his ilk have no problem with arming brown maybe-terrorists, right?
[cross-posted at ABLC]
YellowJournalism
And neither yesterday’s shooting or the arson have anything to do with the climate that some conservatives in the US like Bachmann have created. No, just some lone crazies, that’s all!
Zagloba
I’m struggling to find words.
America: where a minority religion, or a religious community of minorities, has to pay extra to build their house of worship, because they can’t afford to use inflammable materials.
Mags
Devout Sikhs are always armed, with daggers. It’s as essential as the headscarf for Sikh men and a bit of a sticking point when it comes to things like TSA and boarding a plane with a dagger in your belt.
Shawn in ShowMe
It’s Joplin, Imani.
The culture war being waged by wingnuts hasn’t been this intense in Missouri since the early 1980s. By the time the voter intimidation/suppression efforts are done, President Obama may lose this state by double digits.
NancyDarling
ABL, there is a great irony here. Tomorrow Missouri votes on a “Right to Pray” constitutional amendment because
I would like the Muslims of the Joplin mosque to define “under siege” for them.
The first fire was ruled arson. The investigation is not complete on last night’s fire.
LanceThruster
Mah.Thur.Fah.Curse.
[sigh]
Zagloba
Wait, isn’t that the place that that F5 wiped off the map a couple years back?
Sounds like God is pissed about something, like having idol-worshippers in his town.
If another tornado hits, post armed guards at the Catholic church.
TenguPhule
Until the Republican party is put on the terrorist group list, their assets frozen, their leaders picked off by drones and their followers stormed and shot in their homes, we will never be safe.
mai naem
Yeah, but it’s the Muslims who are violent and terrahrists. So just shut up already. Also. Too. And it’s good news for John McCain.
Joseph Nobles
@Mags: Which is why the head of the temple used a butter knife to fend off the attacker while others fled.
Michele
Coverage of the
homegrown rightwing domestic terror actunfortunate incident at the Sikh temple in Milwaukee yesterday contained this line from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:“…which some authorities are describing a domestic terrorist incident. But FBI representatives later backed away from that categorization, saying they were still investigating motive.”
Yes, by all means back off calling this what it undoubtedly is. Heaven knows we can’t sully the name of a God-fearing, America-loving White nutjob by pointing out, rightly, that he is every bit as vile as the people he claimed were ruining the country. Either ‘take it back’ or fear the (seemingly endless) outrage of the God-fearing White Christian power base in this country who will come out with pitchforks (as all true Christians must) and wallow in their imaginary victimization at the hands of brown people, Muslims and liberals.
What a crock. We have a country full of people stuck somewhere in Jr. High emotionally and intellectually, too dumb and too lazy to actually figure out who they hate and why before exercising their Constitutional right to obliterate perceived threats (or even just the threat of perceived threats) with AK-47s, and we all have to pretend these people have serious, legitimate grievances because that’s ‘fair and balanced.’ Purveyors of hate and the millions out there who enable them have blood on their hands and it’s about time someone in a position of authority had the guts to make that absolutely clear without backing down.
lonesomerobot
@Zagloba: That was last year. I know, time flies when you’re keeping time by the number of natural disasters that happen.
trex
@YellowJournalism:
And neither yesterday’s shooting or the arson have anything to do with the climate that some conservatives in the US like Bachmann have created. No, just some lone crazies, that’s all!
If he was a lone crazy then he was a raving leftist. At least that’s what I’m learning from the comments sections at major news sites.
Since the evidence is in that this guy was undoubtedly a neo-Nazi and it is logically impossible for a right-winger to commit violence, therefore the Nazis must have been a left-wing group. QED
And if I may add, paraphrasing many of the commentators: “Durr hurr.”
lonesomerobot
@Michele: No, you see, those pictures the shooter is in with the swastikas are indicative of his devout Hindu faith. This was obviously related to some Hindu-Sikh gang rivalry.
