# Liberal-hater shoots up Unitarian church, kills two **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 28, 2008, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-hater-shoots-up-unitarian-church-kills-two/458000 "2008-07-28T23:41:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-hater-shoots-up-unitarian-church-kills-two/458000/1 "2008-07-28T23:41:36Z")
Story [here.](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080728/ap_on_re_us/church_shooting) > [@](#): > > KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - An out-of-work truck driver accused of opening fire at a Unitarian church, killing two people, left behind a note suggesting that he targeted the congregation out of hatred for its liberal policies, including its acceptance of gays, authorities said Monday. > > A four-page letter found in Jim D. Adkisson’s small SUV indicated he intentionally targeted the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church because, the police chief said, “he hated the liberal movement” and was upset with “liberals in general as well as gays.” > > Adkisson, a 58-year-old truck driver on the verge of losing his food stamps, had 76 rounds with him when he entered the church and pulled a shotgun from a guitar case during a children’s performance of the musical “Annie.” > > The Knoxville News Sentinel reported Monday that Adkisson may also have chosen the church because his ex-wife was a former longtime member of the congregation. Well, it’s better than bottling it up, isn’t it? Not much to add. Pure RO. ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-hater-shoots-up-unitarian-church-kills-two/458000/2 "2008-07-29T00:23:20Z")
I can’t believe it. My friend was there. She was in Knoxville visiting her parents. She was only at the church because a friend of a friend was in the play. She keeps saying, “I can’t believe I was in a church shooting… I’m an atheist!” This is the account she e-mailed just a few hours after it happened. She is amazingly calm considering what happened. She was there with her two daughters, ages 3 and 6. "you may have heard about the church shooting in Knoxville, Tennessee. it was at the Unitarian church. the girls and I were there to see the kids perform “Annie.” a man came in during the show and began randomly shooting with a gun. I saw the woman behind me killed, so I immediately realized what was happening. I think another man was killed too. I threw the girls on the floor and we crawled out a back door. we crawled into the bushes and hid until the police came. [6 year old] got some blood on her from the woman behind, but we were not shot. my leg was twisted and I couldn’t walk, so they took me to the hospital. it turns out, I broke my kneecap in half (probably while crawling frantically). I will have surgery this week." Unbelievable ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-hater-shoots-up-unitarian-church-kills-two/458000/3 "2008-07-29T00:40:31Z")
Wow, **autz** , that’s a hell of a story. At least the kids were ok. It’s been interesting watching Fox News try to spin this story. At first, it looked like they really wanted to paint it as an anti-Christian hate crime (not knowing too much about UU, I guess). After the anti-liberal motivations were made public, they shifted gears and started talking about how liberals aren’t a protected class, so it can’t be a hate crime. That’s technically true, but the shift in tone was interesting. They seemed disappointed that it wasn’t an anti-Christian crime. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-hater-shoots-up-unitarian-church-kills-two/458000/4 "2008-07-29T00:43:18Z")
Cue Fred Phelps “God hates Unitarians” in 3, 2, 1… ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-hater-shoots-up-unitarian-church-kills-two/458000/5 "2008-07-29T01:08:55Z")
Amidst all of the outrage, I feel it’s important to acknowledge the sacrifice made by Greg McKendry, who put himself in harms way and gave his life in order to protect the other parishioners. The police recovered 70+ shells that the gunman never used because Greg and other parishioners rushed the gunman, keeping him pinned until the police arrived. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-hater-shoots-up-unitarian-church-kills-two/458000/6 "2008-07-29T01:25:34Z")
I like how the shooter was angry at liberals because his food stamps had been cut. Whaaaa? ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-hater-shoots-up-unitarian-church-kills-two/458000/7 "2008-07-29T01:28:40Z")
A few years ago, I was back in the East Tennessee town where I grew up. I was with my mother at the county fair when I saw a guy wearing a t-shirt that said “Do your patriotic duty: Shoot a liberal.” He had his kids with him. Here’s a [Liberal Hunting License](http://patriotshop.us/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=584) available for sale at something called the Patriot Shop. > [@Ann Coulter](#): > > My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times Building. And on and on. I’ve been called a traitor on this board more times than I can count. Demonizing your political opponent like this, not recognizing their humanity, calling them anti-American leads to violence. > [@Ann Coulter](#): > > We need to execute people like John Walker in order to physically intimidate liberals, by making them realize that they can be killed, too. Otherwise, they will turn out to be outright traitors. I’m not surprised somebody finally took the hatemongers at their word. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-hater-shoots-up-unitarian-church-kills-two/458000/8 "2008-07-29T01:29:09Z")
It doesn’t matter why he did it. Why do we dignify these people with justifications? Charge him, convict him, put him on the gurney, shoot him up, and bury his ass. Other than that I don’t want to hear anything about him. He’s a scumbag. Nothing else needs to be said. ---
**Author:** ![Ersatz\_Shmoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@Ersatz\_Shmoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ersatz_Shmoe)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-hater-shoots-up-unitarian-church-kills-two/458000/9 "2008-07-29T01:30:09Z")
I wonder if Rush will champion this guy on his show tomorrow. He was, after all, motivated by the same hatred for “liberals” that right-wing talk radio is a primary source of. This is Rush’s guy! ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-hater-shoots-up-unitarian-church-kills-two/458000/10 "2008-07-29T01:37:04Z")
