Tragedy at Virginia Tech* [8 UPDATES]

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In Memory Of Unfortunately, the horrific shooting rampage at Virginia Tech (240 miles from D.C.), which is now being described as the deadliest in U.S. history may does have a brown angle, if only to further a reckless agenda. The death toll is up to 32 33; at least 22 28 people are injured. Tipster Hema emailed us about Debbie Schlussel, a blogger who didn’t waste any time before irresponsibly blaming “Pakis” for the tragedy (I have quoted most of it so you don’t have to go to the site– it doesn’t deserve the traffic):

Who is the “Asian” Mass Murderer at Virginia Tech?
Here’s what we know about the murderer of at least 32 students and maimer of at least 28 more at Virginia Tech, today:
* The murderer has been identified by law enforcement and media reports as “a young Asian male.”
* The Virginia Tech campus has a very large Muslim community, many of which are from Pakistan (per terrorism investigator Bill Warner).
* Pakis are considered “Asian.”

snip

If I were Asian, I’d be legitimately upset with this broad generalization of the mass murderer’s identity.
Why am I speculating that the “Asian” gunman is a Pakistani Muslim? Because law enforcement and the media strangely won’t tell us more specifically who the gunman is. Why?

And the ass-covering finale:

Even if it does not turn out that the shooter is Muslim, this is a demonstration to Muslim jihadists all over that it is extremely easy to shoot and kill multiple American college students.

So far, there is no indication that she might be right. I pray no one decides to indulge their inner-vigilante after reading her hate-spew. Enough people have been hurt by this nightmare.

May the memory of those students whose lives were stolen be eternal. This is just heart-breaking. I’ll update this story as it develops…

::


UPDATE 8: Minal Panchal is confirmed among the lost (Thanks, brown_fob).

Information about Minal’s death came in late because no immediate family member was present on campus.
I remember her life here.


UPDATE 7: Information about the gunman (Thanks, Desishiksa):

Cho Seung Hui was a South Korean native who immigrated to this country as a child, officials said. His lifeless body was found in Norris Hall, a classroom building, among those of several other slain students, Virginia state police superintendent Col. Steve Flaherty said. Cho, a senior, had apparently taken his own life. Cho graduated in 2003 from Westfield High School in Fairfax…
Cho, described by fellow students a loner, cleared a federal criminal background check at the time his green card was renewed in 2003, as did his family, a U.S. immigration official said. [WaPo]


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p>UPDATE 6: Regarding VoiceInTheHead’s comment:

It has also been reported that an Indian student, Minal Panchal, is missing after the shootout. [DNA]


UPDATE 5: A desi Professor is among the lost (Thanks, Murugan):

Reports have it that an Indian-origin professor is among those killed in the campus massacre.
Professor G V Loganathan of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering was teaching in a class in the Norris Hall – one of the crime scenes – when the gunman went on rampage. [IBN]
Abhi remembers him here.


UPDATE 4: In a move which shocks absolutely no one, the blogger who inspired our post uses the latest information in this case (Chinese, not “Paki”) to rail against furriners coming to America for college (Thanks again, Hema):

So, the perpetrator of the Virginia Tech massacre is a Chinese national here on a student visa. And today, this alien did “the job that Americans just won’t do.”
Remember that the next time you hear President Bush and Condi Clueless waxing lyrical about how we need more foreign students in America. We do not. Remember the Mana Saleh Almanajam and Shaker Mohsen Alsidran, two Saudi students in Tampa, last year, who hijacked a school bus full of kids while wearing trench coats in 90-plus degree weather?
…And remember: Just because this attacker was not Muslim, doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of potential and hopeful ones among the thousands Muslim nations are sending here to “study” under Saudi King Abdullah’s scholarships.[pure crap]
See? This is a teaching opportunity, to remind us of how evil Muslims are.


UPDATE 3: Campus police thought it was an “isolated incident”; the email warning they sent was probably too little, too late.

