Peaceful Buddhist Terrorist Navy Yard Shooter Aaron Alexis What We Don’t Know?
Peaceful Buddhist Navy Yard Shooter Aaron Alexis What We Don’t Know?
Just Thirteen are dead at the Washington Navy Yard after a gunman opened fire Monday morning. But who was Aaron Alexis? From his Buddhism to his Navy career, Nina Strochlic on what we know so far.
It’s now being called one of the top 12 deadliest shooting sprees in America. But before Aaron Alexis opened fire at Washington Navy Yard on Monday morning, killing 12 before being shot to death by law enforcement, he was a peaceful Buddhist, friends say. Clues to his motives are sparse, but Nina Strochlic runs down six things we know about him so far.
This handout photo provided by the FBI shows Aaron Alexis. Alexis launched an attacked Monday morning inside a building at the Washington Navy Yard, spraying gunfire on office workers in the cafeteria and in hallways, authorities said. At least 13 people were killed, including Alexis. (AP; Getty)
(1) He was a New York City native living in Washington, D.C.
Alexis spent four years in the Navy, mostly based at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve in Ft. Worth, Texas, before being discharged in January 2011. During that time, he rose to a petty officer third class as an aviation electrician’s mate and received the National Defense Service Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, which apparently are commonly awarded to military personnel. The reasons behind his discharge are unclear, but a former landlord says Alexis told him he quit because “somebody doesn’t like me.” A Navy official told ABC Alexis’s departure was due to a number of misconduct problems.
(3) He had an arrest record.
A year prior to leaving the Navy, Alexis was arrested for allegedly discharging a firearm within the city limits of Ft. Worth, which is considered a Class A misdemeanor. According to the police report, a neighbor called 911 after a shot was fired into her apartment. “June told me that she is terrified of Aaron and feels that this was done intentionally,” the responding officer wrote. Alexis said he was cleaning the gun when it accidentally discharged into the ceiling, and he was taken into custody for questioning. It appears charges were never filed, but his landlords began an eviction process against him shortly after.
In 2004 Alexis was arrested in Seattle for allegedly shooting out a man’s car tires in what police say he called “an anger-fueled ‘blackout’” and claimed not to remember. A detective wrote in the police report that in speaking with Alexis’s father, he learned that Alexis “was an active participant in rescue attempts of September 11th, 2001.” The father also said his son had anger-management problems that were thought to stem from PTSD.
Before authorities identified Alexis as the shooter, media outlets like NBC and CBS made crucial mistakes reporting on the breaking story.
(4) He had a history of mental health issues.
The Veterans Administration had been treating Alexis for mental problems since August. He reportedly suffered from paranoia along with a sleep disorder, and had been hearing voices in his head. The host of ailments didn’t affect his security clearance, which would have been recalled if the Navy declared him mentally unfit.
(5) He was working for a Hewlett-Packard private contractor.
According to Alexis’s father, Algernon, his son was studying and working in a computer job for a private firm in Washington, D.C. On Monday evening Hewlett-Packard said he was employed by a subcontractor called the Experts, which “refreshes equipment used on the Navy Marine Corps Intranet networks.” Though it originally appeared that Alexis wouldn’t have had access to the headquarters of the Naval Sea Systems Command, the secure building where the shooting occurred, the company confirmed that Alexis had security clearance, which had been updated in July. “Discharge from the military does not automatically disqualify a person from getting a job as a military contractor or a security clearance. It depends on what the circumstances are,” said CEO Thomas Hoshko.
(6) He was a hard-drinking Buddhist.
According to Alexis’s landlord, friends, and a former roommate, Alexis was a practicing Buddhist who frequented a temple in Ft. Worth to meditate and help out. He had begun learning Thai and recently returned from a trip to Thailand. The owner of a restaurant where he once worked expressed disbelief, calling Alexis “a 13-year-old stuck in a 34-year-old body” and telling a reporter that Alexis was a heavy drinker who played videogames and always carried a gun. (He also had a concealed-weapons permit.) His friends also appeared incredulous that Alexis could be involved in the violence. One told reporters Alexis “could not be the shooter.” An aunt who says the family hasn’t seen him for a few years said she’d “be shocked if it was him.”
(7) He was a student.
Alexis was earning his bachelor’s degree in aeronautics online at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. The school has a branch that caters to military personnel and others seeking “flexible learning” opportunities. He is believed to have taken classes solely online, but the details of his enrollment haven’t been released.
