The Hanukkah Attack Was Not a “Hate Crime”

    Regarding the recent Hanukkah attack, it was easy to see that there was something very suspicious about this story from the start. Primarily suspicious was the media’s initial rush to frame the attacker, Grafton Thomas, as a member of the Hebrew Israelites when he wasn’t. Authorities are merely claiming that they found writings sympathizing with the group. Regardless, his lawyer, Michael Sussman has confirmed there was no anti-Semitic rhetoric and that Thomas is rather very mentally ill.  Despite Thomas clearly not being sound of mind, the media still rushed forward framing the story as a hate crime perpetrated against the Jewish community by a member of the (Black) Hebrew Israelites.

    What outlets were slow to report amidst the sensationalism was that in addition to not being affiliated with any groups, Grafton Thomas was off his meds and routinely hears voices. This seems very much to be a serious mental illness issue.

    The Problem With this Case

    In truth, Thomas seemed to fit the usual description of the type of patsies normally used for psyops and orchestrated media events. He seems very detached from reality and mentally unwell, much like one of the Newburg Four. The Newburg Four is one of several cases of entrapment where government agents baited patsies into crimes. Then the crimes were thrown in the media and used for politically motivated agendas. If this seems farfetched and unlikely, sadly, no it isn’t.  Unfortunately, this happens quite a lot, it’s just that people aren’t aware that it does.

    Pagones, Stephanie. “’Newburgh Four’ Terrorism Case Was FBI Entrapment: HBO Film.” New York Post, New York Post, 20 July 2014, nypost.com/2014/07/20/newburgh-four-terrorism-case-was-fbi-entrapment-hbo-film/.

    Aldhous, Peter. “How The FBI Invents Terror Plots To Catch Wannabe Jihadis.” BuzzFeed News, BuzzFeed News, 18 Nov. 2015, www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/fbi-entrapment.

    There are very strange details to this story. Grafton Thomas’ family confirmed that he has no ties to any groups, was never known to be radical about anything, nor does Thomas have a criminal history of any violent acts. So randomly wanting to harm Jews charged up by anti-Semitic rhetoric is very odd for Grafton Thomas.

    Thomas is most probably the type not able to sufficiently put up a defense for himself. To be very clear, none of this is to suggest this is a hoax that didn’t really happen. So, the attack may be very real. However, its the framing of the narrative that is very problematic. Grafton Thomas is not a racist anti-Semite. He is clearly a very disturbed man. And there are suspicious elements not being discussed. This still hasn’t stopped mainstream media from sensationalizing the matter as a typical example of a rise in hate crimes. Jewish leaders appearing with Al Sharpton are all over the television denouncing anti-Semitic hate crimes, and they’re ready to do something about it. We’ll see what that something is eventually.

    The Racial Double Standards

    There is a noticeable difference when a white nationalist with multiple overtly racist manifesto’s are collared for domestic terrorism. Some media outlets downplay the suspects’ white supremacy and the “terrorism” angle, and veer the discussion more toward the shooter possibly being mentally ill. Even when there is no evidence of mental illness. Nor does being mentally ill mean somehow being prone to violence. Regardless, they did not do this for Grafton Thomas who has documented proof of mental illness. They perhaps purposely didn’t refer to him as a mentally ill lone wolf, when if guilty, that’s exactly what he was. Countless outlets that picked up the story decided to instead blast it out everywhere with the implication that he was a radicalized member of the Hebrew Israelites, the “Black” Hebrew Israelites.

    When you are part of a group or organization, there is factual proof of being part of that organization. The person may have been initiated to some degree and there is usually evidence of some sort of validation as a member. There may also be evidence of activity, sustained participation or interaction with other members of the group. None of that exists for Thomas. Grasping at straws, they are merely implying things based on alleged statements and literature Thomas may or may not have had in his possession, and other extremely weak things of that nature. This sort of dubious and suspicious reporting bereft of facts has become the norm in American media today.

    So after the smoke clears from all the sensationalism, we will most likely see some new policies in place to reign in all those “black identity extremists” that didn’t exist, that the FBI attempted to prioritize as the most dangerous threat in America.

      Blog Comments

      Loading Facebook Comments ...

      Be the first to comment

      Leave a Reply

      This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.