Gun Enthusiast sentanced for killing 2 and wounding 6 at church

[TWiley]

Another Gun Enthusiast lives out his violent fantasies.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — An out-of-work truck driver accused of opening fire at a Unitarian church, killing two people, left behind a note suggesting that he targeted the congregation out of hatred for its liberal policies, including its acceptance of gays, authorities said Monday.

A four-page letter found in Jim D. Adkisson's small SUV indicated he intentionally targeted the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church because, the police chief said, "he hated the liberal movement" and was upset with "liberals in general as well as gays."

Adkisson, a 58-year-old truck driver on the verge of losing his food stamps, had 76 rounds with him when he entered the church and pulled a shotgun from a guitar case during a children's performance of the musical "Annie."

7-28-08 story here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/28/jim-d-adkisson-charged-in_n_115281.html

UPDATE:

Tenn. church shooter pleads guilty, gets life
By DUNCAN MANSFIELD – 10 hours ago

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — An out-of-work truck driver smiled Monday as he pleaded guilty to killing two people and wounding six others at a Tennessee church last summer because he considered the liberal church "a den of un-American vipers."

"Yes, ma'am, I am guilty as charged," Jim D. Adkisson, 58, told Criminal Court Judge Mary Beth Leibowitz before she sentenced him to life in prison without parole on two counts of first-degree murder and six of attempted murder.

Adkisson was scheduled to stand trial next month in the July 2008 rampage at the Tennessee Valley United Unitarian Church in Knoxville, but decided to enter a plea deal that virtually guarantees he will never leave prison alive.

Assistant District Attorney Leslie Nassios said Adkisson gave a statement to police and left a suicide note. They showed he planned the attack on the church, where his ex-wife was once a member, because he hated the church's liberal politics and Democrats, whom he believed "were responsible for his woes."

The Unitarian Universalist church promotes progressive social work, including advocacy of women and gay rights.

"This was a hate crime," Adkisson wrote in the four-page suicide letter obtained by The Knoxville News Sentinel. "This was a symbolic killing. Who I wanted to kill was every Democrat in the House and Senate ... (and) everyone in the mainstream media. But these people were inaccessible to me.

"I couldn't get to the generals and high-ranking officers of the Marxist movement so I went after the foot soldiers, the chicken (expletive) liberals that vote in these traitorous people."

The Tennessee Valley United Unitarian Church, he wrote, was "a den of un-American vipers."

Full Story Here: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jOAQKzY-aOBqDspFkEAV_ZO65vZAD968BSBO0

[cboy4]

1. Oh stop it.

:eyes:

[Squatch]

5. Seconded.

:eyes: ^2

[MH1]

2. "smiled ... as he pleaded guilty"

What a sociopath. Probably is facing prison with the mindset that he's a "martyr".

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

3. Hardly a "gun enthusiast", but nice spin on the story

58 years old, and owns two guns, one of which he bought a month ago. Not much of a gun enthusiast.

But if the term "gun enthusiast" fits your personal agenda, have at it. Exploit the deaths as you like.

:popcorn:

[Earth_First]

12. Agreed 100%

In fact I had plans on heading into the back fields this afternoon with my .22 long rifle and popping off a few boxes at the steel traps I have set up.

[MrModerate]

4. This guy is a murderous shit, and I certainly hope he has a . . .

really miserable time in prison.

But his being a gun enthusiast is secondary to him being a murderous shit. Don't get me wrong -- I wear my gun-grabber badge with pride, but that's not the most important part of this story.

He would have been just as lethal with a single handgun. You don't have to be a gun nut to be a danger to your fellow humans. Pretty much any gun will do the trick of turning you from a disgruntled jerk into a faux-celebrity for 10 minutes.

No, this is a story about hate . . . made bloodily real by the insanely easy access to lethal weapons that Americans seem to demand.

[-..__...]

6. Why do you hate truck drivers?

I mean, why else would you post a random news article in GD relating to a murderous trucker unless it was to paint all truckers with a broad brush, demonize them and stir up the other anti-truckers here on DU?

[Ganja Ninja]

7. "a 58-year-old truck driver on .... food stamps"

Another clueless brain dead moron with an ax to grind. Mission accomplished Hate Radio & FOX News, you all must be very proud.

[jody]

8. Roll on TWiley roll on.

[jmg257]

9. Thanks - another justification for allowing CCW in churches.

[jpljr77]

10. Sounds like the typical right wing radio listener to me.

Probably has the Michael Savage show on his speed dial.

[Xicano]

11. You must hate our constitution and freedom

to try and associate gun owners with a criminal act such as this one. Do you apply the same standard with other objects and the people who own them; such as cars for example?

Lets try and see what it looks like when using cars.


_________________________

Another Car Enthusiast lives out his violent fantasies.

He was driving at freeway speed in an area with a 25 mph limit, according to police.

He sideswiped a car, then another, and another, eight in all. His car plowed into people. Bodies and body parts went flying. One man was literally blown from his socks and shoes, said police. Smoke hung above the street.

Attias' totaled car came to a stop. Behind him, in a roughly 40-foot stretch of road, were piles of twisted metal, swaths of clothing, and blood. Five people had been hit, four died before paramedics arrived.


http://archives.dailyuw.com/2001/022601/N7.wireforpag.html



:eyes:

[TWiley]

13. Are you saying he was not a gun owner?

Why do you hate America so much?

[NeedleCast]

14. He was a gun owner

but you refered to him as a "gun enthusiast" when it's clearly been shown that he owned a grand total of two guns, one of which he'd owned less than a month.

So how many guns does it take to make one a gun enthusiast?

[TWiley]

18. well, mabye he got started late.

What does your concern have to do with the text of the story by the way?

[derby378]

19. I expect this sort of propaganda from FReepers, but not DUers

Get a grip, please.

[TWiley]

23. A grip on what?

I suppose you would like me better if I had a firm grip on an assault weapon. I find that most gun enthusiasts are pretty thin skinned and highly defensive when it comes to the defense of their weapon.

Is it possible that it might have been a bad idea to sell this guy a gun in the first place?

[derby378]

25. That's not the point, and both you and I know it

You chose to identify the shooter as a "gun enthusiast." And you have to take responsibility for that action.

Nobody's perfect. I screw up sometimes, too. It just happens to be your turn.

[NeedleCast]

26. My concern is your application of incorrect labels

apparently in effort to support an anti-gun agenda.

[bunkerbuster1]

15. Please fix Freeperific typo in subject header.

Please.

[slackmaster]

27. I kind of like it

It fits the intellectual level of the post.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

16. What A Stupid Title.

To make this about liking guns instead of hatred for civil rights and equality, is one of the dumbest goddamn things I've ever seen on here. It is a clear sign of a mind so enveloped in it's one track simple minded thinking that it is distorted beyond all capability of rational reasoning and critical thought.

[slackmaster]

17. Nice flame bait

Try again.

[DS1]

20. I thought he was a Pew-ventilation expert

:rofl:

[ferrous wheel]

21. I bet you could get a job writing salacious headlines for National Enquirer.

:puke:

[lumberjack_jeff]

22. "Food stamp recipient shoots up church. News at 11". n/t

[cliffordu]

24. Why "Gun enthusiast"??? Why not "Jesus Enthusiast"??

His "beliefs" led him to kill, the weapon was just a means to an end.

In some countries mass murderers use machetes. In others it's white phosphorus.

We're not calling those idiots "White Phosphorus Enthusiasts" are we??