r€nato
naturally, Alex Jones’ House o’ Crazy wasted no time in attributing the WI Sikh temple shooting to a nefarious government plot to, um, do something or other that’s really bad:
beltane
Sorry to break it to everyone, but your average American wingnut is just a potential committer of genocide waiting for the signal to kill. Anyone who dismisses their violent rhetoric against Muslims, atheists, gays, feminists, Latinos and all the other various and sundry groups of human beings who are not them, as being “just talk” is naive to the point of foolishness.
burnspbesq
Unless calling it terrorism leads to a sentence enhancement, why do I care what it’s called?
yopd1
@Zagloba: Actually, most of us religious minorities have to pay to have full time security at our places of worship as well.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Well the paper says the debate is over if it is terrorism or a hate crime. Since apparently the shooter left no statement that sort of indicates he was just was doing it for the LUZ.
Josie
@burnspbesq: You have every right not to care. I, however, care very much because I feel that the failure of some leaders and of the media to call such deeds exactly what they are allows the ugliness to fester and grow.
beltane
@burnspbesq: Because terrorism has an ideological component that is absent from simple crimes against persons and property. A terrorist is not a mere criminal but is instead a foot soldier fighting on behalf of a cause that has been deemed evil by society. By refusing to bestow the title of “terrorist” on these people, our government and certainly our media are giving tacit approval to the cause they represent.
PurpleGirl
@Mags: Sometimes they carry a small dagger which is not actually useful for fighting but which is more ceremonial in nature. I’ve had Sikh taxi drivers who didn’t wear turbans or have long beards. But they all have worn a steel bangle on their right wrist.
Dave
They were armed. one of the congregation’s leader attacked the gunman with a knife. He died, but apparently his act allowed a few more people to escape.
Roger Moore
Too bad there weren’t any armed members there at the time willing to stand their ground to protect their place of worship.
Zagloba
Seriously? Sheeeeeeeit, that’s something I’ve not even seen.
On the “despised religious minority” totem pole, how despised are you?
Roger Moore
@burnspbesq:
Because calling it terrorism pushes back at the idiots who think only “those people” are terrorists. We need to make it clear that terror is terror no matter who’s doing it. Next thing you know, we’ll be able to call abortion clinic bombers and mosque arsonists terrorists, too.
cinesimon
@burnspbesq: It’s not only about “sentence enhancement”. In fact in this case, I’d say that’s a relatively minor issue.
Designating this act ‘terrorism’ gives Federal authorities far greater jurisdiction – right off the bat that’s very very good, given the police departments in the south having very similar beliefs about all Muslims and other ‘minority’ communities and religions.
It’s about seeking ways to prevent future attacks, it’s the ability to seek out terrorist groups or wannabe terrorist groups which may or may not reside there; and of course they actually care about Muslims as they do any other citizen. The local cops generally do not, as we have seen time and again – and this translates to far less effective policing. Hate, or even prejudice against minorities is so ingrained in some southern(and even now in some northern) police agencies, with this type of case, they are simply incapable of doing their jobs effectively.
yopd1
@Zagloba: Not very. My synagogue has full time security since an arson attempt. Otherwise, we used to just have security during the high holidays.
However, there are always alerts. We had more security when Westboro Baptist came by as well. I’d wager there will now be a lot more security at Mosques in the near future if there wasn’t already.
NancyDarling
@Zagloba: @yopd1: A Jewish friend in Albuquerque tells me they have private security during sabbath services. I think they started it when another white supremacist, Buford Furow, shot up a Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills, CA back in ’99. He also shot and killed a Filipino postman the same day.
West of the Rockies (formerly Frank W.)
Okay, maybe I’ll be called a concern troll for this, but I don’t think, TenguPhule @ #8, that such comments are entirely helpful. I can imagine the number of complaints we’d all be posting if someone at Redstate suggested all liberal leaders needed to be assassinated and their followers murdered (us). Okay, okay, they DO post such comments regularly on rightwing forums evidently, but may I suggest one ponder one’s words carefully before posting?
Rich (in name only) in Reno
The wing nut wire service feed to Yahoo Comments is already branding the Wisconsin Sikh Temple Massacre “another of Obama’s False Flag Operations” designed to usher in nationwide gun confiscation, citing as proof that the shooter Wade Page was an “active service member involved in Psy-ops.”
