Yonathan Melaku was sneaking through Fort Myer and Arlington National Cemetery, his backpack filled with plastic bags of ammonium nitrate, a notebook containing jihadist messages, and a can of black spray paint. The 23-year-old former Marine was heading to the graves of the nation’s most recent heroes, aiming to desecrate the stones with Arabic statements and leave handfuls of explosive material nearby as a message.
Before police foiled the plan in June, the vandalism was to be Melaku’s sixth attack, months after he went on a mysterious shooting spree that targeted the Pentagon, the National Museum of the Marine Corps and two other military buildings in Northern Virginia. A video found after Melaku’s arrest showed him wearing a black mask and shooting a 9mm handgun out of his Acura’s passenger window as he drove along Interstate 95, shouting “Allahu Akbar!”
It was all part of a solitary campaign of “fear and terror,” federal prosecutors said. But authorities and Melaku’s defense attorney said no one knows for sure what led Melaku — a naturalized U.S. citizen from Ethiopia, local high school graduate and former Marine Corps Reservist — down that path or what message he was trying to send.
Huh. How on Earth are we supposed to figure out just what would have motivated this man? My God, if only we had clues that might indicate his motivation! Maybe then we could act to combat others like him (or is he just a lone nutjob?). If only we had ways to teach people who write articles how to do it properly? Perhaps we could call them "journalism schools."
Ah well, perhaps some things are just not knowable.
But until we can figure it out, it would be safest to assume he is motivated by Tea Party hate and urge Tea Partiers to tone down their rhetoric. After all, the Department of Homeland Security has warned us of the violent tendencies of military veterans.
Or maybe--if you sympathize with the man--he might clearly be concerned with income inequality and only wants to show his solidarity with the 99 percent. Best enact the Buffet Rule now. Just to be safe.
Me? Until proven otherwise, I blame global warming.
