On April 2, Noah R. Green, a 25-year-old resident of Virginia, drove his car into the security fencing around the U.S. Capitol, and thereby killed one security officer, William F. Evans, and injured another. When Green left his car, armed with a knife, other officers fired their guns and killed him. According to reports, he was motivated by the Nation of Islam.
There was no chance that Green could penetrate the security perimeter with a Nissan sedan. There was thus no understanding of what Green’s objective or motive could be. While there was substantial evidence that Green was emotionally distraught, the New York Times report stated that the Nation of Islam and “its leader Louis Farrakhan, who has repeatedly promoted anti-Semitism” had a strong influence on Green.
The suggestion that this influence led to violence conflicts with facts. However, the Nation of Islam supports the concept of self-defense, as do most Americans. In 1962, when the Los Angeles police shot seven unarmed Black Muslims, thus killing Ronald Stokes, one of the members, the Nation of Islam did not retaliate.
On Oct. 16, 1995, more than one million Black men came to Washington, D.C., at Farrakhan’s request, to discuss peacefully the strategy for going forward. This was the largest public assembly ever held in the nation’s capital, and there was no violence.
Farrakhan is a man of peace. Yet the media continue to suggest such a danger because of Farrakhan’s sustained opposition to the view of some Jewish politicians. That is quite different from opposition to the soundness of Judaism as a religion.
