Pittsburgh Cop-Killer a Right-Wing Extremist

[oldiebutgoodie]

I love the police. They are my heros for standing between us regular folks and anarchy, a return to a "Wild West" whoever shoots first wins type of society. They are the heros who show up when there is disaster. They defend us from crime. They safeguard our rights (and after attending many demonstrations in the 1970's, I can personally attest to police making certain that I was able to freely exercise my First Amendment rights). I guess I really do hero-worship law enforcement and that's even aside from the fact that I have been good friends with many of our local cops.

Anyone who would hurt a cop is scum in my book.

It seems that cop-killing is now to be justified by right-wing politics and egged on by right-wing extremist media figures. And now one right-wing extremist nutball has so taken that message to heart that he murdered three police officers. The screed that guided this dangerous mental case includes much hate speech against blacks, Jews, race-mixing, and against anyone who might espouse a live-and-let-live attitude toward their fellow humans (i.e., those not driven into a frenzy of anti-Semitism and racist hatred by the bizarre nutty conspiracy theories of the extreme right wing).

Think a million Timothy McVeighs with a dangerous grudge. That's the dream of the extremist right wing.

Read about this particular pathetic excuse for a human being here and also here.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/sDIRHnhQ9nY&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/sDIRHnhQ9nY&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1</a>

FROM "TRUE CRIME REPORT":

Richard Poplawski's buddy Eddie Perkovic told the press that his friend feared that President Obama would ban guns. Perkovic seemed to think this had some bearing on the crime for which Poplawski stands accused: the shooting deaths of Pittsburgh, PA police officers Eric Kelly, Stephen Mayhle and Paul Sciullo III.

According to the Associated Press, Poplawski was wearing a bulletproof vest and 'laying in wait' for the cops early Saturday when law enforcement responded to a domestic disturbance call at the residence Poplawski shared with his parents. Between SWAT teams who responded to the standoff that ensued after the initial gun battle and the shooter himself, more than 100 rounds were fired, overall. Poplawski suffered non-fatal injuries to his extremities.

Eddie Perkovic was interviewed after the tragedy, and he said that his friend feared "the Obama gun ban" that he felt was "on its way." Poplawski also "didn't like our rights being infringed upon."

[...]

Eddie Perkovic, for his part, clearly must share some of Poplawski's views, as his profile revealed a fear of "Zionists" and some kind of ethnic takeover of America. Among Perkovic's recommended reads were "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" and The Turner Diaries.

The longer I do this crime blogging thing, the more I try to shy away both from editorializing and from fear-mongering. But I can't help but feel we'll hear from more Richard Poplawskis in the years to come. There are changes happening in the world that they, to say the least, don't like very much. After all, prior to 9/11/01, the worst modern act of terrorism committed on American soil was committed by Americans. And one of those Americans, Tim McVeigh, happened to have pages from The Turner Diaries with him when he was arrested.

FROM ANOTHER SOURCE:

We're gathering more information about Richard Polawski, the 23-year-old man who decided to kill three Pittsburgh police officers and wound three others because it appears he was afraid they -- at the behest of the Obama administration -- were going to take his guns away. (Dude, they definitely are now.)

Seems he was laying in wait in a carefully planned ambush:

Richard Poplawski, 23, met officers at the doorway and shot two of them in the head immediately, Harper said. An officer who tried to help the two also was killed.

Poplawski, armed with an assault rifle and two other guns, then held police at bay for four hours as the fallen officers were left bleeding nearby, their colleagues unable to reach them, according to police and witnesses. More than 100 rounds were fired by the SWAT teams and Poplawski, Harper said.

I think it is important to note that "conservative" or "Republican" do not equal "right-wing extremist" which is what this freak is.