Peaceful Buddhist Navy Yard Shooter Aaron Alexis What We Don’t Know?
Just Thirteen are dead at the Washington Navy Yard after a gunman opened fire Monday morning. But who was Aaron Alexis? From his Buddhism to his Navy career, Nina Strochlic on what we know so far.
It’s now being called one of the top 12 deadliest shooting sprees in America. But before Aaron Alexis opened fire at Washington Navy Yard on Monday morning, killing 12 before being shot to death by law enforcement, he was a peaceful Buddhist, friends say. Clues to his motives are sparse, but Nina Strochlic runs down six things we know about him so far.
This handout photo provided by the FBI shows Aaron Alexis. Alexis launched an attacked Monday morning inside a building at the Washington Navy Yard, spraying gunfire on office workers in the cafeteria and in hallways, authorities said. At…
A Lot Of People Are Very Upset That An Indian-American Woman Won The Miss America Pageant, Now you guys should suck Indian Dicks….. lmfao
Sunday night Nina Davuluri, Miss New York wascrowned the winner the 2014 Miss America Pageant. She is the first contestant of Indian descent to be crowned Miss America
When her win was announced, Twitter immediately exploded with hateful tweets, with people calling her Arab. Can’t believe immigrant themselves calling another immigrant. I don’t what the fuck is that but surely it is the nation of rednecks or perhaps racists.
The Native Americans were the real American the rest just invaded their land.
These were some of the most ignorant responses I’ve ever seen.
-If shes Indian, shes probably Hindu, not Muslim, though whatever her religion is, I don’t see where that makes her a terrorist.
– The president IS American (but the definition of America is a melting pot of cultures. I guess people forget that)
-its an* not a idiot.
– I agree with you completely.
Okay now I’m confused. People say that you can achieve anything you want in this country if you work hard enough. And NOW folks are getting angry at an American who actually did it?
No, you see. Black, brown, yellow, red, and all in-between do not work hard. They get handouts and entitlements. White Americans only work hard. /sarcasm. It’s a bunch of ignorance all around.
Latanya Ivey – exactly but hating black, brown, yellow, red people will only make these second-class citizens more powerful and determined to sweep away everything from those racists…so pathetic to see how some white folks moan!!!
There will always be ignorant people and unfortunately we can’t change them or their outlook. We just have to raise our children to be tolerant individuals and hope that is spreads to eliminate this kind of crass behavior. #Riseabove
Been calling ‘em out, myself. I RARELY use my Twitter account but this was a great reason for me to use it tonight. What morons! these people should be assaulted with porcupines. Mostly because I believe that would hurt like hell.
It’s just, these people are so sheleted that they think that just because somebody doesn’t look like them or talk like them, and because they are american, that the other person must therefore be “un-american”. But that’s not how it works. “American” doesn’t = white. It doesn’t = christian. It doesn’t = tattooed. It doesn’t = you.
OMG! Have all the Americans forgotten that America consists of immigrants from Europe? So, actually a white native Americans doesn’t excist! Native Americans are the ones who lived in America before the Europeans came there. Please, do your history homework. Isn’t America a melting pot? This is so pathetic! Give the winner a break. She won fairly! Oh, and should I mention that India is not an Arab country?
Nina was born in Syracuse, New York, therefore, she is an American. Do your research. This country is full of morons. And with all due respect to the military, I’m quite sick of all the hype surrounding Miss Kansas. She used her military status, tattoos, and archery skills as petty gimmicks, and that’s the only reason people like her. She did not stand out otherwise. Her talent was horrible, and I can attest to that as a classically-trained opera singer, and as an experienced pageant contestant. She picked up that aria as a last resort and I find that very insulting. All I got from her was “Hey, look at me, I’m in the military and have tattoos so I should be Miss America!” They gave her the most publicity, so that’s why people are brainwashed by her. No. Just no. There’s so much more involved in the pageant than what you see on TV.
Look, these are assholes. But there’s only 19 of them (not counting the dude who just seems like a fan of Vail)- they don’t matter. They are nothing. I am genuinely concerned that the energy people put into “calling out” trolls on the internet is sapping our ability to affect real change. This racism is a mosquito bite. The new voter id laws, stop-and-frisk, Arizona’s anti-immigrant laws: these are knife wounds. Get pissed off about that. Talk about that, not this piddly-ass troll shit.
1) Yes, some Americans could learn better spelling in what they call English.
2) Glad to learn that the beautiful and the jerks aren’t geographical hallmarks of any one nation.
