A Christian Terrorist Plot That Goes Unreported

18 July 2015

By Tariq A. Al-Maeena

In the aftermath of the attack on a church in Charleston, South Carolina by a white Christian supremacist, the media ran extensive analysis on the who's and why's of the assault which led to the murder of nine people attending service. One of the debates to emerge from the reverberation of this ghastly act was whether this was indeed an act of terrorism or simply a young man gone "temporarily insane".

In the past, the US news media flinched from identifying such acts as acts of terrorism simply because they did not fit the profile. I mean there was no one named Mohammed in the picture, no heavily bearded and swarthy individual that the public would love to hate, and no evidence of public rhetoric against the Western world. Therefore, it made sense for the right-wing US corporate media to dismiss acts such as the crime committed in Charleston by a young white male, the 21-year-old Dylann Roof, as anything but "terrorism".

A couple of months earlier there was another sinister plot by another white Christian terrorist, only this one failed to capture the attention of the national media. Robert Rankin Doggart, a former congressional candidate from Tennessee, was caught red-handed on tape and on social media discussing elaborate plans to wipe out a complete Muslim community in upstate New York!

Doggart, an ordained minister himself, felt no remorse in planning such a heinous plot. The target was the community of Islamberg near Hancock, New York. He focused on that particular town after watching a Fox News report on the Muslims in that town. His plans came to light when an informant passed on the information to the FBI who began a series of telephone recordings and surveillance which led to his eventual arrest.

In one of the calls recorded by the informant, the ordained minister was clearly heard saying: "Those guys have to be killed. Their buildings need to be burnt down. If we can get in there and do that without losing a man, even the better." The buildings Doggart was referring to included a mosque, a school and a cafeteria.

Another recording revealed the true nature of this Christian terrorist's murderous intent: "When we meet in this state, the people we seek will know who we are. We will be cruel to them. And we will burn down their buildings [and] if anyone attempts to, uh, harm us in any way, our standoff gunner will take them down from 350 yards away. The standoff gunner would be me."

Doggart then took to social media and on Facebook blatantly posted: "Target 3 (Islamberg) is vulnerable from many approaches and must be utterly destroyed. We shall be Warriors who will inflict horrible numbers of casualties upon the enemies of our Nation and World Peace."

Doggart's words were not those of someone simply blowing off hot air. Investigations revealed that he had actually traveled around "to recruit gunners and 'battle test' his M4 rifle" as was disclosed during the court hearings after his arrest. One of the charges at the court read: "The defendant was fully aware of the religious character of the mosque when he identified it as one of the buildings that needed to be burned. Additionally, the defendant suggested on a cellular telephone call that he and his group would kill some residents of Islamberg in order to carry out the plan."

So what did eventually transpire with this Christian terrorist with such murderous intent? He was first allowed to plead guilty only to interstate communication of threats with a maximum five-year jail term. Although initially detained, a Federal magistrate later allowed his release on certain conditions after his attorneys said he had stopped taking pain medication and was no longer abusing alcohol. I suppose his hatred was driven by the pills he was popping and by alcohol. No Guantanamo for this terrorist! And none of the national media showed any interest in this diabolical conspiracy.

And why should they? He is not named Mohammed.

Tariq A. Al Maeena is a Saudi socio-political commentator. He lives in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. 

 

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