A Senseless Tragedy

 

 

 

 

The Today programme (09:50) altered its running order and slotted in a clip of Jon Stewart talking about the murder of 9 black people in church by a white man.

Stewart told us that there was a ‘disparity of response’ towards this attack and an unwillingness to acknowledge that this was a terrorist attack.

Is that true?  This is how the BBC, which is scrupulous in reporting terror attacks accurately, back in the motherland reported the murders….

 

Charleston in shock over youngest ever gunman….Victim or Terrorist?

A Charleston youth in South Carolina is believed to be the youngest ever racially motivated mass killer after reportedly shooting nine churchgoers in an unprovoked massacre.

Dylann Roof, 21, a lone white male, took part in a prayer meeting at the church before opening fire upon the other people there.

His family said they were “devastated” at the news.

They say he was groomed. That makes him, in their eyes, a victim, rather than a criminal or terrorist.

A statement issued by Roof’s family said: “Dylann was a loving, kind, caring and affable young man.

“He never harboured any ill will against anybody nor did he ever exhibit any violent, extreme or radical views of any kind.

“Dylan’s tender years and naivety were it seems however exploited by persons unknown who, hiding behind the anonymity of the world wide web, targeted and befriended Dylann and engaged in a process of deliberate and calculated grooming of him.

“Whilst there it appears that Dylann fell under the spell of individuals who continued to prey on his innocence and vulnerability to the point where if the press reports are accurate he was ordered to carry out this dreadful attack by so-called white supremacist handlers and leaders too cowardly to do their own dirty work.

“We are all naturally utterly devastated and heartbroken by the unspeakable tragedy that now appears to have befallen our family.”

A spokeman from CageUSA, Jeb Schickelgruber, stated that he had met Roof many times over two years and had engaged in email discussions with him.  Schickelgruber said that Roof had been under constant pressure from the FBI and other security agencies to act as an informant for them and was increasingly desperate to escape the harassment.

He stated that “You might be surprised to know that the Dylann that I knew was extremely kind, extremely gentle, extremely soft spoken, was the most humble young person that I knew…he was a beautiful person.’

Roof suffered from the “suffocating domestic policies aimed at turning a person into an informant but which prevent a person from fulfilling their basic life needs would have left a lasting impression on Dylann. He desperately wanted to use the system to change his situation, but the system ultimately rejected him.”

He further said the government has created a “narrative of injustice” where Southern Whites are persecuted and demonised and inevitably “felt like outsiders.” He called for a radical overhaul of the system.

Our reporter in the US, Mark Mardell, tells us that ‘The alleged murderer was clearly a white conservative, but there is very little to suggest that he adhered to a hard-line interpretation of his ideology or that he had political or racial motives.

Still, searching for patterns and for answers is part of what it is to be human. I loathe cliche, but perhaps, for once, this is a “senseless tragedy”, devoid of deeper meaning.’

Governor Nikki Hayley described Roof as a “typical young man” and said there had been no signs he had been radicalised.

The city’s mayor Joseph Riley, a family friend of the Roofs, said: “It is disturbing to see how relaxed he looks in the photographs allegedly taken just prior to his attack.

“He looks at peace. It’s like he’s ready to go and meet his maker. This is a clear indication of just how successful the evil white supremacist groomers have been in poisoning and brainwashing Dylann and kids like him.”

Mark Mardell analyses the background to the killing and asks what could drive a young American youth to do such an appalling act?

“I have spent the past four weeks in the US meeting current and former white supremacist goup members, the Klu Klux Klan’s leader and the controversial comedian Jon Stewart for a BBC Three documentary.

The film explores the politics and complexities around race, identity and religion and what it means to be white and blue collar in an ever more multicultural America, through the experiences of young white southeners.

I met young people who say they are rejected by the country of their birth, the USA, because of their Southern white identity; one woman told me: “It’s like being rejected by your mother.”

Here in Charleston itself  I met a group of young people who say the stigmatisation and discrimination against Whites rightwingers has left them angry.

Away from the suburbs, I met two white conservative professional women living middle-class lives.

One says nobody at work knows she is a Redneck girl.

She only wears her bikini top and cutoff denim shorts after work and at weekends because she says she would be unemployable if she wore them at work.

She is a secret Redneck. She told me she is not the only one.

Anti-racist groups in America say it’s visible rightwing white women who are bearing the brunt of a rise in discrimnation and verbal and physical attacks against conservatives.

Since the the Dylann Roof shooting there has been a 70% rise in recorded  attacks against rightwing individuals and ‘Redneck’ bars.

Among the conservatives I met, the most common emotions I encountered were deep hurt and resentment. Some have the sense that they are being asked to prove their loyalty to a country and a system that only wants to tolerate them as the last vestiges of a dying breed.

After the Charleston attack, we were led to believe “Je Suis Emanuel” had united a country.

In America however, I found a country struggling to create an environment where all its citizens can belong and flourish.

Ultimately many may say that White Rednecks are the real victims of this attack.”