If the allegations leveled by police in Palatine are true, October 11 could have been a day of unspeakable horror. That's the day they say a 19-year-old man who they claim has admitted to being a white supremacist took up station in the parking lot of a Hindu temple in Aurora, raised an automatic weapon, and pulled the trigger.
But the AR-15-style firearm jammed, allegedly sending the suspect home, where he told a co-worker what he was planning to do. That co-worker tipped police, who say they arrested the suspect before he could return.
A mass shooting plot targeting a house of worship is horrific enough, as we've seen in far too many places in this country, from Sutherland Springs to Pittsburgh to Waddell. But on October 11, the people worshipping inside the temple included a U.S. Congressman and his family.
"He could not wait to kill Indians!" Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi told reporters Friday, quoting what police say the suspect told that co-worker. The 8th District Democrat was emotional as Congressional colleagues and other elected and community leaders joined him for a unity event at the Cook County Building to denounce the alleged plot, and the environment they say fueled it.
"I don't know how the suspect's weapon jammed," said the Congressman, his voice thick with emotion as he paused to reflect on the potential for violence during a service marking the holiday of Navratri. "I don't know how my family and others escaped. I don't know how I happened to be there, but I believe one purpose was so I could be here, so that I could speak up about hate."
Rep. Krishnamoorthi is one of a handful of South Asians in Congress, and he told reporters that's made him a target for racism in the political arena, including a town council member from central Florida who last month told him on social media, "take your curry and go home."
"Anti-South Asian social media posts have skyrocketed," said the Congressman. "They've grown by more than 240%." He suggested the suspect in the plot targeting his temple was radicalized by messages he found online, and that it was time for Congress to step in and change the laws that give social media companies immunity from liability for what's posted on their sites.
"Big Tech profits off this hate!" Rep. Krishnamoorthi said forcefully, calling attention to the greater engagement brought by negative and objectionable content. "Big Tech will not police itself. We must police Big Tech."
The Congressman has waded into technology-related issues before, notably when co-sponsoring the measure seeking to force TikTok's Chinese owner to sell off or shut down its U.S. operations (they eventually sold off the U.S. arm after being granted numerous waivers). But his call to rewrite what's known as Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act is clearly more personal, though his departure from Congress at year's end means he'll have to depend on his soon-to-be former colleagues to carry the torch.
And as local police and prosecutors assemble a case against the suspect, the Congressman said he was "distressed" that neither the federal government nor any of its law enforcement agencies had offered any kind of public condemnation of the alleged plot, and demanded the plot be investigated as a potential hate crime.
"Their silence speaks volumes," he said. "I call upon (FBI) Director Kash Patel. You must protect the American people against this domestic violent extremism directed toward numerous communities."
We asked the FBI's Chicago office to talk to us about the investigation, and as of this writing have received no response.
We are grateful for the safety of Rep. Krishnamoorthi, who's been generous with his time and perspective as we've settled into this role, and that of his family. We are doubly grateful that the story we're telling is this one, and not the one police say we were one jammed firearm away from seeing unfold. And at the same time, it's difficult to see Congress doing anything to reverse what appears to be the federal government's increasingly laissez-faire attitude toward traffic on the Internet, especially as Mark Zuckerburg, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos break bread at the White House.
