Wade Michael Page, Milwaukee, USA August 5th 2012 (1 Viewer)

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Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting

Classification: Mass murderer
Characteristics: White supremacist - Mass shooting at a Sikh temple
Number of victims: 6
Date of murders: August 5, 2012
Date of birth: November 11, 1971
Victims profile: One woman: Paramjit Kaur, 41; and five men: Satwant Singh Kaleka, 65, the founder of the temple; Prakash Singh, 39, an assistant priest; Sita Singh, 41; Ranjit Singh, 49; and Suveg Singh, 84
Method of murder: Shooting
Location: Oak Creek, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, USA
Status: Committed suicide by shooting himself in the head after he was shot in the stomach by a responding police officer


On August 5, 2012, Wade Michael Page fatally shot six people and wounded four others in a mass shooting at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. Page committed suicide by shooting himself in the head after he was shot in the stomach by a responding police officer.

Page was an American white supremacist and United States Army veteran from Cudahy, Wisconsin. All of the dead were members of the Sikh faith. The incident drew notable reactions from President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Dignitaries attended candlelight vigils in countries such as the U.S., Canada, and India. The First Lady Michelle Obama visited the temple on August 23, 2012.

Incident

Following emergency calls around 10:25 a.m. CDT, police responded to a shooting at a Sikh gurdwara located in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. On arrival, they engaged the gunman, later identified as Wade Michael Page, who had shot several people at the temple, killing six. Page wounded an officer; after being shot in the stomach by another, he fatally shot himself in the head. He was armed with a Springfield XD(M) 9-millimeter semi-automatic pistol. Page had legally purchased the gun in Wisconsin. Four people were killed inside the temple, and three people, including Page, died outside. Page killed five men and one woman, ranging in age from 39 to 84.

Three men were transported to Froedtert Hospital, including one of the responding officers.

Initial reports said the gunman had died from being shot by police officers at the scene, but the FBI later clarified that Page, after being shot by an officer, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Authorities released an audio recording of the incident, made while the first responding officer, Lieutenant Brian Murphy, was shot by the gunman. It contained the words "I have someone walking out the driveway towards me. Man with a gun, white t-shirt," followed by the sound of gunfire. In September 2012, authorities released video recordings taken by squad cars during the incident, including the moments when Murphy was shot, and the gunman being shot by another officer. Murphy was shot fifteen times by Page, but survived.

The temple was preparing langar, a Sikh communal meal, for later in the day. Witnesses suggested that women and children would have been at the temple preparing for the meal at the time of the incident, as children’s classes were scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m.

The Joint Terrorism Task Force investigated the site, and police were treating the incident as an act of domestic terrorism. Oak Creek police handed the investigation over to the FBI. They were also investigating possible ties to white supremacist groups and other racial motivations. The FBI said there was no reason to think anyone else was involved in the attack, and they were not aware of any past threat made against the temple. US Attorney General Eric Holder described the incident as "an act of terrorism, an act of hatred, a hate crime."

Victims

The six victims killed included one woman: Paramjit Kaur, 41; and five men: Satwant Singh Kaleka, 65, the founder of the temple; Prakash Singh, 39, an assistant priest; Sita Singh, 41; Ranjit Singh, 49; and Suveg Singh, 84. All of the male victims wore turbans as part of their Sikh faith. Four of the victims were Indian nationals, while the rest were Americans.

The injured included a responding officer, Lt. Brian Murphy, who was shot fifteen times at close range, including once in the neck. He was discharged from the hospital on August 22, 2012. Sikhs for Justice, a New York-based group, pledged a $10,000 award to Murphy. Two Sikh residents of Yuba City, California donated another $100,000 to officer Murphy for his heroic act and bravery.

Perpetrator

Wade Michael Page (November 11, 1971 – August 5, 2012) was an American white supremacist then living in Cudahy, Wisconsin. Page was born and grew up in Colorado. He served in the U.S. Army from April 1992 through October 1998, before being forced out by a general discharge. In the Army, Page had learned to repair the Hawk missile system, before becoming a psychological operations specialist. He was demoted and received a general discharge for "patterns of misconduct," including being drunk while on duty and going absent without leave.

After his discharge, Page returned to Colorado, living in the Denver suburb of Littleton from 2000 through 2007. Page worked as a truck driver from 2006 to 2010, but was fired after receiving a citation for impaired driving due to drinking.

Page had ties to white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups, and was reportedly a member of the Hammerskins. He entered the white power music scene in 2000, becoming involved in several neo-Nazi bands. He founded the band End Apathy in 2005 and played in the band Definite Hate, both considered racist white-power bands by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Page's former step-mother apologized to the Sikh victims and said she had not been in touch with her stepson for the past twelve years, after divorcing his father. A former friend described him as a "loner" and said he had talked about an "impending racial holy war." According to his neighbors, Page lived alone, rarely left his apartment, and avoided eye contact with them.

