Violent anti-government extremism comes home:

by Craig Hooper on July 21, 2010

winking-at-anti-government-violence” rhetoric that is, for some milkook blogs, their stock-and-trade.

Why do I scorn milblog armchair revolutionaries? Because I think the “community” they foster encourages their desperate and dumb members to turn to violence.

Milblogs should worry. Sometimes the perpetrator is a veteran. But, almost every time, the victims are law enforcement officers–a community where veterans are highly represented. Let’s think about them, and tone down the anti-government, pro-violence rhetoric.

For me, the impact of anti-government rhetoric hit home a few days ago. Over the weekend, another anti-government extremist–a two-strike felon named Byron Williams–put on his body armor, stole his mom’s guns (She was stockpiling them guns because “eventually, I think we’re going to be caught up in a revolution.”), and headed to the Bay Area to go find ACLU people and kill ’em. But he didn’t make it to his target. He got pulled over by the California Highway Patrol a few hundred yards from where I, until recently, used to live.

He pulled a gun, and had a 12 minute firefight with the Police. He lived through it. You can see it here, and here. He lived (his mugshot is above), and the FBI is now vigorously involved. Two CHP Patrolmen were slightly injured.

According to a neighbor, the suspect was a racist, who, after the 2008 election:

“…was (angry) about the new president,” Funk said. “He said the world’s going to hell in a handbag because we have a black president and he didn’t think black people deserve to be president. He was just bitter.”

Williams screamed in anger so loudly, using curse words and racial epithets, that Funk’s wife had to close the door to keep her son from hearing, Funk said.

Kinda puts Andrew Breitbart’s (the guy who is tried to get Wired.com’s highly regarded defenseblogger Spencer Ackerman fired yesterday) highly-edited video-assault on the ACLU–a thinly-veiled effort to gin up racial fears in…perspective.

Because this made-up Breitbart ACLU scandal sure is kicking any mention of a REAL racist, cop-attacking, rhetoric-addled right-wing freak off the front page. I mean, imagine that…a guy off to start a revolution by killing members of the ACLU…well, gosh, he’s old news now…

Hell, I couldn’t have planned it better.

Political difference is fine. But stoking anti-government violence via “wink-wink” and “nudge-nudge” rhetoric….let’s tone it down.

{ 22 comments }

DefendUSA August 16, 2010 at 11:14 am

That’s the trouble with you, Hooper. You got nothing but your emotion and supposition.
I guarantee you, if Patti Patton-Bader gave a rat’s ass about what the pretenders like you thought, there is not a snowball’s chance in hell that Blackfive or TSO would have made it to the board. Or have you not checked all that these guys have done and continue to do for the troops? Eh. Doesn’t matter, you’re still stuck on stupid.
I am curious though. What do YOU do besides make shit up? TSO’s words don’t display what you wish they did but you keep trying and let me know how that’s working for you.

Craig Hooper August 15, 2010 at 9:04 pm

Ahh, well, I don’t think Mark Seavey, a Soldiers’ Angels board member, is portraying Soldiers’ Angels in a very positive, professional fashion. More later.

DefendUSA August 15, 2010 at 7:32 pm

Gee Hooper,
You are one tough dude! Calling TSO by his real name and stuff. Wow.
Once again, you show how shallow you are. Like a typical hater of all things that support the military, you use emotion and no facts. I bet the people who had to hear your dissertation just finally gave up let you through because even they could not connect the dots.
None of the people who know TSO (or Jonn) have a problem with their integrity, and who they are. Sad that you have to try and smear B5 and friends for lack of something substantive to write about.

You know, if you would like a real topic to discuss let me know, I am sure I can help out…

CJ August 13, 2010 at 10:33 pm

Why can’t a guy just be anti-government and extremist. Just because I own guns and have no compunction against defending myself against tyranny, does that make me so bad? I think; therefore I’m milkook.

Delta Dogs August 13, 2010 at 9:03 pm

Hey Craiggers, why the animosity? Did one of these guys pants you while you were flitting around your precious Bay Area?

