Utah gunman was Muslim from Bosnia

Dallas Blog | Tom Pauken:

“World Net Daily is reporting that the young gunman who 'killed five people in a crowded Utah shopping mall was a Bosnian Muslim refugee who was prepared to kill many more, say investigators.' ”

Ed Cognoski responds:

Multiple murder. "Gunman was Muslim". Ergo, jihad, Islamic terrorism.

Tom Pauken doesn't have to connect the dots. He knows his readers will do it for him. Byron George sarcastically tells Mr Pauken not to "rile the Muslim extremist community." Trixie suspects a conspiracy to suppress news of a Muslim terrorism connection. Right Wing Republican Volunteer fears that "political correctness may end up being the death of us. Literally." Bildo asks Muslims, "How about stopping the politically-correct b.s., and admitting that Islam has a violence problem?"

Tom Pauken stirs up this predictable prejudice and wrath. He has turned Dallas Blog into a distributor of right wing propaganda from outlets like World Net Daily. A look at its front page today shows these other stories.

• "Another attack by Muslim, another 'non-terrorist' event"
• "Terrorism not ruled out in Salt Lake case"
• "Christians' duty to be armed -- Special Offer: $4.95 today only!"
• "WND Poll: What do you think motivated the Utah-mall shooter?"

The right wing is frustrated that the FBI and local law enforcement won't jump to conclusions. Evidence, schmevidence. The right wing doesn't need evidence. The fact that the killer is a Muslim is all they need to know that, of course, Islamic terrorism is at work here.

Most news stories quoted FBI and law enforcement officials as saying that they had found no evidence to suggest a motive for the killings. World Net Daily, wanting to believe Islamic terrorism was behind the killings, tells readers instead that terrorism hasn't been ruled out yet. Readers interpret that as proof of guilt.

And if the killer is a Muslim, then he wasn't just randomly killing people, he was killing Christians. It's Christians' duty to shoot back at Muslims.

The poll offers readers various motivations for the killings: personal demons, violent video games, post-traumatic stress from his childhood in Bosnia, Islamic jihad, etc. World Net Daily readers, by an 89% majority, have already concluded that the motivation was Islamic jihad.

This is the kind of information that shapes Tom Pauken's knowledge of the world. This is what Mr Pauken, former chairman of the Republican Party of Texas and now publisher of Dallas Blog, considers to be a worthwhile news source.

Perhaps the ongoing investigation by the FBI and local law enforcement will turn up an Islamic terrorism connection in this story. Or perhaps it won't. Until then, news sites like Dallas Blog should not be leading readers to jump to conclusions. Reading from a particular holy book does not make one a murderer. Remember, holy books don't kill people. People kill people.