A Dozen Americans Die in Non-Terrorist Killings

Friday and Saturday last week, it was safer to be a member of the American armed forces in Iraq than it was to be a resident of Atlanta or a church-goer in Brookfield, Wisconsin. In two separate incidents, pointless and spontaneous violence took twelve lives. There will be no changes in laws, just in courtroom procedure in Georgia. There will certainly be no curtailment of liberties. So, why is there worry when the murderers claim a political motive?

Brian Nichols was on trial Friday morning for rape, when he allegedly decided to take a deputy's gun and start shooting. A judge, a court reporter and a deputy died. While Mr. Nichols led law enforcement a merry chase, he managed to kill a US customs official as well. He surrendered quietly Saturday morning, and will no doubt be tried for murder and face death.

About an hour later, a church service in a town 15 minutes west of Milwaukee became the scene of a bigger mess. Terry Ratzmann entered, fired 22 rounds, and killed 7 worshipers before he turned the gun on himself. One only wishes that, if Mr. Ratzmann needed to do some shooting, he had shot himself first and saved the others.

The Sunday morning talk shows were full of Social Security chats, discussions on Secretary of State Rice possibly running for the White House (she said she wouldn't), and steroid use in baseball. Nowhere was there a talkinghead demanding greater controls on the activities of Americans in the name of security. And although America is a much more violent country than other developed nations, this is as it should be. Freedom demands governmental restraint. A little restraint from the population is the only solution to the problem of violence in America, not a government crackdown.

But if the names had not been Brian and Terry, but rather Abdullah and Mohammed, things would have been much different. One hesitates to call it racism, out of sheer optimism about the nature of the American people, but these two men killed more American civilians in a week-end than Osama bin Laden has since September 12, 2001. If Americans don't even think about reducing their freedoms to respond to these killers, they must find the courage to resist the same restrictions when the violence is motivated by hatred of US policy toward the Palestinians -- or whatever the excuse Fascislam is using these days.


© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
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