3) The American whites themselves do not belong to the U.S.A, most of their ancestors landed there as immigrants, labourers, social rejects and aspirants from the other side of the Atlantic. More from other ethnicities are following suit, centuries later. Period.
4) As an Indian, I’m only glad that Columbus landed in America. It’s divine providence that this gene pool didn’t colonise my nation twice over. We’re managing to do well with homegrown idiots. Thank you.
5) Would I be absolved for making blanket observations about the general awareness of an average American? I’m more or less convinced! (Re-posting for my FB wall)
It’s not surprising that racist people are often willfully ignorant about other cultures and the various ethnic groups that live in America. If they really want a “pure” American to be Miss America, then they should support Native American contestants (or at least contestants who can verify that their families immigrated here a sufficiently long time ago. A hundred years? Two hundred years?). Most people in the U.S. are descended from immigrants. But sadly, I suspect that in most of these people’s minds, “American” means “white.” She could be second-generation German or Swedish, and most of those people probably wouldn’t care.
I don’t know what’s worse… the Miss America pageant itself or those horrible responses. However, not surprising that a large group of ignorant people would be watching that show. The only thing the Miss America pageant teaches people is that you have to be physically perfect to be worth something. And now we’re going to say outright you must be white too? So sad.
I do recall that once upon a time, America was called the “Melting Pot.” What happened to acceptance of others? Give your tired, your weak, your huddled masses? That beautiful woman had nothing to do with 9/11! These women each win for different reasons. Grats Miss America. Still not going to watch in the future though. The pageants bore me to tears.
Veeelayn1119 and thinks it’s WTF <time datetime=”2013-09-16t05:42:15z”>about a half hour ago
Sherlocked and thinks it’s TRASHY , FAIL & WTF <time datetime=”2013-09-16t05:42:10z”>about a half hour ago
I don’t know what’s worse… the Miss America pageant itself or those horrible responses. However, not surprising that a large group of ignorant people would be watching that show. The only thing the Miss America pageant teaches people is that you have to be physically perfect to be worth something. And now we’re going to say outright you must be white too? So sad.
I do recall that once upon a time, America was called the “Melting Pot.” What happened to acceptance of others? Give your tired, your weak, your huddled masses? That beautiful woman had nothing to do with 9/11! These women each win for different reasons. Grats Miss America. Still not going to watch in the future though. The pageants bore me to tears.
After reading all this I almost have the urge to compete in a state competition and try to become the first plus size Miss America. I bet people would go ape-shit crazy that a fat girl won Miss America. I’d love to get my viewpoints out there. Of course I’d probably be the most unorthodox Miss America ever as my talent would probably be something incredibly bizarre or different because I can’t sing, dance, or play an instrument so I’d probably have to settle on something much different.
The ignorance (or just plain intolerance) of some Americans is astounding. Wish people would obtain a heart and a brain before opening their mouths. Good for her though!
With all DO respect, these people need AN lesson in grammar. Also, just because you preface your ignorant statement with, “I’m not racist” does not give you a free pass to be blatantly and disgustingly racist.
“With *DO* respect!” 1) Yes, some Americans could learn better spelling in what they call English.
2) Glad to learn that the beautiful and the jerks aren’t geographical hallmarks of any one nation.
3) The American whites themselves do not belong to the U.S.A, most of their ancestors landed there as immigrants, labourers, social rejects and aspirants from the other side of atlantic. More from other ethnicities are following suit, centuries later. Period.
4) As an Indian, I’m only glad that Columbus landed in America. It’s divine providence that this gene pool didn’t colonise my nation twice over. We’re managing to do well with homegrown idiots already. Thank you.
5) Would I be absolved for making blanket observations about the general awareness of the average American? I’m more or less convinced!
Well said, except:
#3: All non-Native Americans came over as illegal immigrants (i.e. not having permission to settle from the natives).
#4: Columbus never set foot on mainland America. 🙂
I stand corrected, Sohail! Guess they were illegal immigrants because they were social rejects- or of little use to their own society. As for #4, good he didn’t set foot anywhere close to the purported Indian mainland.
People are a bunch of dip shits. America is a melting pot of all different races, cultures, and religions. To say that she is Arab and a terrorist and works at 7-11, and the woman who is a soldier with tattoos and hunts should have won because “that’s the definition of America” needs to reevaluate their dismal lives and their perspective of America. Why do people waste so much energy on hating someone that does not look like they do? I don’t get it. Life is too short to be a bigot.