“You can second guess all day. We acted on the best information we had.”
At 9:29 a.m., the university sent an e-mail warning students that a gunman was on the loose and to stay indoors. At about that time, a shooter opened fire at the engineering school’s Norris Hall, killing 30 people. Several students leapt to safety from upper stories, and the gunman’s body was later found at the building, Flinchum said. [Bloomberg]


UPDATE 2: CircusInJungle points us to Wiki, which first said the shooter was “James Jay Kim”. The article has been updated, no longer reflects that.


UPDATE 1: Amardeep provides a link where an eye-witness IDs the suspect as “Asian”; the shooter may have been looking for his girlfriend.

*I have amended the title (was Tragedy at Virginia Tech; Quick, Blame Pakis) and original content of this post because it seemed like the appropriate thing to do; several of Schlussel’s quotes have been removed because they serve no further purpose here. Additionally, updates are now in reverse-chronological order, to facilitate information dissemination.

287 thoughts on “Tragedy at Virginia Tech* [8 UPDATES]”

  1. Koreans are the most hot-headed and macho of east asians. They are also sick and tired of losing their korean girlfriends to white men with an asian fetish.

    For shame.

    This entire post decried stereotyping, and look at what you wrote about Koreans. My thoughts are with anxious students facebooking each other, heartbroken family members and everyone else affected by this tragedy. How can yours even go there?

  2. In America, unlike the UK, the word “asian” applies to east asians not south asians. The shooter has been described as asian by a number of sources. You can therefore rest assured he is east asian. The Korean guy named is the most likely perpetrator at this point. Koreans are the most hot-headed and macho of east asians. They are also sick and tired of losing their korean girlfriends to white men with an asian fetish.

    UM. WHAT?!

    Seriously, what the hell is wrong here?

  4. All generalizations have a kernel of truth in them; Prema’s statements are stupid but having known many Koreans, they are not all together untrue, in terms of Koreans being hotheaded.

  5. All generalizations have a kernel of truth in them

    Yes, but Schlussel’s blog post is a demonstration of just how dangerous/insensitive it is to generalize based on “a kernel of truth.” I think we should avoid doing the same, while simultaneously castigating Schlussel.

  6. in terms of Koreans being hotheaded.

    Seriously, stop being idiots. We ban for bullshit like this.

  7. From the Washington Post:

    Trey Perkins, who was sitting in room 207 in Norris Hall, said the gunman barged into the room at about 9:50 a.m. and opened fire for about a minute and a half. “Some 30 shots in all,” said Perkins, who was seated in the back of the room. It was a German class, Perkins said, and there were about 15 students in the room. The gunman, who was holding two pistols, Perkins said, first shot the professor in the head and kept on shooting at the students. Perkins said the student was of Asian descent, “around 19,” and had “very serious but very calm look on his face.” “Everyone hit the floor at that moment,” said Perkins, 20, of Yorktown, Va., a sophomore studying mechanical engineering, who sounded shaken on the phone. “And the shots seemed like it lasted forever.”

  8. The man in the photo brown_fob linked to where police are arresting an asian looking man was a reporter, who was left later.

  9. Mass murders like these always get smoke & mirrored to death. It’s the youth culture, jihadists, Asians, martians — but never the guns.

  11. In America, unlike the UK, the word “asian” applies to east asians not south asians. The shooter has been described as asian by a number of sources. You can therefore rest assured he is east asian.

    I agree with this statement, but the rest seems stereotypical regarding Koreans. If the shooter was Indian/Pakistani, they would definitely be describing him as Indian or Middle Eastern looking. The whole event is so tragic and shame on those people who are trying to use this situation to spread hate.

  12. Prema #47, you forgot to mention that Koreans are nappy-headed hos (what, there are Koreans named Ho) ruled by a 5 foot tyrant with a bouffant hairstyle and an Elvis fixation. (We’ll ignore the success story of South Korea for the purposes of this discussion). Also, next time, for 10 points, try to work Kimchee into your comment.

    And, Salil #46, I feel you. There is no such thing as too much ammunition, especially when dealing with a large state school like this.

