All clear after gunman opens fire at U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC

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Update: Multiple news outlets are fingering James von Brunn, a noted white supremacist, as the shooter. Blaze of glory for an 88-year-old with a history of getting into trouble with the government? Americablog rounds up details on von Brunn and his website. Worth noting that when the DC Police Department was asked about the shooter’s identity ina press conference a few minutes ago, they wouldn’t confirm.

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An ‘all clear’ has emerged at the Holocaust museum, the Washington Post reports, after shots were fired by a man with a gun, according to a variety of news reports. Guards returned fire, and apparently one guard and the gunman were shot, while a third might be injured.

WTOP News noted that the museum was full of visitors. The Holocaust Museum is a popular stop in Washington, DC’s tourist circuit, and people flock to its maze-like recounting of Nazi Germany’s gradual efforts to exterminate Jews and other minority groups, as well as its hallowed, candle-filled memorial. I imagine it must have been particulary terrifying to the many people waiting in line to enter the exhibit – because it’s a maze, they stagger the entries to keep the hallways from being overcrowded.

Apparently security was pretty good – it sounds like the gunman didn’t make it far before he was disarmed. WJLA adds that a man was spotted at George Washington University hospital handcuffed to a gurney.

No details on that man yet, but following on the murder of abortion provider George Tiller, this is the second attack in recent weeks that can possibly be linked to domestic extremists with a strong animus against our current government.

A Department of Homeland Security report on domestic extremism, which the government backed away from after it was vilified by critics of President Obama’s administration, warned that anti-Semitism could be on the rise:

Rightwing extremist chatter on the Internet continues to focus on the economy, the perceived loss of U.S. jobs in the manufacturing and construction sectors, and home foreclosures.  Anti-Semitic extremists attribute these losses to a deliberate conspiracy conducted by a cabal of Jewish “financial elites.”  These “accusatory” tactics are employed to draw new recruits into rightwing extremist groups and further radicalize those already subscribing to extremist beliefs.  DHS/I&A assesses this trend is likely to accelerate if the economy is perceived to worsen.

It seems like right-wing extremists are intent on accumulating victims at popular targets, as well as new martyrs for their causes. This guy could have been a lone gunman, but Dr. Tiller’s murder was linked to an anti-government militia movement. President Obama’s team in the White House backed away carefully from that DHS report, perhaps fearing that they’d offend the delicate sensibilities of Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, and others who walk up to the limits of political speech that is acceptable within our society. I hope it won’t take a third time to be the charm to make sure that the Feds start cracking down hard on the well-armed hatemongers that live among us.