Unfortunately, the horrific shooting rampage at Virginia Tech (240 miles from D.C.), which is now being described as the deadliest in U.S. history may does have a brown angle, if only to further a reckless agenda. The death toll is up to 32 33; at least 22 28 people are injured. Tipster Hema emailed us about Debbie Schlussel, a blogger who didn’t waste any time before irresponsibly blaming “Pakis” for the tragedy (I have quoted most of it so you don’t have to go to the site— it doesn’t deserve the traffic):
Who is the “Asian” Mass Murderer at Virginia Tech?
Here’s what we know about the murderer of at least 32 students and maimer of at least 28 more at Virginia Tech, today:
* The murderer has been identified by law enforcement and media reports as “a young Asian male.”
* The Virginia Tech campus has a very large Muslim community, many of which are from Pakistan (per terrorism investigator Bill Warner).
* Pakis are considered “Asian.”
snip
If I were Asian, I’d be legitimately upset with this broad generalization of the mass murderer’s identity.
Why am I speculating that the “Asian” gunman is a Pakistani Muslim? Because law enforcement and the media strangely won’t tell us more specifically who the gunman is. Why?
And the ass-covering finale:
Even if it does not turn out that the shooter is Muslim, this is a demonstration to Muslim jihadists all over that it is extremely easy to shoot and kill multiple American college students.
So far, there is no indication that she might be right. I pray no one decides to indulge their inner-vigilante after reading her hate-spew. Enough people have been hurt by this nightmare.
May the memory of those students whose lives were stolen be eternal. This is just heart-breaking. I’ll update this story as it develops…
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UPDATE 8: Minal Panchal is confirmed among the lost (Thanks, brown_fob).
Information about Minal’s death came in late because no immediate family member was present on campus.I remember her life here.
UPDATE 7: Information about the gunman (Thanks, Desishiksa):
Cho Seung Hui was a South Korean native who immigrated to this country as a child, officials said. His lifeless body was found in Norris Hall, a classroom building, among those of several other slain students, Virginia state police superintendent Col. Steve Flaherty said. Cho, a senior, had apparently taken his own life. Cho graduated in 2003 from Westfield High School in Fairfax…
Cho, described by fellow students a loner, cleared a federal criminal background check at the time his green card was renewed in 2003, as did his family, a U.S. immigration official said. [WaPo]
UPDATE 6: Regarding VoiceInTheHead’s comment:
It has also been reported that an Indian student, Minal Panchal, is missing after the shootout. [DNA]
UPDATE 5: A desi Professor is among the lost (Thanks, Murugan):
Reports have it that an Indian-origin professor is among those killed in the campus massacre.
Professor G V Loganathan of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering was teaching in a class in the Norris Hall – one of the crime scenes – when the gunman went on rampage. [IBN]Abhi remembers him here.
UPDATE 4: In a move which shocks absolutely no one, the blogger who inspired our post uses the latest information in this case (Chinese, not “Paki”) to rail against furriners coming to America for college (Thanks again, Hema):
So, the perpetrator of the Virginia Tech massacre is a Chinese national here on a student visa. And today, this alien did “the job that Americans just won’t do.”
Remember that the next time you hear President Bush and Condi Clueless waxing lyrical about how we need more foreign students in America. We do not. Remember the Mana Saleh Almanajam and Shaker Mohsen Alsidran, two Saudi students in Tampa, last year, who hijacked a school bus full of kids while wearing trench coats in 90-plus degree weather?
…And remember: Just because this attacker was not Muslim, doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of potential and hopeful ones among the thousands Muslim nations are sending here to “study” under Saudi King Abdullah’s scholarships.[pure crap]See? This is a teaching opportunity, to remind us of how evil Muslims are.
UPDATE 3: Campus police thought it was an “isolated incident”; the email warning they sent was probably too little, too late.
“You can second guess all day. We acted on the best information we had.”
At 9:29 a.m., the university sent an e-mail warning students that a gunman was on the loose and to stay indoors. At about that time, a shooter opened fire at the engineering school’s Norris Hall, killing 30 people. Several students leapt to safety from upper stories, and the gunman’s body was later found at the building, Flinchum said. [Bloomberg]
UPDATE 2: CircusInJungle points us to Wiki, which first said the shooter was “James Jay Kim”. The article has been updated, no longer reflects that.
UPDATE 1: Amardeep provides a link where an eye-witness IDs the suspect as “Asian”; the shooter may have been looking for his girlfriend.
*I have amended the title (was Tragedy at Virginia Tech; Quick, Blame Pakis) and original content of this post because it seemed like the appropriate thing to do; several of Schlussel’s quotes have been removed because they serve no further purpose here. Additionally, updates are now in reverse-chronological order, to facilitate information dissemination.
