• A gunman in Hanau, Germany killed nine people at two different bars in a Wednesday night shooting.
• He then returned home, where it is believed he then shot and killed his mother before killing himself. 
• Federal investigators are treating the incident as a likely racially motivated killing since the suspect left xenophobic documents behind before shooting up the bars, which were both in areas with large immigrant populations.

Gunman Shoots Up Two Bars

A gunman in Germany killed nine people at two separate bars Wednesday night before returning home and reportedly killing his mother and then himself.

The incident began around 10 p.m. at a hookah bar in the city of Hanau, which is about 15 miles east of Frankfurt. After opening fire on that bar, the gunman then drove about one and a half miles to another hookah bar. Following the second shooting incident, he fled.

Police then conducted an hours-long manhunt for the suspect. Eventually, through a combination of helicopters, witnesses, and surveillance cameras, they learned that he had run back to his apartment a few blocks away from the second bar.

When police stormed his apartment early Thursday morning, they found both the suspect and his 72-year-old mother dead from gunshot wounds.

The incident has also left one person in critical condition.

By Thursday morning, people could be seen laying down flowers and candles in makeshift memorials in front of the bar. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and other regional officials also laid wreaths at those bars that morning.

Shooter Suspected To Be a Far-Right Extremist

Investigators are now considering the likely possibility that both shootings were racially motivated. Federal prosecutors said Thursday that the shooter displayed “indications of a right-wing extremist background.” 

While the suspect didn’t have a criminal record, he did post “xenophobic” material on his website, including a confession letter and video. 

Both bars were also located in areas with large immigrant populations and were frequently visited by Kurds, an ethnic group that is majority Muslim. Reportedly, in Hanau, hookah bars first gained popularity with the city’s Turkish community.

According to Turkish state news agency Anadolu, five of the nine people killed in those bars were reportedly Turkish nationals. While the victims were a mix of German and foreign nationalities, a federal prosecutor said all nine had immigrant backgrounds. 

Of the incident, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey is “keeping a close eye” on Germany. In a separate statement, a spokesperson for Erdogan denounced the shooting as a “racist attack.”

According to local media, the suspect was a gun owner with a hunting license. Police also said they found both ammunition and gun magazines in his car.

German Lawmakers Denounce Racism

Following the combined attacks, Germany’s Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said right-wing extremism is becoming a national threat to Germany.

“If the suspicion is confirmed, the gruesome act in Hanau is the third extreme right-wing murder attack in Germany in a year,” Maas said. “Right-wing terrorism has again become a threat to our country. There is absolutely nothing to put into perspective.”

The other two incidents Maas was referring to occurred in June when a politician known for his support of asylum seekers was shot dead, as well as in October when a gunman killed two people after opening fire in a synagogue.

In a televised speech, Chancellor Angela Merkel compared “racism” and “hatred” to “poison.”

“It is still too early for a final evaluation,” she said. “Everything is being done to clear up the background of these horrible murders to the last detail. But at present, there is much evidence that the perpetrator acted out of right-wing extremist, racist motives — out of hatred against people of other origins, other beliefs or other outward appearances.”

What Steps is Germany Taking to Combat Mass Domestic Terrorism?

Germany’s Islamic Association called Wednesday’s shooting a targeted attack on Muslims.

“Before this right-wing terror we had been warning and demanding for weeks and months to take a clear stand against right-wing agitation and Islamophobia,” it said in a statement. “We had also warned that terror threatens us [of] all — Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Our warnings were ignored. The terror has struck. It is now the time to stand together.”

However, that’s not to say Germany hasn’t been working to stop far-right extremism. Earlier this week, German police reportedly arrested 12 members of a far-right group they said were planning to attack mosques and other locations associated with refugees and asylum seekers.

Also, just hours before Wednesday’s attacks, Germany’s cabinet approved a bill that would force social media networks to report to police if they find hate speech or posts that threaten violence or terrorist attacks on their sites.

That still needs to be passed by Germany’s parliament, but German law already requires social media sites to delete such posts.

Germany also already has some of the strictest gun laws in the country, and last year, it tightened those laws even further by requiring background checks.

Editor’s Note: At Rogue Rocket, we make it a point to not include the names and pictures of mass murderers or suspected mass murderers who may have been seeking attention or infamy. Therefore, we will not be linking to other sources, as they may contain these details. 

• China announced it will deport three Wall Street Journal reporters after a separate writer for the newspaper published what the Chinese government called a “racist statement.”
• The article the Chinese government is referring to is titled, “China Is the Real Sick Man of Asia.”
• That article, which is largely about the Chinese government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, calls the Communist Party weak, but also invokes the use of a historical phrase many in China deem to be racist.
• This is the first time the Chinese government has deported multiple reporters from a single news organization since the era of Mao Zedong.