Page legally purchased the handgun used in the shooting on July 28, 2012 at a gun shop in West Allis, Wisconsin. Page passed the background checks required, and paid cash for the gun, along with three 19-round magazines. The owner of the gun shop said that Page's appearance and demeanor in the shop "raised no eyebrows whatsoever."

Following the shooting, photographs of Page appeared in media reports showing him with a range of tattoos on his arms and upper body, which were said to show his links to white supremacist organizations.

Oak Creek Police Chief John Edwards declined to speculate on the motive behind the attack, saying "I don't know why, and I don't know that we'll ever know, because when he died, that died with him what his motive was or what he was thinking.

Reactions

President Barack Obama offered his condolences, calling the Sikh community "a part of our broader American family," and ordered flags at federal buildings flown at half-staff until August 10 to honor the victims. Obama called for "soul searching" on how to reduce violence. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and other officials also issued statements of sympathy for the victims of the shooting and their families.

Nancy Powell, the United States Ambassador to India, attended prayers for the victims at Gurudwara Bangla Sahib in New Delhi. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, himself a Sikh, said that the attack being at a Sikh temple added to the pain, and stated that India stood in support of all peace-loving Americans who condemned the shooting. Following the incident, there were vigils as well as some protests against the United States by Sikhs in India.

On August 9, Indian members of parliament in New Delhi joined ranks in parliament to offer condolences to families of the victims. Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh, the highest-ranking priest within the Sikh faith, called the shooting a “security lapse” by the U.S. government, and recommended that Sikhs in the United States adopt all possible security measures at their temples. Oak Creek Sikh residents said the incident had shocked their community.

Many Sikh Americans did not approve of the protests in India against the United States, and strongly condemned the actions, such as flag-burnings, taken by the protesters. U.S.-based Sikh community groups pledged assistance to the victims and their families, and urged Sikh Americans to organize interfaith vigils. They also organized to send an emergency response team to Wisconsin.

Many Americans held candlelight vigils in support of the Sikh community, and dignitaries such as Governor Walker attended. Congressman Paul Ryan introduced a bill in Congress condemning the tragedy which stated the House "condemns the senseless attack." On September 19, 2012, a Congressional hearing addressed hate crimes in response to the tragedy, before the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights convened by Senator Dick Durbin.

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Victims

Paramjit Kaur
April 25, 1971- August 05, 2012 (Age 41)

Paramjit Kaur was the only woman killed in Sunday’s shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin.
Born on April 25, 1971, she is survived by her two sons, 21-year old Kamaljit Singh Saini and

18-year old Harpreet Singh Saini.
She was a weekly presence at the temple, as her faith stemmed deep in the Sikh religion.
She came to pray and serve every Sunday and Thursday. She was a very selfless woman,
always putting her husband and sons first, beyond anything.
After arriving in the states in 2004, she recently returned to India to visit the Golden Temple,
with her sons for the first time. She valued education greatly, wanting to ensure her sons’
made use of the opportunity in education here. She was an amazing wife and mother,
nothing meant more than her family.

Prakash Singh
November 1, 1972 - August 05, 2012 (Age 39)

Prakash Singh was born on November 1, 1972 and was from New Delhi, India. He was part of four
brothers and one sister. He was known by his friends and family for being a very caring and
hard-working man. Prakash Singh was a man who truly followed the Guru’s teaching as he
instilled the same qualities in his children.

He emigrated to the United States in 2005. He is survived by his wife and two children. He reunited
with his family just May 15, 2012as they joined him here in the United States. He had been a priest
at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin for about sevenyears, Prakash Singh had gone to India in June,
returning with his wife, 13-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter. Prakash Singh had just
received his green card around the beginning of 2012.

He had been staying in the living quarters at the temple. After reuniting with his family, Prakash
Singh was preparing to move. Prakash Singh had just found a new apartment to share with
his children and wife and was planning to move within the next week or so.


Ranjit Singh
April 04, 1963 - August 05, 2012 (Age 49)

Ranjit Singh was born on April 04, 1963 in the village of DaluWala, Punjab. He had two brothers
and two sisters, one brother, Sita Singh, who also was victim. He moved to New Delhi after he
completed his education and moved to the United States in 1997.
He was an active member of this community, committed himself to volunteer work and played
tabla during religious ceremonies. He is survived by his wife and three children, two married
daughters and a son. He worked odd jobs on weekdays, sending what money he could home
to his wife and son, hoping to secure a more stable future for his family.
His son, Gurvinder Singh, was seven months old when Ranjit Singh left his home in Delhi, India.
16 years later, his son hoped to see his father return to Delhi in the following November,
for the celebration of the Indian holiday, Diwali.