I’d say Twitter should put an IQ requirement in order for people to activate an account. Maybe even per tweet (think IQ puzzle style CAPTCHA) but this is way too damn entertaining!
Miss North Carolina is a Lumbee, a Native American. She is brown, too. Can’t get much more American than her! So how do y’all “whites only” Americans like THEM crabapples!
GET THE FUCK OVER IT. All of you politically correct lunatics are just disgusting. so, people called her names. Does it directly affect you? NO. The problem with this country is we are so afraid of offending anyone that you PC lunatics want to still apologize for slavery. GET OVER IT. She’s pretty/she won. Let the naysayers bitch all they want. But shut the fuck up. Liberals.
The naysayers have every right to be blithering racist morons, and everybody else with an IQ north of 85 has a right to tell them how utterly stupid they are. Free speech.
The PI lunatics need to stop acting like they are victims of some liberal plot to overthrow their Red, WHITE, and blue nation. Imagine the little AMERICAN girl whose skin is brown and whose parents speak Hindi or some regional Indian dialect and go to Temple. She is seeing and hearing people tell someone who looks just like her that she is not a real American. These types of things are called out by the “PC Liberals”, not because of political correctness, but because these statements are inhuman. This whole “Political Correctness is ruining our country” is a total myth, drummed up by FoxNews and other conservative sources to get their consumers to beat their chests and blindly buy their shitty camouflage products and McDonald’s Chicken Nuggets. This post was not about calling someone an “Indian-American” or “American-Indian”, or “American of Indian Descent.” It was about racist attitudes, WHICH SHOULD NEVER BE TOLERATED IN ANY FORM in this nation founded and shaped by immigrants and their children.
So it’s more disgusting to call people out for blatant, racist, xenophobic attitudes than it is to spew those attitudes like verbal diarrhea? These people are a lot more than ‘naysayers.’
I live in freaking europe and even I know native americans are the “real” americans. they are not blond bimbos who love to shoot bambi’s mother for their entertainment.
Yeah, pick Miss Kansas… the Aryan ideal for Miss America. Way to show you’re not racist, you fucking pigs. Hope the next President is Indian, just to see your twisted little porcine faces on racist Vines, decrying the loss of hegemony your shrinking little universe has.
Idiots! Every single last one of them. And they left proof of their stupidity by publicly announcing how ignorant and backwards they are to the world by posting it on Twitter. It’s people like these, that make the rest of the world think we’re morons.
Get over it, she is the essence of what America is. The beauty of our society, is that it’s so diverse, and doesn’t have a “face”. She is Miss America, she is beautiful, and won rightfully so. It’s awesome that she won, because it couldn’t have happened 25-30 years ago. America is awesome, and she is proof of that statement!
9 times US and partners used chemical weapons and WMDs —and got away with it
“International law” only applied to enemies of imperialism
There has been no evidence presented that the Syrian government is responsible for the chemical attack that took the lives of hundreds of civilians. But the U.S. government and Britain claim that their allegations alone give them the moral authority to launch military action, in direct violation of international law. What they leave out is the long history of the U.S. government and its partners using chemical weapons and other weapons of mass destruction—and getting away with it. Here are nine examples:
#1: World War I, 1914-1918
Modern chemical weapons were first used on a mass scale during World War I, when the imperialist powers of the world sent their soldiers to kill and die in clouds of mustard gas and phosgene to re-divide the world amongst themselves. Germany was the first to use this deadly new weapon, but all sides of the inter-imperialist war joined in. Gas attacks killed 90,000 soldiers and civilians, while being linked to another 1.2 million casualties. Over 10 percent of all chemists in the United States were involved in the production of chemical weapons during the war, and the government ordered 3,000 tons of its own homegrown type of gas.
#2: Britain in Mesopotamia in 1920
Facing a heroic uprising staged by the people of Iraq, British colonial authorities authorized the use of chemical weapons against civilian populations, arguing in their “Manual of Military Law” that “the rules of International Law… do not apply in wars with uncivilized States and tribes”. Winston Churchill, then the civilian head of the British air force, stated that he was “strongly in favor of using poisoned gas against uncivilized tribes,” which he argued, “would spread a lively terror.”
#3: The nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945
In one of the most infamous crimes against humanity, the U.S. government dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 even though top military and political leaders knew that the war was effectively over. Approximately 180,000 people were killed immediately by the bombings, and hundreds of thousands died later of radiation poisoning in the first and only use of nuclear weapons in human history.
