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7 Killed, 3 Critically Injured in Wisconsin Sikh Temple Shooting
New America Media / News Report
Published: Monday 6 August 2012
“Police are combing the nearby woods to see if any more suspects were hiding there, after some witnesses told them there was more than one shooter.”
At least seven people were killed and three critically injured during morning services Sunday by at least one gunman at the Oak Creek Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisc., near Milwaukee, in what law officials are investigating as an incidence of “domestic terrorism.”
None of the seven deceased nor those injured have yet been identified, but law officials said that one of the injured was a policeman who exchanged fire with the gunman. The injured are being treated at a Milwaukee hospital.
A witness at the scene told local reporters that temple president Satwant Singh Kaleka has been shot as he was trying to tackle the gunman. Other unconfirmed reports say that the temple priest also may have been among those shot.
Police are combing the nearby woods to see if any more suspects were hiding there, after some witnesses told them there was more than one shooter. Police evacuated the temple shortly after they arrived on the scene. Reports say several women were preparing food for the worshippers in the temple’s kitchen.
According to one news report, the shooter was a tall, white, heavily built male, with a “9/11” tattoo on his arm. He was wearing a sleeveless T-shirt. Police found two handguns inside the temple.
An officer who responded to the scene exchanged fire with the suspected gunman in the parking lot. The veteran officer was shot multiple times. Another officers shot the gunman.
Women and children were gathering for a meal before an 11:30 a.m. service when the shooting occurred. There are about 500 members of congregation attending, said officials.
The FBI is working with local police on the investigation.
Wisconsin's Gov. Scott Walker immediately issued a statement: “While the situation in Oak Creek continues to develop rapidly, we are working with the FBI and local law enforcement. Our hearts go out to the victims and their families, as we all struggle to comprehend the evil that begets this terrible violence.”
India’s Ambassador to the United States, Nirupama Rao, called the shootings a “tragic incident.” She described Sikhs as hard working and generous.
“Sikhs across the country today mourn with the families that have lost loved ones in the Milwaukee area Sikh Temple tragedy,” said Amar Shergill, a local attorney and spokesperson for the American Sikh Political Action Committee. “This is not the first time that our community has been forced to deal with assaults and murderous attacks, particularly since 9/11."
The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) condemned the shooting and said in a statement: "Houses of worship, like the gurdwara, are places of peace. Attacks at any of the nation’s houses of worship must be condemned by all Americans. This type of crime strikes at the very foundation of religious tolerance, the principle upon which this country was built."
14 comments on "7 Killed, 3 Critically Injured in Wisconsin Sikh Temple Shooting"
August 07, 2012 6:30am
It is no use pointing out that there is lots of violence within cities that have restrictive gun laws. They are easily brought into these cities on the sneak, from locales in America where there are few, if any, restrictions. And we all know this. So, gun control cannot be effective unless it is national, and strictly enforced.
This is not the "wild frontier"and we should stop pretending that it is. Most European nations have very restrictive gun laws, and as a result, they have much lower homicide rates. Unlike much of the NRA crowd, I do not have quaking fears of my own government. That doesn't mean I love it, or think it's magical or always benevolent. We know that the government has often lied to the public, and especially about wars, but I don't understand how people can fear and hate their own government so much that they feel they must arm themselves to "protect" themselves from it. If I felt that paranoid, I would simply emigrate and stop foaming at the mouth. The Second Amendment was not written to arm civilians against their own government, but at least partly to let the European imperialists know that we had a "standing army" that would resist any attempt to take us over. Well, we now have a standing army, and a Department of Defense, and it is more than well-funded, and we all know that. (And we were not fighting against the British, and they were not OUR nation, when the Bill of Rights was written.)
It is certainly time to repeal or re-write the Second Amendment, and end the tortured logic of the NRA crowd. Sportsmen do not need assault weapons or to carry handguns. I keep hearing about how a trained and armed individual could save the day against a madman with a gun, but they never discuss the utter chaos that could result if EVERYONE was armed and began firing away, in sheer panic, and in self-defense. There, the argument for being armed falls flat, so we should drop our fantasies of The Lone Ranger and face reality. Americans kill each other with impunity because guns are so readily available, and guns make it SO EASY to kill our fellow citizens.
