I awoke this past Saturday around noon. Stumbled to the living room and flicked on the TV. I saw images of many police and police cars and thought it was another mass shooting somewhere. They have become so commonplace in this country one becomes blasé to their existence. This wasn't just another mass shooting, this happened in my city, Pittsburgh. The Tree of Life Synagogue was invaded by a Neo-Nazi terrorist who murdered 11 innocent people at their Saturday morning service simply because they were Jewish. There were 6 people wounded, including 4 police officers.
I live about 15 miles from the city limits. I have been by the Tree of Life Synagogue hundreds of times. It is in a beautiful part of the city called Squirrel Hill. The neighborhood is culturally diverse. It houses an extremely vital Jewish population. The houses and streets are lovely. The stores and small businesses are all local and it's the shining gem of the city.
I sat at the TV numbly watching the coverage, absolutely floored as to what was happening. People were slaughtered in their sacred place of worship simply because of their religion. This happened several years ago in Charleston South Carolina at a black Baptist church because the worshippers were black. The hatred in the USA is toxic. I can't understand what makes a man hate another man.
I don't want to understand.
The murderer at The Tree of Life used an AR-15 assault military type rifle to butcher his defenseless victims. Why do people need these? They are nothing but killing machines. Almost every mass murder in the US in the last several years has 2 common denominators, the AR-15 and angry white males. This killer hated Jews. He was screaming he had to kill all the Jews because they were killing his people. What the hell was talking about? He had been radicalized by ultra right wing websites that the Jews were the cause of all the problems in this country and were financing immigrants to come here and destroy white people.
The hatred and anger are at an all time high here and there is one answer why. The bastard that occupies the White House. He lies about everything. In this lie, he claimed George Soros and Jewish financiers were behind an immigrant caravan headed to the USA from Honduras and Guatemala. These people are fleeing horrible violence in these countries for a better life. They are poor and have nothing. They are no threat to our way of life. The lies about this Caravan by Trump set off the murderer and now 11 wonderful folks are dead.
Somebody has to speak out, where are the leaders people can trust? We need a Bobby Kennedy, a Martin Luther King, an Abraham Lincoln. There has to be someone out there that can lead and turn this around. If not, there will continue to be more Tree of Life's and it will be worse. Hate begets hate.
This is a list of the dead from the tragedy. Eleven lovely people erased from this planet because of pure hate. I don't know any of these folks. I have read and watched tributes to all of them. They all were special, enchanting people who had many loved ones and made their place here one of caring and love. We as a society will never be the same, the world will be a lesser place without them.
How many more have to die?
I can't understand what makes a man hate another man.
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