Satwant Singh Kaleka June 02, 1947 - August 05, 2012 (Age 65)

Satwant Singh Kaleka was born in 1947 in the city of Patiala in the northern state of Punjab, India.
He was born in to a large family of 9 brothers and sisters. They played together and remained close
throughout the rest of his life. Satwant Singh fondly remembered that his extended family - cousins,
in-laws, aunts, uncles- were always considered immediate family. He would chuckle and say,
that’s why we have the largest family on Earth and we’re lucky for that.
1982, Satwant Singh left India during political turmoil in the region. He came, with his two sons -
Pardeep and Amardeep - and young wife, Satpal, to Wisconsin, where his elder brother, Jagjit
Singh Kaleka, was practicing Veterinary medicine. Satwant worked long twelve hour days, three
hundred sixty five days a year behind a gas station counter to make ends meet. By 1987, he had
saved up enough to own a small two pump gas station in the South Side of Milwaukee. His sons
and wife spend many hours pitching in to run the store. They sacrificed many summers updating
the building until it ran with success.
In 1995, Satwant Singh saved enough money to buy his first and only house. His first order of
business was to plant an American flag on the front lawn. This flag stood triumphantly as his
sons graduated high school, college, and grad school. During the seasons, the flag flapped on,
and his wife took partnership in the businesses and they flourished - growing from one store to
many properties all over the greater Milwaukee area. Satwant Singh along with several other
community members organized their life savings and put it together to start the Sikh Temple
of Wisconsin. From the time it was founded in 1997 until August 5th, 2012, Satwant Singh
Kaleka served as the leader and president of this Gurduwara. During this time, the Gurduwara
moved from a rental space in a park, to an evacuated bank, and finally to fresh grounds
in Oak Creek. He helped raise it from the ground up, and spent most of his extra
time helping maintain it.
Satwant Singh Kaleka is survived not only by his wife, and his two sons, but by every life he ever
touched- his extended family, his in-laws, his Sikh community in Oak Creek, the families of
those that lost their lives with him, and by every person who he influenced - even today
when his body and soul have crossed over to the other side.

Sita Singh
November 15, 1970 - August 05, 2012 (Age 41)

Sita Singh born in the village of DaluWala, Punjab, India on November 15, 1970. He was the younger
brother of Ranjit Singh. He was a part of five children, three brothers and two sisters. He moved to
New Delhi after completing his education, and then transitioned to the United States in 1995,
after visiting Canada in 1993, and England.
He was known as a tough and dedicated man who was very easy to talk to. He was a priest that was
fond of music and reading books. Sita Singh moved here approximately six months ago, to serve
the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin while another priest was gone, and was likely to become a permanent
priest. Unfortunately, he was shot and killed along with his older brother, Ranjit Singh. He is
survived by his wife and four children, two daughters and two sons.
Sita Singh was dedicated to all duties of the temple, such as cutting the grass on the property and
trimming the bushes. He led morning services every day around 5 am. Sita Singh lived in the temple
where his brother had once served as a longtime priest, and ended his life there as well.

Suveg Singh Khattra
June 6, 1928 - August 05, 2012 (Age 84)

Suveg Singh Kattra was born on June 6, 1928 in Ambala, Haryana, India. Suveg made his living by
farming and decided to emigrate to the United States in 2004 with his wife NachittarKaur to live
with his son Balijinder Singh Khattra and daughter-in-law KulwantKaur. Sadly, his wife,
NachittarKaur passed away in 2010.
But Suveg was a strong and devout man who was very devoted to gurdwara and religion. He would
talk to anybody who was willing to listen about his religion. He was very proud of his three brothers
and three sisters as they all were proud to be Sikhs. He will be remembered by those around him
for his punctuality in everything he did, and is survived by his five children and seven grandchildren.
Suveg Singh held a key role at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, as he provided fellowship by asking
members of the congregation about their families or offer an uplifting scripture passage.Suveg
Singh, who lived with his family, was known to come to the temple early in the morning and stay
through the evening, sometimes as late as 7 p.m. He will be immensely missed at his
granddaughter’s wedding in Haryana, Indiain December 2012. Infinite sadness has filled
her heart, knowing her grandfather won’t be there to see her get married off.

 

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Sikh temple shooting: Gun shop owner says Wade Page seemed normal

By Molly Hennessy-Fiske and Kim Murphy - Los Angeles Times

August 8, 2012

OAK CREEK, Wis. -- Wade Michael Page, the man investigators say killed six people and critically wounded three others at a Sikh temple Sunday before dying in a shootout with police, did not appear dangerous when he bought a handgun at a shop last month, the shop owner says.

