Editor’s Note: We’ve corrected the attribution of a quote below suggesting that if the attackers were antigovernment they would have attacked a government target, rather than random Americans. The quote actually came from Mike Lackomar of the Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia. Hatewatch regrets the error, which was the result of an editing mistake.
Who was responsible for the deadly Boston terrorist attack?
The Muslims did it. No, it was an illegal immigrant. Think again â it was a gay guy. Wait, you missed the key signs: Our own government once again pulled off an act of covert terror to promote its nefarious aims.
Fingers have been pointed in all of these directions by conspiracy theory peddlers and professional hatemongers since the bombings Monday.
âItâs a pretty safe bet right now that this attack was carried out by an Islamist,â declared a post on the Tea Party Nation website Tuesday. The obvious cause for the violence? âWe have a government that is not committed to protecting America.â Linking Islam with Ronald Reaganâs âevil empireâ of Communism, the post warned that the Boston bombings are just another event presaging future violence in âan ideological warâ that can only be won if we have tougher, more anti-Islam U.S. political leaders. That, of course, would be the Tea Party cabal.
Pamela Geller, the raging Islamophobic activist, immediately declared âcase closedâ in a Monday blog headlined âJihadi Arrested in Horrific Boston Marathon Bombing.â Boston police released the Saudi Arabian college student whom she incorrectly referred to as âarrestedâ and said, after questioning him, that he was no longer a suspect.
But maybe the man foolishly released by police is not a Jihadi but rather planted the bombings because heâs gay. Thatâs the implication advanced by several right-wing web sites such as Free Republic and Gateway Pundit. They took the initiative to post information from the Facebook page of the Saudi youth. They claimed he was âguarded by federal agentsâ and was surely either gay or bisexual because he expressed interest in âmen and women,â had vacationed in Key West and âlikedâ the Ellen Degeneres Show.
Erik Rush, a periodic Fox News guest, set a more urgent tone, tweeting, âEverybody do the National Security Ankle Grab! Letâs bring more Saudis in without screening them! Câmon! #bostonmarathon.â When asked online if he was blaming Muslims for the bombings, Rush replied: âYes, theyâre evil. Kill them all.â Later, he claimed he was just joking and deleted the post. But Right Wing Watch captured it for posterity.
Anti-immigrant activists seized on the terrorism to fuel fears about pending immigration reform legislation. Right-wing talk show host Laura Ingraham tried Tuesday to goad Rep. Mike McCaul, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, into blaming undocumented immigrants for the Boston attacks. When he didnât bite, she advised closing our borders as the logical solution.
Rep. Steve King, an Iowa Republican and leading opponent of immigration reform, portrayed the terror acts as a clear indication that reform could threaten Americans. Before anyone had been arrested Tuesday, he told National Review Online, âIf we canât background-check people that are coming from Saudi Arabia, how do we think we are going to background-check the 11 to 20 million people that are here from who knows where?â He said the Boston violence should slow action on immigration reform.
Several leaders in the antigovernment militia movement told Buzzfeed their activists wouldnât have done it. â(It) had nothing to do with militias â thatâs a bunch of bullshit,â Dave Trochmann, co-founder of the Militia of Montana said. âIt was probably a r——.â
Mike Lackomar, a spokesman for the Southeast Michigan Volunteeer Militia, said that âsomebody pissed off at the governmentâ wouldnât attack civilians but would rather choose a government target. John Levengood of the Kansas State Militia cast suspicion, however, on a âskinhead type of militia where it’s all about race â thatâs those guys in Montana and Idaho â and they don’t like society integrating the way that it has been. They could have done it very easily.”
The most dĂ©jĂ vu explanation of all came from Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist and radio host. He suggested the bombings looked like a âfalse flagâ operation by the government. Militia activists also widely voiced this âfalse flagâ refrain after the Sept. 11 attacks and the Oklahoma City bombings. To folks like Jones, it makes perfect sense. In a webcast Monday, he said: âYou saw them stage Fast and Furious. ⊠They staged Aurora, they staged Sandy Hook. The evidence is just overwhelming. And thatâs why Iâm so desperate and freaked out. This is not fun you know, getting up here telling you this.â But, alas, the burden falls on Jones. âSomebodyâs got to tell you the truth.â
And, of course, Westboro Baptist Church, arguably the most hated hate group in America, had the answer: God sent the bombs in retaliation for Massachusetts’ decision to allow same-sex marriage. âThank God, for his righteous judgment,â says Westboroâs Sam Phelps-Roper in seven-minute video posted Tuesday on the groupâs GodHatesF— website.