I did not know Stephen Johns personally, he had worked there since 2003 and my last day of working there was September 11, 2001. But I knew those security guards well, and I was trained in some of the same security procedures that they were, while working there.
I should still be there. If I had seen an older man in a long heavy coat, wearing a confederate flag hat, I would have gotten on my radio immediately to report a suspicious person about to walk into the Museum. I mean, how BLATANT could the man BE, wearing a hat like that, and carrying his drivers' license AND parking his handicapped-stickered CAR right in FRONT of the building?! Nobody in the near vicinity NOTICED such a person, doing all that???
There are cameras EVERYWHERE in DC, and police and plain-clothed police all over the place, how come nobody SAW this guy and reported him as a suspicious person? It's 85 degrees in DC, so NOBODY would be walking around in a long overcoat like that, unless they were concealing a weapon of some kind----I mean how the HELL could he get past all those cameras, all those police, without being noticed?? NOBODY is allowed to park in front of the Museum, even with a handicapped placard---NOBODY, not even if you're the President. There are thick cement barracades all around the place to prevent parked cars and a guard usually runs over to tell the person to move on immediately when they see someone trying to park there.
I should still be at the Museum. By all rights, and I swear to God, I should still be working there. I wanted to get into my car immediately today and drive to DC, just to be there, to comfort my coworkers who witnessed this horrible shooting, to make sure my favorite Survivor, Nesse Godin, who volunteers every Wednesday, was alright. I should BE THERE for these people, not stuck here in Pittsburgh doing nothing all day long.
Needless to say, I am in shock and I am already anticipating copy-cat hate crimes rising at every Jewish institution in this country from this moment on, mark my words, this is only the beginning. Go to www.splcenter.org and look at the Hate Group Map of every state, you'll see just how many hate groups are operating in your state RIGHT NOW and you can BET that those crazed wacko's are watching this unfold with newly fueled hatred, seeing just how EASY it was for this man to walk into the most prestigious Museum in the Nation's Capital, and do this. Mark my words, this is not the only incident that will happen in the coming weeks. There WILL be copy-cat hate group members doing similar things, I guarantee it.
I've spent the afternoon screaming at the t.v. whenever CNN got some fact about the Museum WRONG, over and over again, I know that place like the back of my own hand, and they kept screwing up the information about the inside of the place and the proximity of the entrance to the metal detectors, etc......I can tell you that every security guard in the place is most definitely ARMED with GUNS, but CNN kept saying they were unarmed. Not every security guard has a LOADED gun, however, but that may have changed since I've been there......if it hasn't, odds are that it will now.
Anyone out there who reads this, and works at or near a Jewish facility, be keenly aware that ANY and EVERY Jewish organization, from Day schools, to community centers, is ALWAYS a target of hate groups every day of the week. There WILL be more incidents. Be vigilant and aware of everyone in the vicinity of those places. Do not hesitate to call 911 if you see anyone who might be suspicious like that, acting strange, doing strange things, wearing strange clothing, etc., notify the police if you see ANY abandoned package ANYWHERE that you may be even if it's NOT a Jewish organization. Take precautions to find the exits of any building or stadium that you may be visiting, learn about the crowd control procedures and traffic patterns within a building you've never been to before. Find OUT what kind of security is available.
I would have been among those who evacuated the Museum today, if I still worked there. I would have been helping people leave the building in a calm manner, I would have been on my radio and hearing what was going on, I would have been able to make a difference.
For Stephen Johns, a man who worked there in a very challenging and sometimes tedious and thankless position for SIX YEARS, I give praise and prayers for your soul. I never knew you, but I knew your coworkers, I knew them well and I wish this had never happened to you.
The Museum was scheduled to show a play tonight, a one-act play about Anne Frank having a conversation with Emmet Till, the young black boy in 1955 who was killed for whistling at a white woman in Mississippi. He was from some other state in the north, I don't remember which one, but it wasn't considered "taboo" for him to do such a thing in his hometown, so he didn't think anything of doing it while visiting his family in Mississippi either. But he was tortured and mutilated and killed for it, by white supremecist REDNECK LOSERS who are IGNORANT and feel threatened by anything different from themselves.
Hate groups are looming large in this country. They hate our black president. They hate that our black president just visited Buchenwald concentration camp---they deny the Holocaust ever happened---so these things may have triggered this 88 year old man to shoot and kill a random black man inside the Holocaust Museum. He didn't even KNOW Stephen Johns. He didn't CARE who Stephen Johns was. He just knew that he was black, and worked in a Jewish Museum.
This incident could have been MUCH MUCH worse. There are hundreds of school groups of children walking around the Museum every day. They said on MSNBC that the Museum gets 1.7 million visitors per year.....when I worked there, it was 2.5 million visitors per year....now you can bet the visitation numbers will decrease alarmingly because of the fear of incidents like this. Witnesses even said on camera that they would not be back to visit the Museum. This is UNACCEPTABLE. Don't let this 88 year old idiot scare you from learning about the Holocaust. He has a criminal record, he spent 6.5 years in PRISON...would you really let this LOSER do ANYTHING to persuade you from going somewhere you wanted to go? Don't let him ruin your quest for knowledge about this subject. Don't give him that power. He does not deserve it.
I am very sad and keenly aware that my book will have to be put on hold. It is very bad timing now to publish a book about the Museum, I would be crucified by everyone as an opportunist or in poor taste, even if I dedicated the book to Stephen Johns' memory. It is just not going to happen right now, everything is on hold until further notice.
My heart and soul belong to that Museum. I am horrified about this shooting. I am devastated.
Love, Becky
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