Kevin Nugent, owner of the Shooters Shop, about eight miles southwest of Milwaukee in West Allis, Wis., told The Times that Page came looking for a handgun on July 28

“He asked about a 9 millimeter,” Nugent said Tuesday.

Nugent said Page did not look strange and appeared calm.

“He didn’t have a shaved head or 9/11 tattoo. He didn’t talk stupid or act stupid,” Nugent said. “He raised no eyebrows whatsoever.”

Nugent, who runs one of the few gun shops in the area that boasts a large selection, said he reserves the right not to sell to customers who appear irate or under the influence. Page was neither, he said.

“We’re very strict,” he added.

Nugent ran a background check that day, and Page was cleared for purchase.

“All the proper channels for authorization were followed,” he said. “Nothing we could do would have stopped this.”

Page paid $650 cash for a Springfield Armory XDM with three 19-round ammunition magazines, which Nugent called “a nice duty weapon.” Page picked up the gun at the shop two days later, took it down to the shop’s basement range for some target practice, and left soon after without incident, Nugent said. He said Page did not buy any other firearms or ammunition at the store.

Nugent said he has since been interviewed by officials from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He shared with them shop surveillance video that shows Page buying the gun.

“I watched the video of the guy — he was very normal,” Nugent said.

Late Tuesday, ATF Special Agent Thomas Ahern confirmed that Wade’s weapon had been purchased at Nugent’s shop.

Ahern also told The Times that local investigators had asked the ATF to trace a second gun. It turned out to belong to Wade’s ex-girlfriend, Misty Cook. She was arrested late Tuesday on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a gun.

According to court records, Brenda Misty Cook was convicted in 2005 of fleeing a traffic officer in Milwaukee County. She was sentenced to 18 months’ probation and served 97 days in jail.

Cook shared Wade’s fascination with the white power movement, according to the Anti-Defamation League, which monitors extremist groups. The ADL had information on Page and Cook going back several years, and ADL researchers said Page appeared to have moved to Wisconsin to be with her.

In an e-mail to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Cook said she could not comment and asked for privacy. Here's her full statement:

"In light of this senseless tragedy, I must respectfully decline any requests for comments. If I could say something to ease the pain of the victims and their families I would gladly do so. Unfortunately words do not begin to heal the pain they are going through. I ask that you please respect my privacy in dealing with this issue as it is a great struggle for me."

 

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Wade Michael Page and the rise of violent far-right extremism

The man who opened fire in a Sikh temple in Wisconsin was not just a crazed loner, but a vocal neo-Nazi – in fact, his white supremacist ideology reflected a growing form of extremism that expresses its strength through violence rather than at the ballot box

By Matthew Goodwin - Guardian.co.uk

August 8, 2012

On Saturday 28 July 2012, Wade Michael Page walked into the Shooters Shop in Wisconsin to buy a 9mm semi-automatic handgun, and ammunition. Eight days later, the 40-year-old military veteran arrived at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek and began shooting at members of the congregation who had gathered to prepare a meal. During the shooting, six members of the Sikh community, one police officer and the attacker were killed.

Within hours of the shootings, the Southern Poverty Law Centre (SPLC) revealed that Page was a known white supremacist. He had links to networks including the Hammerskin Nation and was involved in an underground music scene often referred to as "white power music" or "hate rock". Influenced strongly by earlier bands in England such as Skrewdriver, white power music is seen by those who study extremism as one of the most important recruitment tools for the modern far right. Page's involvement appears to have been deep: in an interview with online music magazine Label56.com in 2005, he claimed to have sold all of his possessions so that he could travel around the country attending white power festivals such as Hammerfest. The next year he formed a band called End Apathy recruiting bandmates from the other groups such as Definite Hate and 13 Knots. Asked in 2005 to elaborate on the meaning of the band's lyrics, Page replied: "The topics vary from sociological issues, religion, and how the value of human life has been degraded by being submissive to tyranny and hypocrisy that we are subjugated to."

Page's body also contained references to white supremacism. A tattoo of the number "14" was a direct reference to the so-called "14 words" that occupy a central role in neo-Nazi vocabulary: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children." This passage, a reference to a section of Mein Kampf, was popularised by David Lane, a member of white supremacist terror group The Order. Another tattoo of the Odin or Celtic cross represents one of the most popular symbols among neo-Nazis, seen as the international symbol for "white pride". Those who had been close to Page confirmed his ideological affinity to the extreme right. Reflecting a wider belief within the movement, an old army friend of Page claimed that as far back as the 90s he had talked about "racial holy war", and would rant "about mostly any non-white person".