No doubt the Republican Right will explain away this latest mosque arson in like manner.
Haydnseek
@Zagloba: Yep. I have aunts, uncles, and cousins in Missouri. Both of my parents are from there, and moved to Los Angeles before I was born. My show me state relatives won’t even talk to me, because facts, logic and reason are foreign concepts to them. The actor Hugh Laurie is right: “If you could reason with religious people, there would be no religious people.”
TexasMango
@beltane: The right wing of America is mostly made up of people who have been afraid that brown hordes, both domestic and foreign, have been coming to get them since 1965. President Obama’s election and changing demographics have convinced them that they were right all along. I expect them to get more dangerous over time.
MattMinus
@West of the Rockies (formerly Frank W.):
Red jerseys vs blue jerseys. The color of the shirt is the only difference between many of the folks here and your average freeper.
liberal
@West of the Rockies (formerly Frank W.):
Yeah, eliminationist rhetoric is offensive, but the fact is that the Republican Party _is_ a cancer on the body politic.
Mnemosyne
@West of the Rockies (formerly Frank W.):
TenguPhule is a well-known troll who’s trying to make it look like both sides do it. Ignore as everyone does.
@MattMinus:
Yeah, remember when those Democrats burned down a Baptist church? When was that, again, exactly? After all, both sides do it and the left is just as violent as the right, so you must have the links at your fingertips.
Tommybones
“By the way, I’m still waiting for folks to start claiming that the victims of yesterday’s temple shooting should have been armed.”
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Glenn Reynolds:
http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/148122/
Cassidy
@West of the Rockies (formerly Frank W.): Ummmm, becaause the entire Republican Party is a hate group. And, they are one bad incident away from inciting treason and civil war. The sooner we are rid of them, the better.
Mnemosyne
@MattMinus:
Also, too, don’t you find it to be even the tiniest bit of a co-inkydink that Michele Bachmann posts her letter to the Department of State that lumps Sikhs in with Muslims as the first action in her ongoing campaign against said “infiltration” and 6 weeks later a white supremacist attacks a Sikh temple? Or is it just one of those crazy, completely unrelated situations that nobody could have predicted because, hey, both sides do it, so Bachmann and Gohmert’s rantings about Sikhs and Muslims infiltrating the State Department couldn’t possibly influence someone to attack Sikhs?
MattMinus
@Mnemosyne:
You misread me. I’m talking about forum warriors and their styles, nothing else.
Mnemosyne
@MattMinus:
Uh-huh. That’s why you just happen to show up on any thread where racism is the subject and argue that whatever incident is under discussion must have a completely innocent explanation and anyone who sees racism in it is delusional. Because you don’t see color so therefore Republicans totally don’t use racism to promote their candidates and causes.
burnspbesq
@beltane:
You’ve got that exactly backwards. By calling it terrorism you legitimize it. You deny this clown the martyrdom he seeks by treating him no differently than any other arsonist.
Yutsano
@Mnemosyne: Nope. Totes not racist. And Matty is the ultimate arbiter!!
Joel
@MattMinus: Thanks for your insight!
Christ, what a douche.
gwangung
@MattMinus: Work harder on YOUR craft, oh wielder of words.
What you THINK you’re saying isn’t what’s the audience is hearing. And at some point, it may dawn on you that the problem isn’t in the listeners.
MattMinus
@Mnemosyne:
Ummm, I don’t know whose comment your referencing, but it’s clearly not mine.
@gwangung:
See above.I’m pretty sure the problem is with the readers,not the writing.
GO TEAM BLUE!
Applejinx
Yep. Fucking terrorists who say things like “I knew that my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God and his was an idol”.
Get the terrorists out of the government, out of the military, and stop the terrorist attacks.
Absolutely serious with this. It’s become clear religious tolerance has limits.
LanceThruster
@Dave:
This was a truly heroic and selfless act. What wonderfully remarkable though unbearably tragic example of what I’d like to think being a “true” American is (or to take it out of the nationalistic context, a truly exemplary human being).
I hope to learn more about this person.