Urban Thought Collective

Y’all pray for me. I really do want to be a good Christian, but when evil incidents like the shooting at the Holocaust Museum in DC go down, I find myself struggling to remember Jesus’ command that we love our enemies. I find myself wanting to be a vengeful human being, not a forgiving child of God. That happens whenever I hear about this kind of pure evil and sadism, especially when the lives of innocent people are stolen by persons who have abandoned their humanity in favor of a twisted, violent lifestyle like white supremacy. Or child abuse. Or serial rape. Or gang affiliation.

James von Brunn, the 88-year-old racist who murdered museum security guard Stephen Tyrone Johns and then tried to kill some other people, is laying up in the ICU at George Washington University Hospital. Mr. Johns’ colleagues took von Brunn out with about eight bullets and now no one is sure if the wretched geezer will live or die. I hope he dies. He isn’t doing anything but taking up space and bringing misery to the world. Let him pass on to his final judgment. Better yet, keep his old, punk ass alive so he can stand trial, get convicted, get the death penalty and then, hopefully, be executed as an example that cold-blooded murder, especially when motivated by bigotry, will not be tolerated by our society.

See, this is why I am asking for your prayers. I am violating the fundamental canon of my Christian belief by wishing for this man’s death. And I feel good doing it. Clearly, I have a long way to go morally. But, to be honest, it feels pretty darned good to let my anger fly.

Cops found a notebook in James von Brunn’s car filled with the kinds of paranoid rants hat are typical for hate-filled fools like him: “You want my weapons this is how you’ll get them… the Holocaust is a lie…Jews captured America’s money…” That’s the same stupidity the white supremacists have been talking for decades, but von Brunn also brought his bigoted madness up to date by attacking our President. “Obama was created by the Jews…Obama does what his Jew owners tell him to do…” In fact, von Brunn reportedly claimed that Barack Obama’s historic election is what pushed him over the edge.

We knew back when Barack was campaigning for the White House that the murderous, white racists were coming out of the woodwork. So, in that sense, the violent appearance of von Brunn isn’t a big surprise. Neither are his sneaky, ‘fraidy cat tactics.

Most of these white supremacists are straight-up cowards. Ever notice how they always attack defenseless people? They love to get together in groups of six or eight and go jump some middle aged Arab, Jewish, Asian or Latino couple in a dark parking lot somewhere. Or a group of ‘em waits until they can get one black man off by himself and then lynch him. Or, they sneak into a Jewish neighborhood at 4 AM and spray paint swastikas on a synagogue. Or, like this old wuss von Brunn, they sneak a gun into a peaceful gathering place like a museum and start shooting at unarmed folks.

When was the last time you heard about some white supremacist/white nationalist/neo-Nazi/skinhead (did I get all of these idiots’ titles in there?) going into predominately black, Latino, Asian, Jewish, etc. neighborhood and trying to start some stuff? Ever hear about any of these big-mouthed cowards rolling up into South Central L.A. and trying to attack a family picnic in the park? Of course not. They’ll never do that because they know they’d get a combined black-and-brown beat-down.

For now, James von Brunn is in the hospital hanging to life by a thread. If that thread snaps I for one won’t be shedding any tears. I’m saving those for the Stephen Tyrone Johns, his loved ones, and the rest of humanity which, unlike the vermin von Brunn, are actually trying to live in harmony and peace in this troubled world.

Thanks for listening. I’m Cameron Turner and that’s my two cents.

THINK! IT AIN’T ILLEGAL…YET!

Cameron Turner is a Los Angeles-area native whose editorials, entertainment news features and audio documentaries have appeared on national radio networks, online and in print for over 20 years.