As with the aftermath of the attacks by Anders Breivik in Norway, it was not long until sympathisers surfaced online. "Take your dead and go back to India and dump their ashes in the Ganges, Sikhs," wrote one neo-Nazi. Others praised their "brother": "All I feel is loss and sympathy for a brother that was overwhelmed by pain and frustration. I could [sic] care less though for those injured and wounded other than Wade." Another warned of future attacks: "There are thousands of other angry White men like Page, the vast majority of them unknown ... When will they, like Page, reach their breaking point...?"

The threat of violence from disgruntled rightwing extremists is not lost on the security services, or analysts. In 2009, Daryl Johnson, an analyst at the Department for Homeland Security, authored a report that explicitly warned of the growing threat of far-right violence. Pointing to the economic downturn, the election of Barack Obama and evidence that some military veterans were struggling to re-integrate into civilian life, the report was one of the first to flag the growing importance of the extreme right – a movement that was routinely overlooked after 9/11. Few, however, took the warning seriously. Rather, Republicans and rightwing commentators openly criticised the report. Some saw it as an attempt to discredit the insurgent and right-wing Tea Party movement while many viewed it as an unfair attack on military veterans. Others said it focused unnecessarily on domestic rather than foreign manifestations of terrorism.

But Johnson (who was later shunted into a different department) was not wrong. Following Wisconsin, some analysts reminded commentators that the far right is responsible for as many – if not more – attacks on US soil than religious-based extremists, and now poses the most significant domestic security threat. Indeed, prior to 9/11 the most damaging act of terrorism within the US was the bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma by militia sympathiser Timothy McVeigh, which resulted in 168 deaths and more than 800 injuries. Between 1990 and 2010 the far right committed 145 ideologically motivated homicide incidents in the US. Of these incidents, excluding the bombing in Oklahoma City, far-right extremists killed 180 people.

The data suggests that American far right groups have grown "explosively", which is attributed to a potent combination of public anxieties over the financial crisis, the growth of conspiracy theories, the exploitation of fears over non-white immigration and the prospect of Obama securing a second term in office.

According to the SPLC, in 2011 the number of "hate groups" active in the US reached 1,018, 69% more than in 2000. The most striking growth has been within the "patriot" scene, which contains anti-government groups that cling to conspiracy theories and view the government as enemy number one. There were fewer than 150 of these (mostly inactive) groups in 2000. By 2011, there were almost 1,300. In fact, since 2009 this particular variant of the far right has grown at a rate of 755%.

While it is difficult to compare across borders, similar warnings have been voiced in Europe. Last year, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Germany noted that while the number of people in far-right political parties had contracted to 22,000, the number of those involved in more combative and confrontational forms of far-right politics was on the rise: the number of rightwing extremists with a propensity to violence had increased to 9,800; the number of followers of more violence-prone neo-Nazi groups had risen to 6,000; and the number of street-based demonstrations had reached an all-time high.

Though less affected than other countries, from 2001 onward, authorities in the UK have similarly voiced concern over a rapidly evolving far-right scene. In recent years, at least 17 individuals who committed or planned acts of violence or terrorism, and who were linked to the far right, have been imprisoned. In 2009, the discovery of a network of rightwing extremists in England with access to an arsenal of weapons prompted London Metropolitan police to warn that far-right militants might attempt a "spectacular" attack. In the same year the English Defence League (EDL) was born, introducing a new form of far-right politics that is less interested than its predecessors in elections, and more focused on rallying support through street-based confrontation and networks that transcend national borders.

Though often dismissed as alarmist, these warnings were partly validated in July 2011, when Breivik launched his politically motivated attacks in Oslo and on the island of Utøya. Shortly afterward, authorities in Germany discovered that a violent neo-Nazi cell – the National Socialist Underground (NSU) – had been responsible for at least a dozen murders. Then, in Florence, an activist connected to the far-right group Casa Pound shot dead two immigrant street traders in an unprovoked attack. While it might be tempting to treat the attack in Wisconsin in isolation, it is actually the latest in a series of acts of violence from individuals linked to far-right groups.

The perpetrators of these attacks are often dismissed as crazed and psychologically flawed loners. Perhaps this is because we have grown used to the security threat from religious extremists and tend to view their far-right counterparts as a loony fringe, rather than rational agents who are using violence to achieve certain goals. What Breivik in Norway, Gianluca Casseri in Florence, the "London nailbomber" David Copeland and Michael Page all share in common is that they arrived at violence following a longer involvement with far-right extremism. For more recent examples – such as Breivik – their attacks followed an almost total immersion in online "virtual communities". These perform a crucial role in cultivating a set of narratives that are often later used to justify violence. These include emphasis on the perceived threat of racial or cultural extinction, belief in an impending and apocalyptic conflict (a "race war" or "clash of civilisations"), belief that urgent, radical action is required and that followers have a moral obligation. In short, only by engaging in violence can they defend the wider group from various threats in society.

