John Zawahri
At this point, we know that the Santa Monica shooter was 24-year-old John Zawahri. We know that he killed his father and his brother before setting their house on fire. He then went on a rampage and killed three other innocent people before he was shot dead at Santa Monica College. It has been revealed that he came from a broken family and had anger issues. It has also been disclosed that he was armed with a combat uniform and some 1300 rounds of ammunition. His acts were clearly pre-mediated.
Here is what has not yet been revealed.
The family was clearly of Arabic origin though it is believed that John was American-born. That raises the obvious question: Was John a Muslim, and was this an act of violent jihad? The authorities and the media have not commented, which in itself, raises eyebrows.
According to a comment on The Spirit of Truth, it was said by one who claimed to know the family that they were Orthodox Christian. If true, that would remove the idea of Islamic jihad. Yet, that has not been confirmed by the media to this point, which you would think they would be quick to do. The names themselves only create more confusion. The family names are Muslim, but John (and his brother, Chris-also a victim)-are Christian names.
So why the attention to the religion of the shooter? It comes down to this: If, in fact, Zawahri was a Muslim, then we must identify the motive beyond his alleged anger issues and family strife. If jihad had any role in this, then the public has a right to know the risks they face as they are driving down Pico Blvd in Santa Monica or walking to class at Santa Monica College.
In February of this year, Orange County was subjected to a shooting and killing spree by a young man named Syed Ali, who wound up killing himself when confronted by police. To this day, the last thing we have learned is that he had left a suicide note on his computer that revealed that his acts were pre-meditated. To my knowledge, the authorities have not revealed to us what exactly Ali's motivation was.
I realize that for decent and peaceful Muslims in the US, this is yet another painful episode that may lead to further negative feelings about Muslims in general, which is unfortunate. However, the public has every right to know what the true motivation behind both of these horrific acts was. We cannot access the risk if the authorities and the media will not report the facts out of political correctness.
If it turns out that Islam had nothing to do with this, I will happily report that immediately. I am confident that the police and the media will figure that out quickly. Like the case in Orange County, however, the longer time passes without any update on that point, the more suspicious I will be.
7 comments:
If jihad had any role in this, then the public has a right to know the risks they face as they are driving down Pico Blvd in Santa Monica or walking to class at Santa Monica College.
That's an ominous statement, and you seem to quail at taking it to its logical conclusion. Are you hinting that it would become a painful necessity to intern all Muslims in relocation camps in Nevada?
If not, and you've never advocated such a measure, what is the PRACTICAL significance to protecting the public of this goon turning out to be a Muslim?
I think its entirely plausible that he came from a Christian Arabic family, that an episode of teen-age angst and rebellion led him to style himself a Muslim just to snub his family (lots of teens find SOMETHING to do to snub their family), and off he goes!
That wouldn't exactly make every Muslim, or even every Muslim teen, into a likely mass murderer. I personally know a Muslim teen who would never do such a thing. I imagine I'll see him this Saturday at a wedding at a local Presbyterian Church.
" Like the case in Orange County, however, the longer time passes without any update on that point, the more suspicious I will be."
I don't get what you mean by this. From what I've read, he seems to have been an emotionally disturbed young man in the first place. And, as you pointed out, the family is reported to be Orthodox Christian. (And even if they were Muslim, it's possible that one could be a Muslim and kill without religion having anything to do with it, just as there are Christians who kill but religion plays no role in the killing.)
So, what if there's nothing to report as far as a connection with Islam? Do you want the media to come out and say what it wasn't? I can understand that you want to know the whole story, but as of right now, there is no reason to believe that Islam had any role in this whatsoever.
Jakes,
Unfortunately, given the times we live in and recent Boston attack, any time an Arab goes off his rocker with 1300 rounds of ammo, this is a legitimate question. The one reference to Zawahri being Christian was a comment by an anonymous reader on another blog who claimed to know the family.
Given the obvious questions, it would seem that the media would be quick to id Zawahri as from a Christian family and head off any anti-Muslim backlash (which I don't wish to see myself)Then we could consider this as another Sandy Hook type incident. The silence of the authorities and the media on this point tends to suggest he was a Muslim. if so, we have a right to know his motive just as we have a right to know the motive of Syed Ali. If there is another threat to public safety, it is the responsibility of our authorities and media to inform us.
Yeah, the cartels in Mexico run around with big heavy crosses around their necks, so anytime there is a big drug bust its a legitimate question whether Christians were involved.
The truth is that since we know that the Media is in the bag, if they determine that John Zawahri was indeed a Muslim, they will keep it quiet for obvious reasons.
The fact that there is little if any mention of the event five days after five people were slaughtered should be sufficient for most people to know that in all probability, no different than Benghazi, no different that the IRS scandal, we will never learn the truth.
America is no longer the land of the brave and free, we have become the land of ill informed, the Administration only tells us what they want us to know.
It is quite possible that Zawahri was just a 23 year old severely mentally disturbed individual, no different that was Major Nadal Hussein, the Fort Hood Shooter.
The end result is that between the two of them, they slaughtered 18 innocent people, and in the case of Major Hussein, he also wounded 31, and our government ruled Hussein's actions as workplace violence.
Once again, the Administration will do a anything and everything possible to protect the image of Muslim's.
It is important to note that i do not believe that all Muslim's are killers or bad, the radical extremists obviously are, the problem is how can anyone distinguish them apart?
Its interesting that Gary has had nothing more to say about this. Could it be there's no facts coming out that Gary finds to be convenient grist for his mill?
Siarlys,
All I can do is depende on the authorities to inform us. here is the latest.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/06/14/police-santa-monica-gunman-left-farewell-note/?test=latestnews
Now ee are prtetty much where we were left with Ali Syed. What is in the note that might clear it up?
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