Although the incident happened over 2,000 miles away, LAPD are increasing patrols outside Los Angeles Sikh temples as there is always the fear of a copycat attack. More is coming to light regarding the shooting at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. The gunman responsible for the deaths of six victims as well as the wounding of several more is Wade Michael Page. Forty-year-old Wade Page was an Army veteran who had been a member of two white supremacist heavy metal bands, Definite Hate and End Apathy. It is thought that that he finally carried out what his music had so often threatened. Before his involvement in these bands, he was a psychological operations specialist in the U.S. Army. His training included how to handle meetings between armed forces and locals when overseas, as well as how to use leaflet campaigns and loudspeakers when in a conflict zone. In 1998, however, he was demoted after he was found guilty of getting drunk while on duty and then going AWOL (absence without leave).
As this is a suspected domestic terrorist case, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been put in charge of the shootings. They searched Page’s home on Sunday, but all they found was a desk, chair, and air mattress. A former neighbor of Page stated that he was shocked that he would commit this type of horrendous act as he said he had never heard him say anything negative. When his past criminal history was investigated, it was discovered that he had been convicted of misdemeanor criminal mischief and driving under the influence of alcohol, but nothing even close to the magnetite of the crime which was seen on Sunday. The bands he was involved in, however, speak of genocide of the Jews and other minorities in the U.S. This and other factors have caused some to believe that this event would be more accurately referred to as a hate crime.
Since September 11th, the hate crimes on the Sikh community have increased. As their religion requires that they wear turbans and not shave their beards, they are often mistaken for Muslims by Americans. Authorities have yet to come up with a motive for this particular crime. After searching his home as well as his social media accounts, they were unable to come up with anything which gave a clear picture of what was in his mind prior to the attack. It is known that he was a self-proclaimed neo-Nazi. White supremacy is a belief system which purports that people of European decent are superior to any other race. Although white supremacies have the freedom to believe what they want about themselves, they do not have the freedom to discriminate against others.
