A Terrorist Attack We Must NOT Forget

Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)

by Jeffrey Imm

http://www.realcourage.org/2010/06/610/

A year ago, on June 10, 2009, in Washington DC, the U.S. Holocaust
Memorial Museum was attacked by a white supremacist, Holocaust denier
James Von Brunn, who sought to enter the museum with a rifle to kill
Jews. In his murderous rage, he shot and killed black security guard
Stephen Tyrone Johns, who was in Von Brunn's way. The terrorist James
Von Brunn was shot and stopped by security guard Harry Weeks and other
security guards, and Von Brunn died in a prison hospital on January 6,
2010.

June 10, 2009 Terror Attack (AP Photo/Alex
Brandon)

Responsible for Equality And
Liberty (R.E.A.L.) has been reporting on the
growth of white supremacist and anti-Semitic

hatred (as well as other identity group hatred) long before last
year's attack, and long after it. We have continued to report on the
June 10, 2009 Holocaust

Memorial Museum attack news reports, as well as the related news
not reported by major media outlets. We pointed out how some sought to
use the terrorist attack to prevent hate crime laws from being passed.
We pointed out out those who

supported Von Brunn's terrorism and called for further acts of hate and
violence. We pointed out those who
sought to promote racial hatred in America's national capital.
Moreover, we didn't just passively report such issues, but we held
public events to raise awareness on these issues, and we actively
protested such hate. We felt that was part of our obligation in being
"responsible for equality and liberty."

We don't see anything "left-wing"

or "right-wing" about defying such hate. We just view defying hate
as simply following the

truths that we hold self-evident as Americans, and the dignity that
we should all enjoy as human beings.

We know that the June 10, 2009 terrorist attack was motivated by
HATE.

The terrorist Von Brunn himself documented his philosophy in writing
to a Nazi sympathizer in Germany, stating

that hate was "natural, normal and necessary," and that "compassionate
nations" would "die."

This philosophy of terrorist hate should give us all pause to
reflect. If anything were to be learned from the June 10, 2009
terrorist attack, it is the cancerous destruction that hate will cause.

In our support for our universal
human rights of equality and liberty, we offer another approach.
While we defy hate, we also offer an outstretched hand, not an upraised
fist, to those who hate. We urge those who hate to release such burden
of hate from their hearts and to join us in defending our human rights,
which are also their human rights.

The U.S.

Holocaust Memorial Museum is intended to remember the worst
atrocity committed against an identity group in human history. When
such a place is itself the target of terrorist hatred, it should be a
severe warning signal for Americans and all human beings. But that
warning signal has been scrupulously ignored, as has the terrorist
attack itself been largely forgotten. Even worse, some have sought to
rationalize hate against other identity groups themselves, and sadly
like Von Brunn, have come to view that compassion is only for the weak.

The cancer of hate has continued to spread. Months after the June 10,
2009 terrorist attack, I saw some people with signs in the streets of
Washington DC promoting racial hatred, some carrying signs with
swastikas, and some with signs spewing vulgar and obscene messages.
Racial supremacist and anti-Semitic groups have sought to promote their
cause in our nation's capital and around the country. On our public
airwaves, there are those openly call for bombing houses of worship, who
openly promote racist views, who question American legislation designed
to guarantee our civil rights, and who ultimately believe that hate is
the answer to our nation's and to the world's problems.

The lesson that has been taught by the Holocaust has been summarized
as "Never Again."

The lesson that the June 10, 2009 terrorist attack on the U.S.
Holocaust Memorial Museum must teach us is "Never Again to Hate."

That is a lesson that too many are not interested in hearing about.
But if we ever seek to be responsible for equality and liberty, it is
our most vital lesson to be learned.

For many reasons, the U.S.

Holocaust Memorial Museum terror attack must not be forgotten. But
on June 10, 2010, a year later, there was little interest in
remembering it. Washington DC area mainstream newspapers only posted AP
wire reports to their web sites buried in the "local news sections,"
and the private remembrance by staff of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial
Museum was covered primarily by Washington
DC television

stations on

their web sites that cover "local" news. Such a terror attack of
hate is no longer viewed as "national" news.

In addition to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's
private event, the USHMM has also urged citizens to make a donation to
the Stephen

Tyrone Johns Summer Youth Leadership Program Endowment Fund,
and it

has posted a web link to some of the comments by Americans over the
past year about the attack and the murder of Stephen Tyrone Johns. We
applaud their efforts to remember.

We Will Remember Stephen Tyrone Johns (Photo:
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum)

In terms of public
activism, however, we believe that American citizens also have an
obligation to do their part, in remembering this terrorist attack. We
are holding a public event to
remember the event. We also urge those who seek to express their
commitment to challenging hate to share your thoughts with us at info@realcourage.org, and we
will share your statements on our web site.