[oldiebutgoodie]

Shooter In Pittsburgh Cop Killings Held Strongly Anti-Semitic And Racist Beliefs

Cleveland, Ohio, April 6, 2009  … Richard Poplawski, the man charged with killing three Pittsburgh police officers during a standoff over the weekend, held virulently anti-Semitic and racist beliefs that he openly shared with others on white supremacist online discussion forums, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

"This was a troubled young man who was deeply infected with anti-Semitism and racism and who bought into conspiracy theories about Jews and other racial minorities and the government," said Shari Kochman, ADL Allegheny Regional Director, based in Cleveland.  "He was able to obtain confirmation of his views by sharing them with like-minded white supremacist sites and joining their online community of haters."

ADL's Center on Extremism, which monitors anti-Semitic and racist groups, said Poplawski's increasingly conspiracy-oriented postings expressed his belief that Jews controlled the U.S. government and his conviction that some sort of collapse of the economic and social order of the U.S. was inevitable.

On its Web site, the League has posted details of Poplawski's anti-Semitic and racist posts to extremist Web sites, including Stormfront, the world's largest online neo-Nazi discussion forum. In his posts, Poplawski exhibited rage against racial minorities, Jews, the government and police.  According to ADL, Poplawski also frequented "Infowars," the Web site of the right-wing conspiracy radio talk-show host Alex Jones, where he shared links to its stories with others and sometimes posted his own messages to the site.

"White supremacists frequently lash out violently against ethnic, racial and religious minorities, but far too often police are targets of these hateful extremists as well," said Ms. Kochman.  "Once again, this shooting underlines the danger of Internet hate sites, whose messages can provide solace to potentially violent individuals and even prompt a lone-wolf perpetrator into action.  The shocking murders of Officers Sciullo, Mayhle and Kelly are a terrible reminder of what can happen when extremists decide to violently act out their bigotry."

More information on Stormfront and other white supremacist groups and trends are available on the League's Web site at www.adl.org/learn.

SOURCE

[oldiebutgoodie]

I found this interesting paragraph:

The discussion of the shootings at Stormfront, which began with speculations that the gunman would turn out to be "some non-white" or "a jew," then turned to suspicions that the recent rash of shootings is a "setup" to push through gun control legislation, has become oddly muted since the revelation that Poplawski appears to be one of theirs.

LINK

[nonesuche]

How is this different than the extremist muslims?

[oldiebutgoodie]

How is this different than the extremist muslims?

Sorry, I'm not sure how your question relates to the topic of this thread. Maybe you could show that? Thanks.

[nonesuche]

How is this different than the extremist muslims?

Sorry, I'm not sure how your question relates to the topic of this thread. Maybe you could show that? Thanks.

it relates for me and resonates for others oldie, not to worry.

[A's Fever]

Extremist muslims?  This doesn't relate or resonate for me at all.  I don't see any relevance to the thread topic at all.

Regarding right wing extremists, I recently recevied a phone call from a relative of my ex-hubby, whom I don't really know and haven't seen in many years.

She and her hubby live in a rural state and are preparing for the coming wars - race or religious, hard to tell, I was shocked and didn't ask any questions.  They have grown and are stockpiling hundreds of pounds of potatoes and other food.  They are fundy Christians though not affiliated with any church and they listen to talk radio. They believe Obama is a Muslim.  They believe God told them to grow food and get chickens and that He said "not another day can be wasted".  They want to gather all the "family" (that they don't even know) around when the time comes to be together during the coming ordeal.

I was told that I will have to carefully plan my route because the ubiquitous "they" are installing gates and barriers along roads.  When I objected that I  haven't seen any such thing she said perhaps it is because I live in a city and "they" are going to "corral" all of us there to "control" us.

Not saying these people are armed but I didn't dare ask!  Point is, it's out there, it's real, its scary!  Mix a little religious fundamentalism, lack of education and right wing hate speech and you have a powder keg. 

[nonesuche]

A's my overall point is that extremists exist in all faiths as well as those who blend anti-semitism with religion.