    In all seriousness, Debbie Schlussel has a history of nutjobbery, so can we just ignore her and avoid giving her airtime? I also love how she’s proposing the second shooter theory. Hey, wait, I know a famous assassination where they never found him either. Must’ve been Paki, the devious bugger! Debbie, how about this “The shooter had 2 guns. We all know from John Woo movies that Hong Kong heroes always have 2 guns and come flying into buildings shooting from both hands in slo-mo and with great acrobatic flair. So, the shooter must be from Hong Kong.”

  14. this will undoubtedly sound insensitive, but i am echoing the sentiments of many south asians by stating i hope the rumours of the shooter being east-asian is a ‘relief’ regardless, its a barbaric and cowardly attack

  15. That was in response to Schlussel’s baseless conjecture (that many posters here are worried might be true) that the shooter might be desi. She knows full well (and so should all of you) that desis are not described as “asian” looking in America. She is just being dishonest.

    The reports say that the shooter was asian and was reacting to losing his girlfriend.

  17. Shodan: well said.

    Would someone please delete the ‘proud pakistani’ remark!

    Avi, our thoughts are with you, and the students and professors and all else whose lives have been cut down in this senseless way. Their families must be going through hell.

  19. Regardless, of his ethnicity (the point is its irrelevant if a loon is a loon), people should complain like Naina said she would. The Bengali kid from East London who stabbed a pregnant woman with a heroin needle to comatize her before mugging her, didn’t do it because he was a ‘paki’ or a ‘jihadist’, he did it because he was fucked in the head. These ignorant, right-wing media bods are too malicious. Calling someone a Paki is the same as calling someone a Nigger. IT ISN”T RIGHT. Lets be calm and work with the system to bring these muthafuckas down; send complaints, write letters to the editors, write artlicles, but always stay calm. I often get angry and I can let it show on this blog as with close friends and family, but I make a point of never appearing angry about such things among white people, a few of whom will gladly use it to make us look like the crazy, angry, difficult freaks who don’t don’t want to fit in with the rest of society..

  20. In this time of tragedy the worst thing that we can do is indulge in hate-mongering – in this space least of all.

    So please no “cracker” comments (# 17 ) Isn’t is as offensive a term as the N-word or Paki? And definitely no hateful stereotyping of Asians whether east Asians or South Asians ( # 54,# 47)

  21. The reports say that the shooter was asian and was reacting to losing his girlfriend.

    yeah, but you should have quit while you were ahead; as so many people pointed out above, we don’t need more debbie’isms

  23. I have yet to see a picture of peace or counselling. All I is see is uniforms and guns and more guns.

  25. but I make a point of never appearing angry about such things among white people, a few of whom will gladly use it to make us look like the crazy, angry, difficult freaks who don’t don’t want to fit in with the rest of society..

    What is it about this well-meant post that is bringing out everyones inner Schlusser!!!

    Yes Baljit, stereotyping white people is WAY better than stereotyping brown people…NOT.

    Can we instead focus on discussing support systems for young people that leave them with more options than killing, the violence that cultures that worship guns breed, the constant reiterating in our movies of ‘strength’ and ‘bravery’ of an action-based kind?

  26. I always get amazed when desis, who are often victims of demonisation in the current climate, can essentialise and demonise other minorities. I shudder to think of how hurt an East Asian would be to read some of these comments.

    Clueless, when Indira Gandhi was assassinated, an out of control media played a significant part in demonising innocent Sikhs and contributed to the dark atmosphere that followed. I think it’s not a bad thing to keep an eye on any kind of collective culpability rhetoric and demonisation and hate mongering following events like this.

  27. Ms. FinkNottle#75, I think it is because all South Asians are quick to stereotype.

  28. Red Snapper the out of control media in India is alot more powerful after Indira death, then Ms.Debbie blog.

    Also let not forger that over 3000 sikh’s died after the death of 1 women in India. Now compare that to the death of 3000 people on 9/11 and the backlash against brown/desi looking people, last time I checked there were not 3000 dead brown/desi in the week after 9/11.