On Sunday, June 13 at 2 PM, Responsible for
Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) is hosting a public remembrance in
Washington DC of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum attack and the
murder of Stephen Tyrone Johns. We have invited the public to join us
in this public remembrance, and to share their testimonies of the need
to promote tolerance, dignity, respect, and equality for our fellow
human beings.

We will hold this public remembrance at Freedom Plaza
in Washington DC, near where Martin Luther King, Jr. worked on his speech "I Have
A Dream." We too, have a dream, of human dignity, of human rights,
and of equality and liberty - not just for all American, but also for
all human beings. We have a dream of our fellow human beings united to
be responsible for equality and liberty.

But we know that we cannot begin to make that dream a reality without
defying and denying the cancerous growth of hatred in our nation, in
our society, and around the world.

On June 13, when we publicly remember the terrorist attack on the
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, our united message will be "Never Again to
Hate."

Choose

Love, Not Hate. Love Wins.

===============================

June 13 - "Never
Again" to Hate Public Remembrance

Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)

http://www.realcourage.org/never-again/

On Sunday June 13, 2010, at 2 PM, Responsible for Equality And
Liberty (R.E.A.L.) invites Washingtonians to a public event to remember
the June 10, 2009 attack on the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and to
remember the loss of Stephen Tyrone Johns. Choose love, not hate.

We will recall the attack by white supremacist and Holocaust denier
James Von Brunn on the U.S.

Holocaust Memorial Museum on June 10, 2009, and urge our fellow
American to commit to "never again" to such hate and violence. (Flier
for distribution: Microsoft

Word format flier 1, Adobe

Acrobat format flier 1, Word

format flier 2, Adobe

Acrobat format flier 2).

We will meet at the Freedom Plaza
in Washington DC, near where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. worked on his
speech "I Have a Dream," and will stand united in our diverse
religions, ethnicity, and races. We will stand united for equality.
We will also say "Never Again" to hate.

Freedom Plaza - Washington
DC - 14th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW - Site of June 13, 2010 - "Never
Again to Hate" Event

We will remember black security
guard Stephen

Tyrone Johns who was shot to death on June 10, 2009 while on duty
defending a museum that stands in remembrance to the Holocaust. We
vow that his death will not be in vain, but that such sacrifices will
remind us of the need to be ever-vigilant and defiant against the
forces of hate that seek to spread in Washington DC and throughout
America.

As those who promote hate seek to create ever-increasing numbers of
hate groups in America, our message to them is that America will never
retreat on hate. But we don't answer hate with hate. Instead of an
upraised fist, we offer outstretched hands and hearts to those who do
hate, to urge them to release the burden of hate from their hearts, and
join us in defending the universal human rights and dignity of all
people.

We urge all - Choose Love, Not Hate. Love Wins.

We also urge all to make a gift to the USHMM Stephen

Tyrone Johns Summer Youth Leadership Program Endowment Fund.

Rally Logistics:

-- Date: Sunday, June 13, 2010

-- Time: 2 to 4 PM Eastern Daylight Savings Time

-- Location: Freedom

Plaza, Washington DC, 20004 - on Pennsylvania Avenue NW between
13th and 14th Streets NW

-- Contact: Jeffrey Imm, info@realcourage.org,
301-613-8789

The Freedom Plaza in Washington DC is named in honor of Martin
Luther King, Jr., who worked on his "I Have a Dream"
speech in the nearby Willard Hotel. In 1988, a time capsule
containing a Bible, a robe, and other relics of King's was planted at
the site.

Directions:

-- Map

Showing Location of Freedom Plaza in Washington DC

-- Street

Level Photographic View of Freedom Plaza Area

-- Washington DC Metro Subway Stop: Metro

Center (Central Station - for Red, Blue, Orange Lines)

--- Washington

DC Metro Subway Planner Tool

Walking

Directions for Metro Center Subway:

-- Metro Center Metro Station to Pennsylvania Ave NW & 14th St NW:

1. Exit station through 13TH ST NW & G ST NW entrance.

2. Walk approx. 1 block S on 13th St NW.

3. Turn right on Pennsylvania Ave NW.

4. Walk approx. 1 block W on Pennsylvania Ave NW.

-- Parking lots: the nearby National
Theater reports the following parking lot areas include:

-- PMI

--- 1220 E Street, NW - Enter on E Street between 12th and 13th Streets

--- 424 11th Street, NW

--- 1325 G Street, NW - Enter on G Street between 13th and 14th Streets

-- QUICK PARK

--- 1301 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW - Enter on 13th Street between E and F
Streets

-- Freedom Plaza is an open air plaza which is in front of The
National Theater, whose address is 1321 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW,
Washington, DC 20004. Directions to Freedom Plaza are essentially
not much different than going to
the front of the National Theater (National Theater driving

directions, street
map of area, parking
directions, Metro
directions).

Map of the Area Around
Freedom Plaza