It sounds as if your relative is a fundamentalist and yes those do exist and typically aren't the highest educated however, you might be surprised to know I had to deal with an exec in my company who had habitual issues with sexual discrimination due to their own fundamentalist beliefs. You might be surprised the companies that employ individuals like this, perhaps not ready to run to the hills for cover but otherwise very traditional to the extreme and not Obama supporters at all.

I happen to live on the east coast where most of the muslim extremist sleeper cells are growing, so my perspective is equally concerned regarding those factions. I really do not see much difference between the extremists, all seem to have some foundation they feel validates their violence in religion right or wrong, and being from the south I can assure you that the KKK does and some even leaders in their churches to this day. In my mind the KKK kept pure rascism and anti-semitism alive in our country, even as we elect our first minority president.

It doesn't have to resonate with you, just as all others post doesn't have to find communion with me - it's okay if you don't agree.

[oldiebutgoodie]

Glenn Beck and The Consequences of Crazy Talk

Right off the bat, allow me to be perfectly clear: I don't want Glenn Beck or Sean Hannity or any of the other far-right talkers to be silenced or fired, that is unless their corporate bosses decide they ought to be silenced or fired.

[...]

That said it's becoming increasingly evident that the recent shooting sprees aren't just isolated incidents, but are actually part of a dangerous trend. And regardless of whether or not there's a direct connection with the usual cable news and talk radio suspects, broadcasters like Beck ought to take responsibility for some of their more incendiary remarks -- remarks which appear to be ginning up the darker, uglier, fanatical tendencies in an already militaristic, jingoistic, reactionary audience.

I don't think I'm alone in this. For example:

"...in this day and age where we have a lot of fanatics out there, I find the whole concept unbelievably irresponsible. Did you not think that there are people that are going to see this and maybe take an idea like that and run with it? Did you think about that? [...] You've got to -- do you not have a responsibility to think of the impact, the impressions that could be made on people?"

That was Sean Hannity on October 26, 2006 interviewing the director of the mock-documentary The Death of a President, a film that dramatized the potential aftermath of a successful assassination attempt against George W. Bush. Hannity was saying in no uncertain terms that merely discussing a violent act might encourage a viewer to do something crazy, and so the purveyor of such a discussion is being dangerously irresponsible.

Oddly enough, I agree with Hannity in theory, though not in terms of context. Hannity and others on the far-right seem to crap their cages only when it comes to works of make-believe. Video games, Teletubbies, Spongebob. Yet real-life cable news networks, according to Beck and others, should be allowed to broadcast whatever insanity happens to achieve the biggest ratings regardless of taste, standards, ethics or professional responsibility.

To wit: on the Monday edition of his FOX News show, Glenn Beck was outraged that anyone would look to his militaristic rants and crying jags -- specifically his Obama-is-coming-for-our-guns hysteria -- as a possible contributing factor in last weekend's Pittsburgh shooting spree during which an ultra-far-right maniac murdered several police officers in cold blood because he feared his guns would be taken away by President Obama:

"Blaming anyone except the nut job for what happened in Pittsburgh is crazy."

Okay, but here's the problem. The Glenn Beck who said this on Monday is clearly at odds with the Glenn Beck of Spring 2008 who blamed the video game Grand Theft Auto for "training our kids to be killers" and "our sons to treat women like whores."

I'm confused. I thought that blaming anyone except the "nut jobs" would be "crazy."

[...]

So I wonder what Beck 2008 would say about the following pre-scripted statement by Beck 2009 on his FOX News Channel television program:

There's only two ways for this movie to end. Either the economy becomes like the walking dead, or you drive a stake through the heart of the bloodsuckers.

For the sake of clarification, prior to calling for the "bloodsuckers" to be figuratively murdered, Beck showed a graphic of President Obama and other Democrats photoshopped to look like vampires. President Obama, according to Beck 2009, ought to have a stake driven through his heart.

[...]