  29. Ms

    . FinkNottle#75, I think it is because all South Asians are quick to stereotype.

    Straight out of Orwell…frickin’ hilarious, if it wasn’t so pathetic.

  30. thank you red snapper for your comments (#76). tragedy is due to a lone psychotic gunman, not a whole ethnic group of people.

  33. Since my views are in the center unlike those on the far left or far right I don’t have anything to gain from this sad day.

    But you can bet tommorow on the view Rosie O’Donnell will go off another left wing rant about gun control and just like some hardcore right winger will have some rant of there own tommorow.

  34. Purush#79, I present to you sarchasm.

    I stand corrected, then…it IS just frickin’ hilarious. But in the current context, maybe, ill-timed.

  35. Clueless, that doesnt really stack up with why notice should be taken of this lady’s blog. I think you missed my point. It’s a reason to be vigilant against the dissemination of this kind of thinking. Surely, you will agree, that demonisation like this is dangerous after an event of this type? In the context of 2007 it’s not a bad thing to be aware and counter this, is it? Surely you don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, do you? Surely you’re not saying that because things are not as bad as they were in Delhi 1984, nobody here and now should talk about or challenge this thinking? Sorry clueless, but that’s not an argument.

  36. No need to compare tragedies, when every single one is awful.

    Honestly, I wasnt comparing, I was just using an example of what can happen when demonisation shading into assertions of collective culpability takes place unchallenged in the aftermath of a horrific and violent act, and why it’s not a bad thing to take notice and assert that it’s wrong to do that, in response to Clueless’s assertion that it should be ignored.

  37. Honestly, I wasnt comparing,

    I know. And I know both of you have good intentions. I was just trying to steer things away from…well, you know. News like this always leaves us all raw, doesn’t it? 🙁

  38. over at feministe, jill makes a fair point:

    it’s worth noting the theme of misogyny that permeates so many of these shootings

    i mean, no one had to point out it was a male. it was just understood.

  39. This shooting was on April 16, Columbnine was on April 20, I think Waco was April 19 as was the Okalhoma City bombing were on April 19 also.

    The middle of April is bad time of year. Plus the sad deaths of Nirvana Kurt Cobain and Alice In Chains Layne Staley were also in April.

    I’m off to see Modest Mouse live tonight to get my mind off this for a few hours so I can’t comment any more, but I hope the other people post that comment here don’t forget that over 30 young people have died.

  40. 88 –

    I don’t know that it was understood by default, there were only mentions of ‘gunman’ and ‘shooter’ most everywhere I read, until some news report mentioned that the gunman was male.

  41. I hope the other people post that comment here don’t forget that over 30 young people have died

    Honey, I think that aspect of it is rather unforgettable. It’s almost impossible to contemplate continuously, it’s so horrifying; it’s not that people are willfully ignoring it (IMO). Even if things end up a bit too heavy…hope you do get your mind “off this”.

  43. Idiot Schlussel. Why would anyone think it’s a good idea to foster paranoia about a terrorist attack? And, the CYA move only reinforces the paranoia (and in the extreme case gives hypothetical future terrorists ideas). Is she more interested in feeling powerful and being right than the truth? [note: rhetorical question]

  44. 89: April/Spring is a bad time because students are stressed out by then. Which is one of the reasons Spring Breaks were created. I guess some people handle stress poorly.

    I think people are over-hyping this terrorism stuff, anytime anything goes wrong, especially in the USA, they get scared about terrorist attacks. I guess you’re a traumatized country since 9/11. “If they could get into my house once, what says they can’t do it twice.” Which is something the students are gonna go through in this situation too, because it’s the second time there’s a shooter scare on campus (or so I read online.) Good luck dealing with that, be strong! Students worldwide support you, don’t let ONE person ruin YOUR campus for you.

    I agree with the lady on one point: why did they not release further information? I remember on Sept 13th 2006, the media had released a lot of info on Kimveer Gill (although it was wrong information, for instance they assumed he was Caucasian at first.) Maybe it IS a Brown person at VT, and they don’t want to scare the population or give incentive to racists to talk more smack.

