Second Suspect Photo Released in Arizona Shooting; Jared Loughner Possibly Involved with a Racist Organization Called American Renaissance

A photo of the second suspect police are searching for in the Arizona shooting has hit the web, as has news that shooter Jared Loughner might have been a member of a racist organization called American Renaissance.

The photo of the second suspect wanted by police for questioning in the Arizona shooting can be found here on the L.A. Time's website. It shows a white male with dark hair that appears to be in his 40's.

There's no word yet on how this second suspect might have been involved in the Arizona shooting that claimed the lives of six and wounded thirteen, but the Times article does state that the surveillance camera photo of the second suspect was taken near Jared Loughner. So it seems that the second suspect's proximity to Jared Loughner when the photo was taken might have something to do with police believing that he could be associated with Jared Loughner in some way.

But while police search for the second suspect and victims of the terrible tragedy and their families try to make sense of such a senseless act of violence, the media continues to try and make sense of Jared Loughner. On YouTube he rants about religion; currency backed by gold and silver; illiteracy; and mind control. He lists some of his favorite books as "Mein Kampf" and "The Communist Manifesto". It's not surprising that people on the web are trying to label him as being on the lunatic fringe of the right or on the lunatic fringe of the left, but his ramblings are that of one paranoid, confused, and angry individual, not a single political party.

However, recent findings could brand Jared Loughner as a racist. According to FOX News, a Department of Homeland Security memo links Jared Laughner to pro-white racist organization American Renaissance, a group that publishes an anti-immigration newsletter. Jared Loughner apparently mentioned American Renaissance in some of his online postings.

The American Renaissance is described as not just being anti-immigration, but also anti-government and anti-Semitic. So if Jared Loughner was a member of this organization, the fact that victim Gabrielle Giffords is Arizona's first Jewish U.S. Representative could have something to do with her being targeted by Jared Loughner (after all, he did also have "Mein Kampf" listed as one of his favorite books).

Apparently investigators believe there is a possibility that Gabrielle Giffords was at least targeted in part because she is Jewish; they are reportedly investigating Jared Loughner's anti-Semitism.

Regardless of why Gabrielle Giffords was targeted, no reasons given for the shooter's actions will ever justify what he has done or bring back the lives he has taken. So let us all send positive thoughts toward the victims and their families, and let this awful incident pull us together as a country instead of pulling us further apart.

SOURCES:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-0110-gabrielle-giffords-20110110,0,6628193.story
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jan/08/nation/la-na-jared-loughner-20110109
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2011/01/gffords-jewish-jared-loughner-/1
http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2011/01/09/dhs-memo-suggests-shooter-may-be-linked-racist-organization