Saw this story mentioned in a few threads in the past couple days, but hadn't seen anyone diary it -- apologies if this has been covered elsewhere.
The Wisconsin hunting shootings that have now left 6 people dead just got murkier. The versions of the two survivors are starkly different, as the suspect claims he was fired upon first, while the surviving victim claims it was the suspect who started the exchange. Complicating all of this is that the suspect is a Hmong immigrant, and there has, to be blunt, been no shortage of racial tension in the region over the years.
A 1998
Harper's article provides some really interesting background on this issue in this very same area, and also happens to feature
Joe Bee Xiong, a local leader and Progressive Majority-endorsed candidate for State Assembly (fell short by about 8 percent). With all of this in mind, the story takes on a bit more resonance than the "hunters run amok" scenario so many envisioned at first.
Some personal perspective, and bear in mind I do not have the facts. I'm not sure anyone ever really will. I'm just trying to process a shocking event.
The whole thing has given everyone around here pause. The season never passes without fatalities, but they seldom if ever happen like this. The predominant mood is one of cognitive dissonance -- this isn't supposed to happen. In the northern part of the state, at least, deer season is basically an extension of Thanksgiving, a family tradition. Think of it what you will, it forms a large part of the local identity.
So too does our supposed egalitarianism. We like to think of ourselves as fair-minded people, open and accepting. But the sad fact is that the Hmong are treated with a virulent racism that at times breaks into open hostility. When the identity of the suspect was released, a lot of folks I know kind of sucked in their breath. And when his version of events came out today, there were more than a few people who muttered "Yeah, I can see it happening like that."
There is no real explanation for murdering six people. It defies full comprehension. But -- and maybe this is just me -- while I may be shocked, I'm perhaps a bit less than surprised.
This is resonating deeply up here. Local Hmong are afraid of backlash. I'm a bit worried that their very real fears may get lost in the rush to judgment on the weapons angle, as valid a concern as that may be.
Whatever the facts, though, whatever the resonance, the result is this:
Six people are dead.
There is nothing about this that doesn't make me profoundly sad.