#4: Agent Orange in Vietnam, 1961-1971
Over the course of the Vietnam War the U.S. military dropped over 20 million gallons of a deadly chemical weapon called Agent Orange. This campaign killed or maimed 400,000 Vietnamese and led to 500,000 babies being born with debilitating birth defects, in addition to devastating the economic life of the Vietnamese countryside by destroying all plant life that the chemical contacted.
#5: Iran-Iraq War
During the 1980-1988 war between Iraq and Iran, the United States supported the Iraqi government led by Saddam Hussein against the post-Shah Iranian government. Secret documents that have recently been declassified show that the CIA was fully aware of Iraq’s brutal and illegal use of chemical weapons but still continued to provide intelligence and other forms of political and military support. Pictured is Hussein with Donald Rumsfeld, who personally managed the chemical weapons sales.
#6: Depleted uranium in Gulf War
In the 1991 and 2003 invasions of Iraq, the U.S. military used depleted uranium—a chemically toxic and radioactive waste product of nuclear energy—in armor-piercing munitions. The use of DU has been linked to higher radioactivity, cancer rates, and congenital malformations among Iraqi civilians and U.S. soldiers. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) estimated that the U.S. fired 1,000 to 2,000 metric tons of depleted uranium in 2003.
#7: White phosphorus in Fallujah, 2005
During the murderous assault on Fallujah in 2004, the U.S. military used white phosphorous chemical weapons as part of its campaign to level the Iraqi city, ultimately forcing 300,000 people to flee their homes. Although the Pentagon still officially denies that it used this brutal weapon, they are contradicted by countless eyewitnesses. One Marine who fought in the battle remembered, “I heard the order to pay attention because they were going to use white phosphorus on Fallujah… Phosphorus burns bodies, in fact it melts the flesh all the way down to the bone… I saw the burned bodies of women and children.”
#8: Israeli use of white phosphorous against people of Gaza, 2008-09
In its 2008-2009 massacre of hundreds of civilians in Gaza, Israel extensively used U.S.-made white phosphorous shells to terrorize densely populated areas – a form of collective punishment for daring to defy colonial aggression. Sabah Abu Halima, a Palestinian victim of an Israeli white phosphorous attack, recalled, “The fire was like lava, my family was burnt and their bodies turned to crisps.” Israel also has repeatedly used thousands of cluster bombs, which wreak enormous civilian damage.
#9 Military testing of radioactive chemicals in St. Louis communities, 1953-1954 and 1963-1965
The United States Military conducted top-secret experiments on the citizens of St. Louis, Missouri, for years, exposing them to radioactive compounds without their knowledge or consent. Approximately 10,000 residents of the Pruitt-Igoe public housing complex, primarily poor and Black, were exposed to the most chemicals. The Army told them they were testing harmless smoke screens, but in fact they were testing the chemical for potential use against the Soviet Union.
Creation is the product of synchronizing our energy with the universe. Once we experience the whole and recognize it, we become aware that we are nothing but the Divine Creative Force.
POOKIE.@Granvil_Colt
Jake Amick@jakeamick5
Logan VanVoorhis@LrVanVoo6741
Jessica Ayres ⚓@JAyres15
Nate@NateBerard
sarawhitton@sarawhitton
Savannah Dale@savannah_dale97
Colton Evans@ColtonSEvans
Luke Brasili@LukeBrasili
Wendy Fraser@wnfraser
anthony ridgeway@anthonytkr
Shannon McCann@SHANN___Wow
De La Rutherford@Blayne_MkItRain
Audrey Graham@_AudreyAnn
Nick Pizzo@pizzo_nick
Not Miss America@Not_MissAmerica
CHEEZ-IT@JPLman95
Jared Tomes@JTomes84
Colin Miller@craymiller
Maria Gruba@Ria_1693
rn@rand3zy
Kaleb Trahan@kalebistoocute
Jennlyn@Jennlyn
#1: World War I, 1914-1918
#2: Britain in Mesopotamia in 1920
#3: The nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945
#4: Agent Orange in Vietnam, 1961-1971
#5: Iran-Iraq War
#6: Depleted uranium in Gulf War
#7: White phosphorus in Fallujah, 2005
#8: Israeli use of white phosphorous against people of Gaza, 2008-09
#9 Military testing of radioactive chemicals in St. Louis communities, 1953-1954 and 1963-1965
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