This preference for violence or terrorism reflects a viewpoint within the far right that has long prioritised "direct action" over a ballot-box strategy. For much of the past two decades in Europe, the strength of the far right has been measured through its number of votes at elections. But it is important to note that – for some within this scene – strength is measured as the ability and willingness to engage in violent action against "enemies" that are seen to threaten the racial purity and survival of the native group. These enemies can beimmigrants, minority groups, future leaders of mainstream parties or the state.

Identifying and tracking the Breiviks and Pages of this world will always be extremely difficult. But the reality is that – at least for the past 10 years – western democracies and their security agencies have focused almost exclusively on only one form of violent extremism. The far right may still pose less of a threat than al-Qaida-inspired groups, say, but our ignorance of this form of extremism is striking.

Wisconsin teaches us that the challenge that now presents itself is to understand what "pushes and pulls" citizens to commit violence in the name of right wing extremism, and to develop an effective response. To do this, we must first start taking violence from the far right more seriously.

 

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Wisconsin Killer Fed and Was Fueled by Hate-Driven Music

By Erica Goode and Serge F. Kovaleski - The New York Times

August 6, 2012

His music, Wade M. Page once said, was about “how the value of human life has been degraded by tyranny."

But on Sunday, Mr. Page, an Army veteran and a rock singer whose bands specialized in the lyrics of hate, coldly took the lives of six people and wounded three others when he opened fire with a 9-millimeter semiautomatic handgun in a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis., the police said. Officers then shot him to death.

To some who track the movements of white supremacist groups, the violence was not a total surprise. Mr. Page, 40, had long been among the hundreds of names on the radar of organizations monitored by the Southern Poverty Law Center because of his ties to the white supremacist movement and his role as the leader of a white-power band called End Apathy. The authorities have said they are treating the shooting as an act of domestic terrorism.

In Oak Creek and in nearby Cudahy, Wis., south of Milwaukee, where Mr. Page lived in the days before the attack, the magnitude and the nature of what had happened were only beginning to sink in, grief competing with outrage. A company flew its flag at half-staff. A Christian minister offered his parishioners’ help to a Sikh gathering at the Salvation Army.

At a news conference on Monday, Teresa Carlson, a special agent for the F.B.I., which is leading the investigation, said, “We don’t have any reason to believe that there was anyone else” involved in the crime. Law enforcement officials said earlier on Monday they wanted to speak with a “person of interest” who was at the temple on Sunday, but by late afternoon they had ruled out any connection between him and the shooting.

Oak Creek’s police chief, John Edwards, speaking at the news conference, identified the five men and one woman who died at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin: Sita Singh, 41; Ranjit Singh, 49; Prakash Singh, 39; Paramjit Kaur, 41; Suveg Singh, 84; and Satwant Singh Kaleka, 65, who was the center’s president.

Peter Hoyt, 53, a neighbor of Mr. Page’s in Cudahy who often stopped to chat with him during morning walks, said he was “stunned” that the man he had known could have done something so violent. Mr. Page, he said, told him that he had broken up with a girlfriend in early June.

“He didn’t seem like he was visibly upset,” Mr. Hoyt said about the breakup. “He didn’t seem angry. He seemed more emotionally upset. He wasn’t mad. He was hurt.”

Mark Potok, a senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center, said Mr. Page had come to the center’s attention a decade ago because of his affiliation with rock bands known for lyrics that push far past the boundaries of tolerance.

“The music that comes from these bands is incredibly violent, and it talks about murdering Jews, black people, gay people and a whole host of other enemies,” Mr. Potok said. He added that in 2000, Mr. Page tried to buy unspecified goods from the National Alliance, which Mr. Potok described as a neo-Nazi organization that at the time was one of the country’s best organized and best financed hate groups.

But Mr. Potok said the center had not passed any information about Mr. Page to law enforcement.

“We were not looking at this guy as anything special until today,” he said. “He was one of thousands. We were just keeping an eye on him.”

Although little known among music fans, a steady subculture of racist and anti-Semitic rock bands has existed on the margins of punk and heavy metal in Europe and the United States since at least the 1970s. Hate groups sometimes use some of the bands and their record labels for fund-raising and recruiting, according to the law center and the Anti-Defamation League.

In an interview posted on the Web site of the record company Label56, Mr. Page mentioned going to Hammerfest, an annual white-supremacist festival well known to civil rights advocates. He also said he played in various neo-Nazi bands, including Blue Eyed Devils, whose song “White Victory” includes the lines: “Now I’ll fight for my race and nation/Sieg Heil!” The company removed the interview from its site on Monday.

