On October 1, 2015, a terrorist who actively and publicly was a supporter of the Irish Republican Army (I.R.A.) terrorist organization and collector of Nazi icons, who called himself “ironcross45” murdered 9 individuals and wounded 10 individuals at the Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. The victims of the terrorist attack were: Lucero Alcaraz, 19; Treven Taylor Anspach, 20; Rebecka Ann Carnes, 18; Quinn Glen Cooper, 18; Kim Saltmarsh Dietz, 59; Lucas Eibel, 18; Jason Dale Johnson, 34; Lawrence Levine, 67 (teacher); Sarena Dawn Moore, 44.
October 1, 2015 – Victims of Terrorist Attack on Umpqua Community College
Multiple reports also state that the terrorist “targeted Christians.”
Limited news reporting on the terrorist attack has minimized information regarding the terrorist’s objective, as a local effort to avoid “glamorizing” the attack. However, Twitter reports indicated that Christians were targeted by the terrorist.
Stacy Boylan, identified by CNN as the parent of a wounded student, said the killer asked ” ‘Are you a Christian?’ ” He then asked Christians to stand and said, “‘Good, because you’re a Christian, you are going to see God in just about one second.'”
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) published a Twitter report on the focus of the attack on Christians on October 1, 2015. Due to a news blackout on the terrorists’ objective, little other information has become available.
Twitter Report on Terrorist “IronCross45” Targeting of Christians in Roseburg, Oregon Attack (Twitter)
R.E.A.L. has additional information regarding friends of the terrorist, including those who shared his support for the I.R.A. terrorist campaign. The British-American terrorist came to the U.S. from the United Kingdom as a child, and previously lived in Torrance, CA before moving to Oregon. In both California and in Oregon, the terrorist had “friends” who shared his support and praise of the I.R.A. terrorist campaign, including a government employee involved in a public safety agency in Torrance, California. Due to the news blackout on the terrorist’s motivation, this and other information is not being explored.
However, we have multiple reports of the terrorist’s calling out people for their Christian faith and also specifically asking if they were Catholic Christians in some cases, before the terrorist murdered them.
The United States has seen repeated attacks on Christian churches and members of the Christian faith. On June 17 2015, an African-American Christian church, Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, was attacked by a Confederate/Nazi terrorist who murdered 9 members during a Bible study. We have seen repeated attacks by Nazi and white supremacists on African-American Christian churches. Other past attacks have included a terrorist attack on the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and a terrorist attack on a Baptist church in Fort Worth, Texas.
In addition, the National Church Shooting Database recorded a total of 139 shootings in churches between 1980 and 2005. In all, 185 people died, including 36 children.
R.E.A.L. rejects all acts of terrorism as a violation and attack on our shared universal human rights of life, security, dignity, and all other human rights. R.E.A.L. notes that those terrorist attacks targeting people of a specific identity group, religion, or other affiliation, also is an attack on those shared universal human rights as well.