Operator Dan August 13, 2010 at 6:22 pm

I read your post where you bashed Blackfive. The only evidence that you offer of Blackfive’s supposed anti-government extremism is one post out of thousands made by one contributor to the site. Wow, that is sure proof-positive that Blackfive wants to the destroy the government.

What is your beef with the milblog community? Are you upset that a fine Harvard-educated snobby d-bag like yourself wasn’t invited to share your infinite wisdom on naval affairs which gleaned from your many years serving in the Navy? Oh wait never mind…

Craig Hooper August 13, 2010 at 6:20 pm

Hey TSO! Or should I say, Soldiers’ Angels Board Member Mark Seavey? How is it going?

Mark Seavey, a Soldiers’ Angels Board Member, coming here…It’s so cute to see you and your little friends again. Make a habit of it. Please. To have a board member of Soldiers’ Angels commenting here? It reflects so well upon the management of Soldiers’ Angels!

How’d the Indiana Bar Exam go?

Instinct August 13, 2010 at 6:11 pm

I live in the bay area too, douchebag, and this place IS something evil. I have never encountered an area so full of self centered, military hating, Che-worshiping wastes of a perfectly good orgasm than I have since I moved out to this area.

ONLY in San Francisco can you have a complete stranger start screaming at you because you are wearing a shirt that has a picture of a firearm on it- yeah, that happened to me.

So, as far as San Fran needing to be bombed out of existence, I say go for it. The only good thing out here were the gun shows at the Cow Palace and that’s gone now.

You may have a PhD (in god knows what) but you are still an idiot.

Now I’m going to go back to packing my shit up for the move to Texas.

TSO August 13, 2010 at 5:10 pm

Jonn, be nice, dude is probably too tired out from being published once every 6 months for the past two years to do much else.

YatYas August 13, 2010 at 4:42 pm

Craig, there might be some far-right crazies out there, but the majority are far-left crazies. I guess the rapist that killed 4 officers in Oakland this year was reading Milblogs before deciding to go on a killing spree.

Jonn Lilyea August 13, 2010 at 3:07 pm

You got your break, sweet’ums. How you tied some SF career felon’s shootout with cops to the milblogs is incomprehensible. And then it touched you personally because you lived several blocks from the shootout some years ago. Can we expect a claim of PTSD from the experience soon?

Craig Hooper August 13, 2010 at 2:08 pm

Really? This is the best you can do? Give me a break.

TSO August 13, 2010 at 12:40 pm

We’re a little less tolerant? Well, yeah? When you just make shit up out of whole cloth and can’t put a coherent argument together without repeatedly trying to shift your point it makes it a bit difficult to engage in any diologue with you.

Then again, telling you that you are full of shit (with a PHD) will likely be used to show violence by you. It really must be liberating for you to not be burdened with logic.

philbob July 22, 2010 at 4:37 pm

It also sounds like there is some fraud going on with the Lindhurst program.

philbob July 22, 2010 at 4:35 pm

Sorry I meant JROTC.

But reading those links though show that the reason SF contemplated getting rid of the JROTC was politics, were as in Tennessee and “red” California they are purely budgetary reasons. In the Cummberland County, Tennessee case the median income is roughly 30k a year and there budgets don’t stretch as far as many in the big cities so they cant just approve every bond measure that comes up (as tends to happen in the big cities like my hometown of Seattle or your San Fransico) and that even goes for things as civic-ly important as the ROTC, especially if it is at the expense of the basics like reading, writing or math.

Craig Hooper July 22, 2010 at 1:28 pm

Ok, um…first, there’s been no question about ROTC. The San Francisco Army ROTC is fine–here’s a link to the unit:

http://usf.usfca.edu/rotc//index-old.htm

Now, in San Francisco, Junior ROTC has been questioned, and, guess what? It got debated, voted on and….it still exists!

http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2009/05/11/daily31.html

But, at about the same time, in Tennessee, a school board eliminated JROTC:

http://www.allbusiness.com/government/government-bodies-offices-government/12542637-1.html

Even the “Red” parts of California are thinking about trimming their ROTCs:

http://www.appeal-democrat.com/articles/school-95274-surman-program.html

Where’s the Righty echo chamber? Why aren’t Righty milblogs rallying to support those at-risk programs? Because it don’t fit the narrative.

