White domestic terrorists slip off media’s radar

Robert Joos Jr.

I guess bombs aren’t sexy enough to warrant national attention anymore. At least, not if the terrorists planting the bombs are white. Here are a couple stories that failed to attract significant coverage, and let me emphasize that these are just two examples I scooped up. One need only spend an afternoon exploring SPLC’s website to observe the surge in far right extremism, so undoubtedly, there are many similar examples.

A firearms and explosives expert suspected of involvement with two white supremacist brothers in the sending of a bomb to the office of a municipal diversity officer was sentenced to 6½ years in prison in Missouri on Tuesday.

Robert Joos Jr. is an anti-government crazy person, and also the pastor of a church of “apocalyptic Christians.” He was convicted in January for possessing firearms and explosives. He and his accomplices, twin brothers Dennis and Daniel Mahon, were indicted for delivering a bomb to diversity officer Don Logan, a black man, who needed extensive surgery for injuries to his hands and arms. Logan’s secretary also suffered injuries to her face and eyes.

Unlike in the case of Faisal Shahzad, this bomb actually detonated — in the hands of a government employee — and the story barely registered on the national media’s radar.

Another bomb detonated in a Jacksonville Islamic Center of Northeast Florida during evening prayers on May 10th. The surveillance video shows a middle-aged white man carrying a can of gasoline and a pipe bomb into the mosque, but only the local new is reporting the story even though the FBI is investigating it as a hate crime and possible domestic terrorism.

The attack follows a particularly vicious video campaign from Republican Dan Fanelli’s campaign, which showed a man appearing to be from the Middle East, and asked if he “looked like a terrorist.”

Another ad has Fanelli saying, “This is a terrorist,” as he presents a “Middle Eastern” man strapped with a “bomb” and wearing what appears to be a dish towel “turban.”

Yet another ad shows two Arabic-speaking “terrorists” constructing a bomb while discussing “martyrdom” and “killing infidels.” The ad also mocks long-standing due process rights such as Miranda warnings and access to lawyers.

Right. The dark terrorists are the real terrorists, and the white terrorists are — in the words of a Newsweek editor — survivalists. Maybe this would be a “real” story if the victims were white, or the terrorists were dark-skinned, but for now, I’m sure these are just the acts of some lone wolves.