SPLC statement on the tragedy at Oregon’s Umpqua Community College
The brutal mass killing at Oregon’s Umpqua Community College has the earmarks of a classic hate crime – all indications are that the shooter selected his victims on the basis of their religion.
What’s more, the shooter appears to have flirted with the hate movement: He used a variation of the Iron Cross, a German war medal used by the Nazis, as one of his online profiles and purchased a facsimile of an SS officer’s cap. Violence of whatever ideology appears to have been his obsession.
Our hearts go out to the families of the victims of this horrific tragedy.