Analysts for the F.B.I. and the Department of Homeland Security routinely monitor violent extremist Web sites of all kinds, including those attracting white supremacists, according to former officials of both agencies. But the department’s work on the topic has been criticized. In 2009, conservatives in Congress strongly objected to a department report titled “Rightwing Extremism,” which speculated that the recession and the election of a black president could increase the threat from white supremacists.

Janet Napolitano, the homeland security secretary, withdrew the report and apologized for what she called its flaws. Daryl Johnson, the homeland security analyst who was the primary author of the report, said last year that after the flap, the number of analysts assigned to track non-Islamic militancy had been reduced sharply. Homeland Security Department officials denied his assertion and said the department monitored violent extremism of every kind, without regard to its religious or political bent.

J. M. Berger, an author and analyst on counterterrorism who runs the Intelwire Web site, said Mr. Page “clearly had a history with the white supremacist movement.” A song called “Welcome to the South” by Definite Hate, another band that Mr. Page played in and that Mr. Berger found online, refers to “our race war” and asks, “What has happened to America/That was once so white and free?” Mr. Berger said the lyrics and album art of Definite Hate echo the views and vocabulary of the Hammerskins, or Hammerskin Nation, a white supremacist group founded in Dallas in 1988.

According to the SITE Monitoring Service, which follows white supremacist trends, Mr. Page had an extensive presence on Hammerskin and other white nationalist Web sites, including Stormfront, where he favored the names of his bands as user names and “frequently included white supremacist symbolism” in his postings. He concluded one posting with “88,” a number frequently used by neo-Nazis and skinheads to mean “Heil, Hitler,” according to SITE. (H is the eighth letter of the alphabet.) He also used “14,” the number of words in the rallying slogan of the white supremacist movement.

Although Mr. Hoyt, his neighbor, said Mr. Page had claimed that he enlisted in the Army after Sept. 11, Army records show that he separated from the military in 1998, completing his basic training at Fort Sill in Oklahoma and serving at Fort Bliss in El Paso and Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Listed as a psychological operations specialist, he was never deployed overseas, according to the records, although Mr. Hoyt said he had talked about combat.

“He said, ‘You go there, and one minute you’re with your buddies and the next minute you’re dead,’ ” Mr. Hoyt recalled.

A source familiar with Mr. Page’s military history, who had not been authorized to speak about the case, said Mr. Page had received an “other than honorable” discharge from the Army. Pentagon officials said Mr. Page had also been demoted, from sergeant to specialist, before leaving the service.

In June 1994, while he was at Fort Bliss, the El Paso police arrested Mr. Page and charged him with criminal mischief. He was intoxicated and playing pool at a bar called the Attic when he “began kicking large holes in the Sheetrock wall with his boots,” said Renee Railey, a spokeswoman for the El Paso County district attorney.

Mr. Page pleaded guilty to the charge, a misdemeanor, and was sentenced to 90 days in jail, though he was allowed to fulfill the sentence through 180 days of probation. He paid $645 in fines and court costs, and was ordered to complete 24 hours of community service.

After leaving the Army, Mr. Page, a native of Colorado, lived for several years in North Carolina, where he owned a property that Wells Fargo foreclosed on in January. In a statement, the bank said that it had no dealings with Mr. Page other than routine notifications, and that the property was vacant when the foreclosure process began last August.

Mr. Page’s former stepmother, Laura Page, 67, who divorced his father more than a decade ago, said that growing up, he was “a precious little boy, a very mellow and soft-spoken person.”

In an interview in Denver, where she lives, Ms. Page said she had known her stepson since he was 10. As a child, she said, he worshiped the guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. His aspirations and dreams centered on music.

“Wade, his father and me would go camping and fishing in Colorado and have just a wonderful time, and we would play games at home, like cards and Monopoly,” Ms. Page said. “We just did the normal things that a family does.”

For most of his childhood, Ms. Page said, Mr. Page lived in the Denver area with his mother, a dog groomer, but she died when he was 13 or 14, and “he took it very hard.” He was not close to his father, she said, and moved in with a grandmother and an aunt who were also in Colorado. He enlisted in the military after graduating from high school.

“I can’t imagine, I can’t imagine what made him do this,” Ms. Page said.

While residents in Oak Creek struggled to understand, the three wounded victims were struggling to survive. Among them was Lt. Brian Murphy, the first officer to arrive at the temple after 911 calls began flooding the Oak Creek Police Department at 10:25 on Sunday morning.

Lieutenant Murphy, 51, took in the scene and then stopped to tend to a wounded victim in the parking lot. When he looked up, an armed man was standing over him. The gunman fired eight or nine shots at close range, striking Lieutenant Murphy in the neck, Chief Edwards said. But when other officers rushed to help him, he waved them on — the victims in the temple came first.