The news media, either in the form of commentary or hard news, has a responsibility to remain within certain ethical boundaries, primarily because it operates in the context of the real world -- not to mention the prestige of being the only industry to be specifically listed in the Bill of Rights. Viewers, listeners and readers, for better or worse, take the news seriously because it's packaged and sold as an authoritative, credible and accurate delivery method for understanding and observing events both seen and unseen.

So it stands to reason that people might take Beck or Michele Bachmann seriously when they say, in the context of a news network and with convincing zeal, that President Obama is a Manchurian candidate and a Nazi who's shoving dissenters and children into concentration camps, and therefore we have an obligation to become "armed and dangerous" in order to save America.

At the same time, however, this form of commentary happens to be constitutionally protected speech and press. But even First Amendment absolutists will admit that freedom and responsibility aren't mutually exclusive. If you broadcast these sorts of outlandish ideas -- especially in a news forum -- you have a responsibility to own both the speech and its consequences. And if Beck chooses not to own what he says, he probably shouldn't be so outraged when people call him on his insanity or his lack of credibility or his unethical behavior.

MORE...

[oldiebutgoodie]

Is the extremist right-wing echo chamber inciting violence?

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/3r1WYCAoHsE&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/3r1WYCAoHsE&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1</a>

[oldiebutgoodie]

A violent nation

One of the big themes on right-wing radio and television talk shows now is that the Obama administration is getting ready to repeal the Second Amendment.

Even though there is absolutely no basis in fact for this statement, sales of firearms and ammunition have skyrocketed since Barack Obama was elected president. According to the FBI, there have been 1.2 million more requests for background checks of potential gun buyers from November 2008 to February 2009 than there were from November 2007 to February 2008. That's a total of 5.5 million requests.

In a nation that has more firearms than people, this is a dangerous trend.

Granted, virtually all gun owners in this country obey the rules and don't use their firearms for anything more than hunting, target shooting or collecting. But President Obama isn't coming for anyone's guns. The National Rifle Association won that battle years ago, and the Obama administration has too much on its plate right now to pick a fight with one of the most powerful lobby groups in Washington.

But when you put together a bad economy, the implosion of conservative movement that has left its followers feeling betrayed, isolated and defeated, and the right-wingers in the media whipping their readers and listeners into a frenzy of panic and fear, you get a recipe for tragedy.

You get three Pittsburgh police officers killed and two others wounded after a heavily armed man began firing at them as they responded to a domestic dispute call on Saturday morning.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, a friend of the alleged shooter, 22-year-old Richard "Pop" Poplawski, said that Poplawski "always said that if someone tried to take his weapons away he would do what his forefathers told him to do and defend himself" and that Poplawski was opposed to Obama's election, "which he thought would result in the loss of his rights." Poplawski said he bought his guns "because he felt the quality of life was being diminished."

You get 13 people gunned down at the American Civic Association in Binghamton, N.Y., by a 41-year-old Vietnamese immigrant before he killed himself on Friday morning.

[...]

You get more than 50 people dead in the past month around the United States in mass shootings and their aftermaths. Shootings that have happened in homes and health care centers. Shootings that involved domestic disputes and workplace grievances. Shootings where the killer knew his victims and shootings where the killings were random.

There have been so many killings in so many different corners of America that it hardly seems shocking any more. Over the years, we've had mass shootings in schools and shopping malls, in churches and restaurants. It's gone from an unthinkable aberration to just another news story.

This is where we are now as a nation. We are killing each other too easily. Due to the steady erosion of what used to be called the American Dream -- the land of opportunity, where anyone can make it if they really want to -- people are tense, angry, fearful and at the breaking point.

What happens when the dream clashes with reality?

It would be too easy to blame guns. New Hampshire and Vermont have high rates of gun ownership, yet were recently ranked first and second, respectively, on the list of safest states in America.

That, we think, has more to do with the culture of northern New England than the number of guns out there. There is still a strong sense of community here, people still do look out for one another and violence is not seen as an acceptable way of settling disputes.

