It’s impossible to ignore the kind of rampant xenophobia and nationalism that Donald Trump inspires. While we can’t solely blame him for the existence of bigotry, racism and evil (though it is certainly tempting), we do know that he is, in fact, responsible for fostering the kinds of conditions under which hate crimes and threats against minorities can and do thrive.
In the last year, hate crimes against Muslims and Asian Americans have increased, and experts say that Trump is the most important factor contributing to this increase. We can never know exactly what goes through the minds of the perpetrators of these incidents (and the right loves to provide every motive imaginable except actual racism), but some of the things they say give us clues about their motivation.
Take the shooting that happened on Wednesday night in a bar in Olathe, Kansas, for example.
A 51-year-old man faces first-degree murder charges after shooting three men in an Olathe, Kan., bar Wednesday night, police say, reportedly telling two of them, local Garmin engineers from India, to “get out of my country.”
So while we technically don’t know if this man is a racist, xenophobe or otherwise deplorable Trumper, we do know that what he said is right in line with the despicable things Trump and friends routinely say and do to remind us that “bad hombres” from foreign lands are stealing our jobs, resources and making the country not great.
One of the men who was shot, 32-year-old Srinivas Kuchibhotla, died in the hospital later from his wounds. Of course, the authorities have yet to classify this as a hate crime but are trying to determine if it was “bias motivated.” Hmm...ya think?
Witnesses told the Kansas City Star and The Washington Post that Purinton was thought to have been kicked out of the bar Wednesday night before the shooting took place. [...]
He reportedly came back into the bar and hurled racial slurs at the two Indian men, including comments that suggested he thought they were of Middle Eastern descent.
For heaven’s sake, he couldn’t even get his geography correct. But what else is new? And apparently, hate crimes have been making the rounds in Kansas lately.
The Kansas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations called Thursday for state and federal hate crime charges to be brought against [Adam W. Purinton, who was charged with the crime] “in order to send a strong message that violence targeting religious or ethnic minorities will not be tolerated,” CAIR-Kansas Board Chair Moussa Elbayoumy said in a statement. Elbayoumy added that two Kansas men were sentenced Wednesday for their roles in an unrelated hate attack on three Somali Muslims in that state.
Purinton, who was taken into custody 70 miles away in Clinton, Missouri, is a Navy veteran, former pilot and air traffic controller. It’s unclear exactly how he managed to shoot three people, leave the bar and make his way all the way to Missouri but it looks like all that shooting made him hungry because he went to Applebee’s afterward.
Assistant Clinton Police Chief Sonny Lynch said an Applebee’s bartender called police because Purinton told him he had been involved in a shooting, according to the Associated Press.
Looks like Applebee’s might be a fan favorite of the hate crime crowd, considering that’s where, Asma Jama, a Somali woman, was attacked in Minnesota when she was hit by with a beer mug by a woman who became enraged after hearing her speak Swahili.
The one silver lining of this horrible tragedy is that when Purinton began firing, one patron, 24-year-old Ian Grillot, did try to intervene. He was shot in the hand and chest.
And there you have it, folks. Making America racist again still.