 

[bowhaze]

As much as I can feel with that man as a White supremacist myself, it's that kind of reaction that is pushing us 100 steps back from our goal.
I can understand, that it often seems, that the only way to achieve the goal of the future we want is with violence, because it seems like we can't change it on the peaceful way. This kind of thought is easy to understand but totally wrong. I mean, we are trying to bring up our message with researches and education, like great people like Dr. William Luther Pierce, did it years ago and we feel like we are able to wake up some people and because of overreacting people like this guy, the people are shocked again, putting their fingers at us and screaming 'murderers!'. It's not good for the goal. Even if it seems, like we can't change it without violence, we can. It is not the goal to kill everyone who isn't white, it is just the goal to get back the countries to what they have been, before the alien invasions. I mean, they can be happily go back to where they came from and live a happy life in their ways in their country. I don't have a problem with that, nor does any other informed White supremacist has it. The people, who are running around and shooting random people, missed the message behind the work of the great men in the biggest intension. It is about loving your folk and country and not hating others.
They don't fit in the White society, but that doesn't mean they fit nothing, they fit in their cultural environment with their religious beliefs and traditions but should simply not infect other countries. It could be so easy.
What pisses me off the most, is the fake sadness of the reign and all the other people. Be honest, there have been some dead aliens and the whole world feels like their own family died. In Germany we have some cases like that just with Turks, instead of Indians and the people are acting, like this was the first murder they have ever seen. But on the other hand, when an innocent 16-years-old white boy, was brutally murdered in 2009, nobody even cared! And he was killed by five Turks. There we have the great self inflicted guilt, the media and politics and of course the church wants to plant into our brains.
It's one of the biggest gifts, the Whites have, to feel so much empathy for so many different beings, may it be other people or animals. This is something, nobody can deny [of course there are exceptions, we all know that] but in the statistic it simply is the fact. We feel sad and cry, when animals are murdered, because we are on a different emotional and mental level than eg. blacks. They don't care if they slaughter a living chicken during a voodoo ritual, because they have another level of empathy and of course beliefs as well as tradition. That is what makes the races different on other levels.
So why pretending to feel so sorry for an alien, just because a man didn't saw another way? I mean of course, he should have thought twice about he was doing but don't forget how many innocent people get brutally murdered y aliens day by day. How many women and children get raped by aliens everyday. And nobody cares. But if a white man loses his control, the whole world starts to blame him and everyone else who has that kind of feeling in his heart. This is nonsense and I don't see the reason behind it. Feeling sorry for the people who slowly take over your country eg and not feeling sorry for your own people, when they get murdered or raped? I don't understand that and I don't want to, really.
Like I said, I don't say he did the right thing, because it throws us back a few miles and yes those victims seem to be harmless but seriously it could have also happened to real evil aliens, it wasn't like he picked that innocent family to kill them, keep also that in mind.
I mean that man is blamed for shooting a few praying people from behind.. I remember that Baruch Goldstein murdered 29 Palestinians in 1994. He also shot them from behind and that man has a huge honor monument in Israel.. sorry? Do I have to understand that? There we have the same thing in blue, just because it is bad when a White person does it. Nonsense.
So the great people around the reign claim that everyone is equal but why are they judging so unfair if the White is the target. Because we aren't and we will never be, this is a fact and it is good that way. We are different and fine and should live in our countries and we wouldn't have all the fucking crimes we have right now. It could be so easy, could. Those who are pretending to be tolerant are the most intolerant people and fake, because they can't even stand for what they are, intolerant as well.
So what I see in this, is a totally psychic down man who saw no other way in trying to do something good for his people and starting a blind killing spree and achieving the exact opposite of the goal. He should have tried to change it on the verbal way and with more active work instead of fucking it up like that. Now, there is another reason for the other people who hate us, to hate us more, because they have another 'proof' for that. I just hope, that there aren't more people like him are coming to react like that, inform yourself and think about your reactions twice, just because you might feel better after it and you can escape the rest with killing yourself might be contra productive for your comrades and the whole thing you were fighting for.
It has to be changed with words, strong guiding people and other plans.

In case TLDR; I think it was a dumb overreaction of a frustrated man, which has thrown us White supremacists yards back, from achieving our goal. He could've acted different and more productive for the goal.

 

[Eat Shit And Die]

''As much as I can feel with that man as a White supremacist myself, it's that kind of reaction that is pushing us 100 steps back from our goal.''

So very true.

Good to see someone put some thought and their beliefs into a response.

 

[methamphetamine]

Dumb fuck didn't know the difference between a Sikh and a Muslim

 

[fritoburrito]

Nicely articulated Ms. Bow!

 

[Sullivant316]

Can buy guns legally as long as you're not under the influence... In my country I can't even buy a bit of fucking weed fuck this