Still, given the darkening economic clouds and the fear that is being whipped up by unscrupulous people for ratings or political gain, there is no assurance that the next mass shooting won't happen here. And that should scare us all.

LINK

[nonesuche]

I love the police. They are my heros for standing between us regular folks and anarchy, a return to a "Wild West" whoever shoots first wins type of society. They are the heros who show up when there is disaster. They defend us from crime. They safeguard our rights (and after attending many demonstrations in the 1970's, I can personally attest to police making certain that I was able to freely exercise my First Amendment rights). I guess I really do hero-worship law enforcement and that's even aside from the fact that I have been good friends with many of our local cops.

Anyone who would hurt a cop is scum in my book.

It seems that cop-killing is now to be justified by right-wing politics and egged on by right-wing extremist media figures. And now one right-wing extremist nutball has so taken that message to heart that he murdered three police officers. The screed that guided this dangerous mental case includes much hate speech against blacks, Jews, race-mixing, and against anyone who might espouse a live-and-let-live attitude toward their fellow humans (i.e., those not driven into a frenzy of anti-Semitism and racist hatred by the bizarre nutty conspiracy theories of the extreme right wing).

Think a million Timothy McVeighs with a dangerous grudge. That's the dream of the extremist right wing.

Read about this particular pathetic excuse for a human being here and also here.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/sDIRHnhQ9nY&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/sDIRHnhQ9nY&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1</a>

FROM "TRUE CRIME REPORT":

Richard Poplawski's buddy Eddie Perkovic told the press that his friend feared that President Obama would ban guns. Perkovic seemed to think this had some bearing on the crime for which Poplawski stands accused: the shooting deaths of Pittsburgh, PA police officers Eric Kelly, Stephen Mayhle and Paul Sciullo III.

According to the Associated Press, Poplawski was wearing a bulletproof vest and 'laying in wait' for the cops early Saturday when law enforcement responded to a domestic disturbance call at the residence Poplawski shared with his parents. Between SWAT teams who responded to the standoff that ensued after the initial gun battle and the shooter himself, more than 100 rounds were fired, overall. Poplawski suffered non-fatal injuries to his extremities.

Eddie Perkovic was interviewed after the tragedy, and he said that his friend feared "the Obama gun ban" that he felt was "on its way." Poplawski also "didn't like our rights being infringed upon."

[...]

Eddie Perkovic, for his part, clearly must share some of Poplawski's views, as his profile revealed a fear of "Zionists" and some kind of ethnic takeover of America. Among Perkovic's recommended reads were "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" and The Turner Diaries.

The longer I do this crime blogging thing, the more I try to shy away both from editorializing and from fear-mongering. But I can't help but feel we'll hear from more Richard Poplawskis in the years to come. There are changes happening in the world that they, to say the least, don't like very much. After all, prior to 9/11/01, the worst modern act of terrorism committed on American soil was committed by Americans. And one of those Americans, Tim McVeigh, happened to have pages from The Turner Diaries with him when he was arrested.

FROM ANOTHER SOURCE:

We're gathering more information about Richard Polawski, the 23-year-old man who decided to kill three Pittsburgh police officers and wound three others because it appears he was afraid they -- at the behest of the Obama administration -- were going to take his guns away. (Dude, they definitely are now.)

Seems he was laying in wait in a carefully planned ambush:

Richard Poplawski, 23, met officers at the doorway and shot two of them in the head immediately, Harper said. An officer who tried to help the two also was killed.

Poplawski, armed with an assault rifle and two other guns, then held police at bay for four hours as the fallen officers were left bleeding nearby, their colleagues unable to reach them, according to police and witnesses. More than 100 rounds were fired by the SWAT teams and Poplawski, Harper said.

I think it is important to note that "conservative" or "Republican" do not equal "right-wing extremist" which is what this freak is.

I did some reading regarding this case and my issue really began with what I bolded above which I do not think it accurate.

