[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 111 (Friday, August 7, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1639]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           CRAZY CONSPIRACY THEORIES HAVE THEIR VIOLENT COSTS

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                           HON. DOUG BEREUTER

                              of nebraska

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, August 7, 1998

  Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Speaker, as demonstrated by the recent tragedy that 
we witnessed in this building, crazy conspiracy theories can have 
violent and horrific costs.
  Accordingly, this Member commends to his colleagues an excellent 
editorial which appeared in the Omaha World-Herald, on August 5, 1998.

                     Others Fed Gunman's Fantasies

       A sketchy but disturbing portrait is emerging of Russell E. 
     Weston Jr., the accused gunman in the July 24 U.S. Capitol 
     shootings.
       He is being described as a mental patient who fell through 
     the cracks, resisted treatment and, somewhere along the way, 
     had his head filled with paranoid claptrap.
       FBI agents who searched his remote cabin in Montana found 
     guns, ammunition and books about espionage. Family members 
     said Weston maintained an abiding fear of the federal 
     government. He believed that federal agents were spying on 
     him through a neighbor's satellite dish.
       Authorities were also told that Weston thought the federal 
     government had planted land mines on his property. Documents 
     among his possessions contained references to the Freemen, a 
     group whose members have been involved in confrontations over 
     their insistence that they are not bound by U.S. laws.
       More than a few people on the fringes of society say they 
     consider the U.S. government evil. Among them are some 
     militia members and radical survivalists whose far-fetched 
     notions can sometimes be heard on late-night talk shows or 
     read on the Internet.
       At times their ravings seem almost comical. One group, for 
     example, sees sinister implications in the yellow fringe with 
     which some American flags are trimmed. The yellow fringe, if 
     we have it right, is proof that the United States is secretly 
     under martial law.
       But there's nothing comical when such ideas are pumped into 
     the head of someone whose grasp of reality is less than 
     adequate. Then the result is all too often ugly and violent. 
     Russell Weston spent part of a day in Illinois killing cats. 
     Then he traveled to Washington, where he killed two Capitol 
     police officers in a senseless attack.
       Certainly the Tim McVeighs of the world--and Russell 
     Weston, if he is found guilty--must be punished for their 
     crimes. But punishing them doesn't excuse the people who 
     concoct and repeat the crazy conspiracy theories that cause 
     the bomb-builders and the shooters to become so agitated. 
     Russell Weston may be a dangerous criminal, or he may be 
     hopelessly ill. Either way, whoever convinced him that the 
     government is the epitome of evil deserves some of the 
     criticism for what happened at the Capitol.

     

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