I think it is a mistake to blame this on liberal haters. This guy was insane. His anger happened to be directed towards liberals but it could have been directed towards Christians or Blacks or any other group. It’s not Ann Coulter’s fault or Rush Limbaugh’s either. The guy was nuts. He shot at my friend. He could easily have killed her. But I’m angry at him, not ‘conservative hatemongers.’ ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-hater-shoots-up-unitarian-church-kills-two/458000/11 "2008-07-29T01:37:25Z")
[QUOTE=Drain Bead] I like how the shooter was angry at liberals because his food stamps had been cut. Whaaaa? [/QUOTE] I noticed this too. I guess some people don’t need a very good reason to start killing. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-hater-shoots-up-unitarian-church-kills-two/458000/12 "2008-07-29T01:52:18Z")
[QUOTE=Airman Doors, USAF] It doesn’t matter why he did it. Why do we dignify these people with justifications? Charge him, convict him, put him on the gurney, shoot him up, and bury his ass. Other than that I don’t want to hear anything about him. He’s a scumbag. Nothing else needs to be said. [/QUOTE] Is that the same attitude you take towards Islamic terrorists? > [@autz](#): > > I think it is a mistake to blame this on liberal haters. This guy was insane. He was an insane liberal hater. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-hater-shoots-up-unitarian-church-kills-two/458000/13 "2008-07-29T01:53:29Z")
[QUOTE=vibrotronica] Is that the same attitude you take towards Islamic terrorists? [/QUOTE] Define “Islamic terrorists”. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-hater-shoots-up-unitarian-church-kills-two/458000/14 "2008-07-29T01:55:33Z")
I’m trying to put into words my thoughts, but I’m having trouble, so if I’m not clear in this post, I apologize in advance. In December, Matthew Murray shot two people at a Youth With a Mission training camp and then drove down to Colorado Springs and shot two more people at the New Life Church. Did he hate Christians? Apparently so, in his ramblings posted on the Internet. Does that make his act a hate crime? I do not know what Colorado law states. Although I am a liberal, I do not want this shooting to be used by other liberals as an example of our “oppression” by others. For the same reasons that I do/did not want Christians to use Murray’s acts as an example of their “oppression.” Sometimes people do bad things, and their motives are heinous. If us liberals want to use this tragedy for political gain, we shouldn’t be surprise or point fingers if similar incidents are used for the same purposes. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-hater-shoots-up-unitarian-church-kills-two/458000/15 "2008-07-29T01:58:00Z")
I suppose it would be insensitive of me to note that what was going on in a Unitarian church on a Sunday morning was a production of _Annie._ Could it BE more cliched? I’m happy that **Autz** ’s friends were not hurt worse. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-hater-shoots-up-unitarian-church-kills-two/458000/16 "2008-07-29T02:01:43Z")
[QUOTE=Drain Bead] I like how the shooter was angry at liberals because his food stamps had been cut. Whaaaa? [/QUOTE] I see that kind of crazy disconnect a lot in the South. Folks who don’t have a pot to piss in and depend heavily on the government (either directly or indirectly) nevertheless count themselves as rock-ribbed conservatives. It’s a result of the successful effort of Republicans to market themselves as the “macho” party over the past couple of decades. If you see yourself as a manly man, you’re supposed to be a Republican…no matter what sort of cognitive gymnastics it takes for you to get there. ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-hater-shoots-up-unitarian-church-kills-two/458000/17 "2008-07-29T02:05:20Z")
FYI From the Knoxville newspaper [http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/jul/28/church-shooting-police-find-manifesto-suspects-car/](http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/jul/28/church-shooting-police-find-manifesto-suspects-car/) "Inside the [shooter’s] house, officers found “Liberalism is a Mental Health Disorder” by radio talk show host Michael Savage, “Let Freedom Ring” by talk show host Sean Hannity, and “The O’Reilly Factor,” by television talk show host Bill O’Reilly.’ ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-hater-shoots-up-unitarian-church-kills-two/458000/18 "2008-07-29T02:10:31Z")
[QUOTE=Airman Doors, USAF] Define “Islamic terrorists”. [/QUOTE] Whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-hater-shoots-up-unitarian-church-kills-two/458000/19 "2008-07-29T02:21:25Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] I see that kind of crazy disconnect a lot in the South. Folks who don’t have a pot to piss in and depend heavily on the government (either directly or indirectly) nevertheless count themselves as rock-ribbed conservatives. [/QUOTE] I’ve known these as well; they’re also the same ones who’ll have no education beyond a GED _if that_ and a family that’s dysfunctional as all hell and rely on government aid yet they’ll look down, with no sense of irony, on “that nigger surgeon” who treated them in the E.R. the last time they got shot. I’m another who doesn’t see this as a hate crime or political statement or anything like, but as a crackpot who snapped and killed people because for what-the-fuck-ever reason it made sense at the time. If the UU church hadn’t been having a production of Annie that day he would have probably opened fire at a Taco Bell where a male employee with an earring once shortchanged him, the motive and location infuriatingly random but ultimately meaningless as far as blame or rationale. I’m completely against the designation of some crimes as hate crimes (except for statistical purposes or in the genuinely rare event that local law enforcement doesn’t try to prosecute) in general, but this is just a fucked up loser exercising the only real power he was capable of wielding. Horrible that two people died, and I’m not making a joke when I say I’m just glad he didn’t have a more powerful gun that would have let him kill more. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-hater-shoots-up-unitarian-church-kills-two/458000/20 "2008-07-29T02:23:15Z")
[QUOTE=vibrotronica] Whatever. [/QUOTE] Yeah, whatever. I’m not generalizing so you can play gotcha games. Define it and we’ll talk. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-hater-shoots-up-unitarian-church-kills-two/458000.md?page=2)