Did you even read the family's account of what happened and why? His mother called the police due to feeling threatened within an argument with this obviously mentally ill son, over his dogs urinating in her home. When the police arrived, she didn't inform them he was armed to the teeth. Furthermore the 911 operator didn't inform the officers he was armed either, a clear lapse in their duties with an enormous cost to human life.

I abhor killing police or uniformed LE just as you do, but I cannot take the leap that you are taking, to call this a right wing conspiracy launched and abetted by Glen Beck or any other republican you might dislike.

I never believed in owning a gun until this decade, now I do and it's for safety reasons. As a widow and single mother, I don't trust that I can protect myself within my home without access to a gun. Does that make me some right-wing extremist? Do I think Obama has the right to tell me I cannot own a gun? No I don't think he does nor do I want that privilege stripped away from me.

This 'cop killer' as you refer to him was perhaps an extremist but it was a domestic violence event that spurred the entire encounter. This happens all over the US on a daily basis, had the 911 dispatcher executed their job competently, then the police would have known he was armed.

I don't buy this is anyone's fault but the shooter's. If anything, what role did his mother play in his interests in life? Was he mentally ill? If so, alert someone, have an intervention but get some help. If he had physically threatened her prior, why didn't she have him arrested long before?

As for his stockpiling food, etc and believing we could be facing another great Depression, well lock me up too oldie, I began employing an austerity budget just after xmas when it became apparent that we might indeed face another depression. I also have a good friend who has been the CFO of a bank for many years who advised me to arm myself, stockpile food and other essentials and prepare for the worst last December - it frightened me to pieces too, but he's a pretty sane human and he's working in banking all of his life as well as being a Duke grad and devoted husband and father.

Not all of us are extremists who feel we could have a disastrous event in our economy. How many of you feel comfy knowing China now holds our economic fate in their hands??? I don't, I wish to heaven we weren't having to borrow from the Chinese, but it is what it is.

The mother of this man should have reported him long before this event, long before. We see people acting out in this economy for it's extremely stressful and frightening. Frankly I'd rather die than end up living in the streets myself, but maybe I'm just the only honest one on this thread.


http://www.wpxi.com/news/19109062/detail.html

Grandmother Of Slaying Suspect Says He’s Troubled By Economy
Posted: 4:45 pm EDT April 6, 2009
Updated: 6:58 pm EDT April 6, 2009

PITTSBURGH -- The man accused in a four-hour standoff with police that left three officers dead and several wounded told his grandmother he was troubled by current events.

Richard Poplawski, 23, is charged with three counts of criminal homicide in the shooting deaths of Pittsburgh police officers Paul Sciullo II, Stephen Mayhle and Eric Kelly.

Police said Poplawski ambushed Sciullo and Mayhle when he responded to a domestic disturbance call at his residence in the Stanton Heights section of the city. Kelly was later killed during a siege of the residence, police said.

Poplawski’s grandmother, Katherine Scott, told Channel 11 that her grandson felt the United States was on its way to civil unrest.

“He believes civil unrest is coming with the high inflation that’s coming,” Scott said.

She said Poplawski had strong political and social views and often spoke of being prepared for a repeat of the Great Depression.

“He stockpiled food can goods, like spam, tuna, green beans, carrots,” said Scott.

"What set him off I don't know. The only thing I can think of is his mother called the police to have him removed for four or five days till she got through her hardships," Scott said.

Scott didn't give her daughter's personal details, only to say her daughter was having difficulty dealing with four dogs in the house.

It was initially reported that Poplawski called police after she and her son argued about dogs urinating in the home.

When Pittsburgh Police officers arrived at the house, its been learned Margaret Poplawski opened the door to let police in, then ran for cover when the gunfire started.

"She stayed down in the basement although she was shot in the foot. It's a splinter. They didn't treat it, what they did was give her antibiotics," Scott said.

It's unclear whether the bullet that allegedly struck Poplawski was fired by police or her son during the gun battle.

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