August 07, 2012 2:52pm
Ron in NM,
So the reason we have drugs is because the locales in America where there are few, if any, restrictions are spreading the drugs into the inner cities? Strict enforcement is really working, Ron, with drugs. "This is not the 'wild frontier'." I'm guessing you don't live in Albuquerque, where the gang violence is off the charts.
August 07, 2012 3:20pm
EYEWITNESS reports say 4 shooters.
* * *
Sikh Shooting Ties Into DHS ‘Veterans as Terrorists’ Narrative
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Lone gunman identified as US Army vet while reports of multiple shooters ignored
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Monday, August 6, 2012
The tragic shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, which is now being treated as an act of domestic terrorism by the federal government, is set to be blamed on a US Army veteran, fitting perfectly the narrative pushed by the Department of Homeland Security that veterans are a terror threat on a par with Islamic extremists.
Sikh Shooting Ties Into DHS Veterans as Terrorists Narrative aap 4990 120806 SikhTemple 800x600
“The gunman who shot six people to death and wounded three others during a rampage at a Sikh temple in a Milwaukee suburb was an Army veteran who may have been a white supremacist, according to a law enforcement source involved in the investigation,” reports CNN.
The man was also described as having a “9/11″ tattoo on one arm, indicating to temple member Kanwardeep Singh Kaleka “that there’s some level of hate crime there.”
Of course, Sikhs adhere to a completely different religion than Muslims but that hasn’t stopped them falling victim to a number of racially charged attacks since September 11, 2011.
Despite the fact that a number of different eyewitnesses reported multiple shooters, the narrative of the lone gunman, a disgruntled US Army veteran, has now been fixed. This conveniently dovetails with recent efforts by the feds to demonize returning veterans as potential terrorists, which itself is part of the wider move to smear conservatives as domestic extremists.
August 07, 2012 3:24pm
Multiple Shooters:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYCurbSAsd4&feature=player_embedded#!
CNN, . . . will likely have to paste into browser to get there
August 07, 2012 3:25pm
WITNESS: Four Shooters
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9ecdSKi9_fs
Not, the official story now, . . . .
August 07, 2012 1:39am
The Sikhs have my favorite aspects to their religion: a ban on proselytizing and true generosity. Come to a Sikh gurdwara any time for a free quality meal and never hear a word about converting.
Gun caused disasters spark talk of gun control, but statistics, which are ignored in our society, show gun ownership puts the gun owner's family at greatest risk of death or injury from that gun, not some imagined bad guy.
August 07, 2012 2:31pm
Rich Nau, you are most likely quoting from the Kellermann study. Here's what a quick google search produced:
The oft cited Kellermann paper found a homeowner's gun was 43 times more likely to kill a family member, friend, or acquaintence, than it was used to kill someone in self-defense. Kellermann stated, "for every case of self-protection homicide involving a firearm kept in the home, there were 1.3 accidental deaths, 4.6 criminal homicides, and 37 suicides involving firearms." Florida State University professor Gary Kleck appropriately terms these ratios "nonsensical." (Targeting Guns: Firearms and Their Control, pp. 177-179, 1997)
Although this study was published in 1986 its findings continue to be uncritically cited in medical journals, government publications, and non-technical periodicals such as health newsletters, general interest magazines, op-ed pieces, letters-to-the editor, etc.
Not only is Kellermann's methodology flawed, but using the same approach for violent deaths in the home not involving a firearm, the risk factor more than doubles from 43 to 1, to 99 to 1.
August 07, 2012 2:42pm
So, Kellermann's same methodology for non-firearm related deaths in the home pushes 43 to 1 up to 99 to 1. That's a skewed study, Rich Nau. And this is a major point. Guns are political. I find I cannot trust a liberal on gun statistics. Hey, I'm liberal on some issues. But you know what I mean. The incidences of guns used as a deterrent to violence, not going as far as killing a burglar or attacker, Kleck says are under-reported down to as little as 4% of actual incidences. 96% of deterred violence, not reported. That goes along with the old adage; figures don't lie, but liars figure.
