Radicals React: Holocaust Museum Killer Was a Hero (or a Patsy)
White supremacists reacted swiftly to the death of Holocaust Museum shooter and long-time neo-Nazi James von Brunn by lauding his actions and promoting conspiracy theories about his demise.
Von Brunn, who had been in poor health and was recovering from gunshot wounds to one ear, died early this afternoon at a hospital in North Carolina, according to The Associated Press. The 89-year-old had been at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. He was himself shot in the face by other guards just seconds after killing Stephen T. Johns.
On Stormfront, the leading white supremacist Web forum, posters speculated this afternoon that von Brunn might not have died of natural causes, suggesting that evil forces were actually responsible for his demise. âI knew that case would never go to trial,â wrote âLawAbidingCitizen.â âThere were so many holes in the âofficialâ story that it would have been a laughingstock.â Added âMedicineHatâ: âSounds like a clear cut case of âJewicide.ââ
Many others praised him as a hero. âJames Wenneker Von [sic] Brunn died a martyr,â wrote âstarviego.â âLong live James Wenneker Von Brunn.â Said âallkeshâ: âGreat man who gave his best for his people!â âKennewickman,â a Stormfront moderator, put it like this: âEvery man or woman who expresses opposition to ZOG [a neo-Nazi acronym for Zionist Occupation Government, meaning the federal government] and dies in ZOGâs hands is a martyr, automatically.â
Not everyone was so enamored, however. âHe was an idiot, a crazed old kook,â wrote âNotakook.â âHis actions might as well be scripted in Hollywood: âMean, hateful, old racist, Jew hater, evil NAZI attacks Holocaust Museum. Honest, Black African American doorman/security guard is murdered!â Yeah, thatâs really a heroic act, really helps our âmovement.â We have to find things for our old men to do that do not involve military invasions of museums! Wow. Really pathetic folks.â
Von Brunn, who wrote many racist and anti-Semitic screeds, had ties to prominent neo-Nazis over the course of some four decades of radical activism. When he was arrested immediately after the June shooting, police found a notebook in his car saying: âYou want my weapons â this is how youâll get them. The Holocaust is a lie. Obama was created by Jews. Obama does what his Jew owners tell him to do. Jews captured Americaâs money. Jews control the mass media. The 1st Amendment is abrogated henceforth.â
Von Brunn was never a major extremist leader. However, he became a hero to the radical right in 1981, when he carried a sawed-off shotgun, a pistol and a hunting knife into the Federal Reserve in Washington, where he hoped to âarrestâ the Board of Governors and âread to the American public my indictment on these treasonous liarsâ on television. He was convicted of attempted kidnapping and other charges by a âNegro juryâ and âa Jew judge,â he wrote later, and sentenced in April 1983 to a term of up to 11 years in prison. He was released in 1989.
By the time von Brunn was arrested, however, he had been largely forgotten by other white supremacists. His death is unlikely to have any real impact on their movement.