Month: June 2009

Remembering A Hero: Stephen Tyrone Johns

— June 11: Make a Donation to the Johns Family

— USHMM Donation Link

— USHMM Tribute to Stephen Tyrone Johns

— June 11: National Association of Security Companies Mourns Security Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns for Heroic Actions at the Holocaust Museum

— June 17: Michigan Rep. Conyers Helps Slain Holocaust Museum Guard’s Relatives Attend Funeral

Sudan: New Links to Hezbollah and Hamas – IRD’s Faith McDonnell

Hezbollah and Hamas: The Sudanese Connection – by Faith McDonnell

— “perpetrating genocide on its own people does not by itself satisfy the ruling National Congress Party in Sudan. Stories have surfaced recently connecting Sudan with Hezbollah and Hamas. They give weight to numerous claims that the radical Islamist regime of Omar el Bashir in Khartoum is involved with terrorists around the world. Sudan’s genocidal humanitarian disasters have long been the focus of the Sudan policy of both the United States government and American activists. Sudan’s active role in global terrorism has not. But both deserve focus because both are methods by which Khartoum hopes to bring about an Arabized Shari’a state, an Islamized Africa, and eventually, a worldwide Islamic Caliphate.”

Tennessee: Cowert and Schlesselman Court Ruling – “Judge won’t toss evidence in Obama plot”

— Memphis, Tennessee’s Commercial Appeal: “Judge won’t toss evidence in Obama plot”
— “A federal judge has refused to throw out prosecution evidence against two white supremacists charged with plotting to kill President Barack Obama and dozens of other black people.”
— “The ruling by U.S. Dist. Judge J. Daniel Breen means prosecutors can show a trial jury the guns, swords, computer files and other items seized from Daniel Cowart and Paul Schlesselman when they were arrested late last year. Breen also refused to dismiss statements Cowart and Schlesselman made to federal investigators.”

– See previous R.E.A.L. reports on this:
– Tennessee: Updated News Reports on Court Proceedings Against Daniel Cowart and Paul Schlesselman in Terrorist Plot Against Obama and Black Americans
– Other R.E.A.L. reports:
https://www.realcourage.org/2009/04/april-court-dates/
https://www.realcourage.org/2009/04/trial-charges-remain/

Virginia: Five now arrested in York mob beating linked to hate group – Ku Klux Klan

(U.S.) Virginia: Five now arrested in York mob beating linked to hate group – Ku Klux Klan
— “Two more people have been arrested in connection with an assault on York’s waterfront late last month that has been linked to a gang believed affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan.”
— “The arrests of Norris Domanque and Jeffrey Reed bring to five the number of people facing felony charges of malicious wounding by mob and gang participation, in addition to misdemeanor assault.”
— “Kayla Harris, Paul Harris and Robert Williams were arrested May 30. ”
— “Barbara Cooke, a York-Poquoson prosecutor handling the case, said in court last week that the larger group made anti-gay and anti-Asian slurs and references to ‘311,’ which is believed to be a code for Ku Klux Klan. According to some Internet sites, the reference is to ‘k’ as the 11th letter of the alphabet, times three.”

DC – US Holocaust Memorial Museum Attack: Additional Reports

— Redacted FBI affidavit (PDF – 95KB)
— Document: Criminal Complaint Against James W. von Brunn (PDF – 1.5MB)
— Washington Post: Holocaust Museum Shooter Could Face Death Penalty
— Washington Times: Man, 88, charged with murder in museum shooting

— Daily Telegraph: White supremacist Holocaust Museum gunman charged with murder of guard who helped him
— “The black security guard shot to death at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington by an 88-year-old white supremacist had held open the door for his killer, investigators said on Thursday”
— NY Post report
— AP photos – to those who don’t understand why we must challenge all hate with love – a graphic reminder (photo 1, photo 2):
— AP: White supremacist charged with Holocaust Museum murder
— “Critically injured in a hospital bed Thursday, the 88-year-old white supremacist was charged with murdering Steven T. Johns, the black guard.”
— “Witnesses say he was wearing a confederate soldier’s cap and a long coat”
— Other Locations Believed To Have Been Targets for Holocaust Memorial Shooter

— Stephen T. Johns “Hailed A Hero”
— Holocaust museum closed for day to mark shooting, Additional WUSA report
— Holocaust Museum No Stranger To Anti-Semitism
— Jewish groups say attack is a ‘wake-up call’
— At a Solemn Memorial, a Moment of Deadly Violence
— Friends, Co-workers Remember Security Guard Killed in Museum Shooting
— Gunman kills guard at museum
— Alleged Holocaust Museum Shooter Had Given Up Hate Site, Planned Other Attacks
— Holocaust Museum shooter suspect served time in prison
— Suspect spewed hatred, convicted in ’80s plot
— Shooting suspect’s history of seething anger
— Holocaust Museum Shooting Suspect Had Been Growing More Hateful and Desperate
— A Suspect’s Long History of Hate, and Signs of Strain
— Von Brunn: “It’s time to kill all the Jews.”
— “Von Brunn apparently supported himself through much of the 1980s and ’90s by distributing copies of the Spotlight, the Liberty Lobby’s racist newspaper”
— Von Brunn: “It’s better to be strong than right… Crowds hate good guys.”

Iran woman Aida Shirazi forced to live “double life” because of Islamist extremism

(Iran) Tehran student forced to live double life
— “Music student Aida Shirazi is thoroughly Westernised – but in public she must play the part of
an obedient Islamic woman”
— “she knows that if she wears anything too short, or too tight, she will fall foul of the Ershad, the
morality police who have cracked down on un-Islamic conduct since President Ahmadinejad came to power”
— “Ms Shirazi’s personal freedoms have been curtailed in other ways in the past four years”

DC: Witnesses Say Holocaust Memorial Museum Attacker Wore Confederate Soldier’s Cap

DC – US Holocaust Memorial Museum Attacker Wore Confederate Soldiers Cap, Witnesses Say
— “Witnesses say he was wearing a confederate soldier’s cap and a long coat”

— DC area FOX 5 News reports:
— “Witnesses say he was wearing a confederate soldier’s cap and a long coat, which he may have worn to conceal what police describe as an early-1900s rifle. Seconds later, there was gunfire.”

Maryland: Halt to Distribution of Brochures with Confederate Flags in Schools

Maryland – Cumberland area: “History of racial tension not behind nixing of Confederate flag brochures”
— Cumberland Times-News reports on  Cumberland Historic Cemetery Organization getting approval last year on brochures with Confederate flags
— “But in April, after 1,800 brochures had been printed and delivered to two middle schools, Superintendent Bill AuMiller changed his mind.”
— Per news report, brochure also states: “During the first half of the 20th Century the Confederate Flag enjoyed renewed popularity”
— Robin Wood: “That flag was used for the intimidation of African Americans who were out there trying to enjoy their constitutional rights.”