August 06, 2012 2:16pm
The only common denominator in these tragedies is guns in the hands of cuntrained civilians. The time has come to repeal the second amendment to the Constitution and disband the NRA which has now become the leading domestic terrorist organization in America.
August 06, 2012 4:36pm
Triumph181, the time has come, and more Americans are arming themselves by the droves. Five million gun sales a month. Why? It happens every time well-meaning gun grabbers start their rhetoric. Why? Because 262 million were killed by their own governments during the last century, and we don't trust you. We don't trust this administration. More people die in this country every year due to problems with cruise control than die in mass shootings. More people drown in their bathtubs. You are an alarmist. You promote dangerous policies. This is a horrible incident. It could have been much worse if there were not armed people confronting the gunman(s). It could have been worse than Aurora if there were no armed people at this temple. BTW, the Sikh religion has nothing to do with Islam, but people mistake it because of the turban. That is sad, a group is targeted because of ignorance. I tis a common mistake Americans make. New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, all have restrictive gun laws. In each case the crime has only gotten worse. I spoke yesterday with a couple from Chicago. They said the gangs are incredibly bad, about 40 murders every single night. 40 murders each night, but you do not hear it plastered on the front page because Chicago is disarmed. What hypocrites!
August 06, 2012 2:53pm
Triumph181, I had a letter printed in my local paper on Friday that mirrored your remarks. The on-line feedback was vitriolic to say the least. Terrorism is defined in the Oxford Dictionary as "the unofficial or unauthorized use of violence and intimidation in the attempt to achieve political gains." I believe we can safely label the NRA's actions as "official," as far as their tactics are concerned. Thanks for the "unauthorized" endorsement! I've already lost one friend to these insane culture wars. Nice to know others in cyberspace haven't all lost their minds as well.
August 06, 2012 4:54pm
Woetopoe, You are not the only one who has lost friends, although I'm not sure precisely what you mean by "insane culture wars." I am referring to the gang and cartel violence spilling across the border with Mexico into the southern States. The body count of this region exceeds both Iraq and Afghanistan. Those are official war zones, but we are not allowed to qualify here in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona or Southern California, although our body count exceeds them. I must say I'm fascinated by your attempt to connect the dots between the terrorism definition and the NRA, which failed to establish a logical nexus. To lose a mind, one must first have one? Maybe I presume too much. So you support a black market in guns. You wish that only criminals possess them, while law-abiding citizens are denied their self-defense. That is what you yearn for, your view of sanity. Prohibition didn't stop alcohol. The War on Drugs has only proliferated drugs. What do you really want? Cyberspace wants to know.
August 06, 2012 12:21pm
This latest tragedy hardly registered a blip the day after the fact. If seven "Christians" had been gunned down I'm reasonably certain the reaction would have been much stronger. Of course, "seven Christians" may have been "packing" themselves and thwarted the whole affair. Why, Jesus hisself is a card carrying member of the NRA. Gives a whole new spirit to the term "dead-eye."
August 06, 2012 5:07pm
It's sad this tragedy did not garner more attention, if for no other reason, for the wonderful opportunity it affords to instruct rednecks that Sikhs are not Muslims. Without more details, it's hard to discern if this was an Aurora copycat incident or an additional False Flag operation. In Aurora, I've got the police/fire audio tapes which give compelling evidence of a drill being conducted that went live. The police are discussing where the parking should be designated for the participants and their families!!! Brig. Gen. Benton K. Partin gave a lecture back in 1997, describing the Cold War style of takeover of a country. He classified we would see that we were entering the "period of escalating violence" leading to disarmament, followed by a complete martial law takeover. Gen. Partin was in his time one of our country's best cold warriors. The media proclaimed: "The Bear is dead." The wise said, "The Bear is loose." Mass shootings are a page from the annals of the COMINTERN's Program of the 3rd International. None are so blind as those who will not see.