Somehow, we SF lefties care enough about the military to put our taxes towards JROTC, while, elsewhere, in the “pro-military” parts of the country….they’d rather let their JROTCs die and support sumpthin’ else, I guess. I wish somebody in the milblog world would take a look at how (and if) other parts of the country value JROTC. And maybe, just once, they’d give the Bay Area some credit.

philbob July 22, 2010 at 11:36 am

well its one thing to hold a protest sign, but its a completely other thing when the city government openly contemplates banning ROTC. That does not help your cause.

philbob July 22, 2010 at 11:34 am

your cheeks are a tad puffier but everything else…

Craig Hooper July 22, 2010 at 11:26 am

Philbob–

I think I’ve got more on the top than that guy!

But, I’ve gotta push ya back from the plate a little. The statement the I “for some reason he has a great hatred towards blackfive and other milbloggers who actually served their nation the hard way and hold opinions different then his.” That’s silly.

I don’t have great hatred for blackfive and the others. (Where’s your concern for, oh, extremist blackfive guy Jim Hanson “Uncle Jimbo”. That guy goes and spams blogsites he is ideologically opposed to! The this ain’t hell guys call people they disagree with all kinds of names and heap all kinds of nastiness upon em…so, I think they’re a bit less tolerant.) But do I scorn them? Yes. Hold ’em in slight regard? Check. Hate ’em? No. They’re countrymen, after all.

What really gets my ire up is when those sites (or the people behind them) pick on the Bay Area. First, the criticism is usually wrong, ill-informed, or violence inciting (I mean, hey, blackfive even posted a pic of a plane loaded with bombs tarted ‘up with friendly little “messages” for Santa Cruz, for god’s sakes.) That I don’t like. Second, I live here. And when my home gets portrayed as something evil, the wackos in the audience get ugly ideas–and they, as demonstrated above, occasionally act upon ’em. Forgive me, but I live here, and I don’t care for that old baloney of demonizing a city ’cause it’s…cool, or somebody goofy held up a protest sign.

And then there’s another thing…I read CDR Salamander every day. Even agree with him sometimes (!!). But he’s more of a happy warrior than most–and he sure doesn’t shop in rhetoric that could be construed as a call to hurt the country or folks in it.

Real patriots I got no problem with. Cheers, pal. Love ya!

philbob July 21, 2010 at 6:11 pm

off topic but he looks a lot like you

philbob July 21, 2010 at 6:10 pm

Craig is always doing that for some reason he has a great hatred towards blackfive and other milbloggers who actually served their nation the hard way and hold opinions different then his

on a another note, how can you criticize and condone behavior like that when you wont even do it to your own side What Ackerman was condoning was highly unethical and yet you immediatly jump to his defense no questions asked (his posts are not worthy of being fired from Wired.com but i wouldn’t be upset if that had happened)

Part of me doesn’t like this shit either,” agreed Spencer Ackerman, then of the Washington Independent. “But what I like less is being governed by racists and warmongers and criminals.”

Ackerman went on:

I do not endorse a Popular Front, nor do I think you need to. It’s not necessary to jump to Wright-qua-Wright’s defense. What is necessary is to raise the cost on the right of going after the left. In other words, find a rightwinger’s [sic] and smash it through a plate-glass window. Take a snapshot of the bleeding mess and send it out in a Christmas card to let the right know that it needs to live in a state of constant fear. Obviously I mean this rhetorically.

And I think this threads the needle. If the right forces us all to either defend Wright or tear him down, no matter what we choose, we lose the game they’ve put upon us. Instead, take one of them — Fred Barnes, Karl Rove, who cares — and call them racists. Ask: why do they have such a deep-seated problem with a black politician who unites the country? What lurks behind those problems? This makes *them* sputter with rage, which in turn leads to overreaction and self-destruction.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2010/07/20/documents-show-media-plotting-to-kill-stories-about-rev-jeremiah-wright/3/#ixzz0uMRFbyde

Anathema July 21, 2010 at 5:24 pm

What, you are trying to connect this guy to the milbloggers you were blasting a couple of months ago? Really?

And here I thought that PhDs learned critical thinking skills. Boy was I wrong…sheesh!

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