  45. wow, incredible how Schlussel is trying to spin this tragedy for some political end.

    Schlussel, if you’re reading this–do you really think the masses are really that ignorant and racist to find your brand of hate appealing?

    it’s funny–with all that talk of national security and “united we stand!” brand of patriotism, that looks down on any sort of crticial thinking, it’s histrionic blame-the-other reactions that are so endemic to pundits like schlussel and bill o’reilly that are the most divisive of all.

  46. I was in Virginia today, just north of where the shootings happened…taking my MCATs. I had no knowledge of this while I was trapped in a testing room, but when I came out…the entire state seemed to have gone quiet. Families are sitting at home, praying their children pick up their phones or a stranger doesn’t call them to tell them their child was killed. This is a horrific tragedy, not the time to point blame towards any race, any stereotyper or racist pathetically running towards their biases to justify an event that was born out of hate and will only grow into the other aspects of our lives if we place this on where the killer came from. I’m still shaking, just watching and hearing the trembling voices of parents who could only hear “33 have died”…not if it was their child…panicking if they’re not picking up the phone…worried sick…losing all faith in an academic institution…fearing every moment that it can happen again somewhere else. I hope they release the information of the killer soon, not whether he was Korean or not Pakistani, but what happened to him, what events led up to this, how he had such easy access to 9 mm automatics, what we can do to prevent someone we never speak to on campus or at work from deciding to permanently change and destroy the lives of innocents.

  47. So please no “cracker” comments (# 17 ) Isn’t is as offensive a term as the N-word or Paki?

    No, it’s absolutely not. A quick proof: You calling the N-word the N-word instead of typing it out, why do that if the words are equivalent? I could go further, but this isn’t the right place, so I wont.

  48. A middle-eastern sounding VT student is on CNN right now. He took a video on his cellphone which is being shown all over.

    His name is Jamal Albargouti. I wonder what Schlussel thinks of that.

  49. When a mass murder comes up the pro-gun and anti-gun people always bring up their argument. In high school we had a cross-country meet the week after there was a mass murder in Killeen, TX where a guy drove his truck into a Luby’s Cafeteria and started killing people. You may remember the media tried to blame the movie The Fisher King as his motivation since apparently he saw that movie before he died.

    Pro-Gun: Well if people were allowed to carry guns then someone could have killed this guy sooner. Anti-Gun: If guns were illegal there would be less shootings. Pro-Gun: Well if guns are illegal then only the criminals will have guns. They will just get their guns illegally. If people are armed then people will think twice before using their gun.

    I see some logic to both sides but personally I have a hard time seeing the logic of degenerating to the Wild Wild West, where everyone can settle an argument with the gun. Plus I think the pro-gun logic is flawed to a certain degree since most of these mass murderers seem to already have accepted that they are going to die and simply want to take revenge by claiming as many innocent lives as possible.

    I want to believe in the goodness of humanity but events like this make it hard. Was Twain right about the Damned Human Race?

  50. Ms Fink Nottle,

    I never stereotyped anyone. I said a ‘a few’ white people among the white majority we live among. This is not the first time that I’ve heard of negative stereotyping of blacks, South Asians, Iranians, Jews, Arabs by certain backward, outrageous and callous commentators who use use and misuse the media.

    I am entitled to my view that I don’t feel entirely comfortable about venting my anger in public, because I did spend a lot of my youth feeling like a victim and getting angry would often backfire. I was actually thinking of Socrates and his approach in challenging what he felt was injustice, to reason with the misinformed – ‘Why do you believe that etc..’ rather than ‘Fuck you bitch’ (which would be my instinct).

    All I was saying is that we need to fight the misrepresentations of whoever with a cool head. So calm yoirself down quick and embrace the idea that some f us aren’t too happy about how we are being (mis)represented in the media. And no, that doesn’t make me a Schussler or a hater of white people, thank you ver much.