Vegas Cop Killers Were Right-Wing Terrorists

Breaking news: the Vegas cop killers were racist right-wing terrorists who want to overthrow the federal government.

That isn't what the headlines will read, but that's the gist of the story in the New York Times:

LAS VEGAS — A married couple who fatally shot three people here Sunday — including two police officers — before killing themselves spoke incessantly about overthrowing the government and had ties to the anti-government Patriot movement, neighbors said Monday.

The police on Monday identified the couple as Jerad and Amanda Miller, who moved to Las Vegas in January and participated in anti-government protests at the ranch of Cliven Bundy, who became a symbol of opposition to the federal government this spring for his refusal to pay grazing fees for his cattle. Mr. Miller, 31, and Ms. Miller, 22, killed two Las Vegas police officers on Sunday at a pizza restaurant and fatally shot a third person at a nearby Walmart before dying in a suicide pact.

And then there's this:

Jerad Miller, 31, then covered the officers with a Gadsden flag -- a yellow banner with a coiled snake above the words, “Don’t Tread on Me” -- and placed a manifesto with a swastika symbol on one officer’s body, according to police officials speaking at a morning news conference. The flag, which dates from the American Revolution, has been adopted by a string of ultra-conservative and libertarian groups.

Clearly, this was a politically motivated assassination, an outright act of terrorism, no different from the killings committed by IRA and Al Qaeda terrorists.

The Millers' Facebook page was filled with anti-law enforcement postings and violent threats. The neighbor with whom the Millers left their pet cat said that Mr. Miller talked nonstop about his opposition to the United States government. "All Jerad wanted to do is talk about overthrowing the government,” said Ms. Fielder. “I thought he was talking smack.”

And there's this:

A post on Ms. Miller’s Facebook page from 2011 warns that people are “lucky I can’t kill you now but remember one day I will get you because one day all hell will break loose and I’ll be standing in the middle of it with a shotgun in one hand and a pistol in the other.”

Ms. Miller worked at Hobby Lobby, the "Christian" store who went to the Supreme Court to avoid providing birth control coverage for employees. A coincidence, or birds of a feather flocking together?

These rants are typical of the rhetoric of people demanding they be able to walk around in public with guns. Undoubtedly their compatriots will dismiss them as lunatics who went too far. But how close behind them are the people who spend their every waking moment glorifying guns and violence and imagining government-wide conspiracies to disarm them? What perceived slight will tip them over the edge and send them on a murderous rampage?

And finally, there's this:

LAS VEGAS — Police say a shopper armed with a concealed weapon inside a Las Vegas Wal-Mart confronted an armed man who entered the store with his wife moments after the couple killed two officers in a nearby restaurant.

Assistant Sheriff Kevin McMahill said Monday that 31-year-old Joseph Wilcox of Las Vegas was in the checkout line when he saw Jerad Miller fire a shot and went to confront him.

Miller's wife, Amanda, pulled out a gun and shot Wilcox in the rib area. He collapsed and died.

So, the final tally? Bad guys with guns: 5, good guys with guns: 0.

At a news conference on Monday Las Vegas police said, “We believe this was an isolated act.”

Sadly, I'm not so sure. There's a lot more of these nuts hanging out at Cliven Bundy's ranch with a whole lot of guns. And by their own admission, they're more than willing to use them.