China Expels Three WSJ Reporters

The Chinese Government is revoking the visas for three Wall Street Journal reporters after the newspaper ran an opinion piece titled “China Is the Real Sick Man of Asia.”

Denouncing the headline and article as racist, an official with China’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that the three reporters now have five days to leave the country. 

“The Chinese people do not welcome media that publish racist statements and maliciously attacks China,” he said.

“The Chinese side has lodged stern representations with WSJ and made our solemn position clear,” that official continued. “China demands the WSJ recognize the severity of its mistake, make an official apology and hold the persons involved accountable. Meanwhile, we reserve the right to take further actions.”

This is the first time the Chinese government has deported multiple reporters from a single news organization since Mao Zedong’s rule, though the Communist Party did ban a BuzzFeed reporter in 2018 and a different WSJ reporter in 2019.

However, none of those three reporters who are now being expelled from the country wrote that column. In fact, they didn’t have anything to do with it aside from working at the WSJ. The article was actually written by Wall Street Journal columnist Walter Russel Mead.

Why Is the Communist Party Calling the Column Racist?

The article, which is about the Chinese government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, begins by challenging the might of the coronavirus against Beijing’s influence and power.

“The mighty Chinese juggernaut has been humbled this week, apparently by a species-hopping bat virus,” Mead says in the column. “While Chinese authorities struggle to control the epidemic and restart their economy, a world that has grown accustomed to contemplating China’s inexorable rise was reminded that nothing, not even Beijing’s power, can be taken for granted.”

The article then continues by calling China’s initial response “less than impressive,” insulting Wuhan’s action by calling it “secretive and self-serving.” Mead also says while the national government reacted vigorously, its response has also been seemingly ineffective at stopping the virus.

He adds that “the performance to date has shaken confidence in the Chinese Communist Party at home and abroad.” Mead ends by saying “that China’s power, impressive as it is, remains brittle.”

While the Chinese Government is no stranger to censoring those critical of it, the article’s headline seemed to strike a different cord.

The term “sick man of Asia” began as a different phrase: “sick man of Europe;” however, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, “sick man of Asia” was to describe internal conflict within the Chinese government. That conflict then led to a weakened government. Because of that, China was then forced to sign a number of unequal treaties with imperial powers such as Japan, Russia, and Western powers.

To this day, the phrase is particularly hated in China. In fact, in the 1972 film Fist of Fury, a character portrayed by Bruce Lee smashes and rips up a sign carrying the words “sick man of Asia” while in front of a group of Japanese men.

Chinese Citizens Double Down on Racism Claims

Because of the phrase’s historical use, many Chinese people have also echoed criticisms of racism, saying that the term “sick man”  stereotypes them as disease-ridden and unclean.

“…this article will further encourage racism and discriminatory [behavior] towards all Chinese, and possibly all east Asians in the US or outside the country,” one person said in the comments section under Mead’s article.

“Content is not necessarily all wrong but definitely a bit salty – but I get it,” another person said before adding: “However, I must say that the title is quite misleading, if not utterly offensive.” 

The WSJ Stands By Its Opinion Department

In a statement, WSJ publisher William Lewis stressed the division between the News and Opinion departments at the newspaper while also criticizing China’s decision to remove the three reporters from its country. 

“We are deeply disappointed with today’s announcement from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to expel three Wall Street Journal news reporters,” Lewis said in a statement posted to Twitter. “This opinion piece was published independently from the WSJ newsroom and none of the journalists being expelled had any involvement with it.”

In that statement, Lewis also noted the Opinion Department “regularly” publishes pieces that people both agree and disagree with.

“However, this has clearly caused upset and concern amongst Chinese people, which we regret,” he added. 

Lewis then ended his statement by asking China’s Foreign Ministry to reinstate the visas for those three reporters. 

Meanwhile, Mead also posting to Twitter, insinuated that he did not write the headline that was ascribed to his article. 

“…a word to my new Chinese followers: at American newspapers, writers typically do NOT write or approve the headlines,” Mead said. “Argue with the writer about the article content, with the editors about the headlines.”

U.S. Labels Major Chinese Media Outlets as Government Operatives

The Chinese Government’s decision to expel the reporters comes one day after U.S. State Department labeled five major Chinese state-run media outlets as government operatives.

Those five outlets include Xinhua, CGTN, China Radio, China Daily and The People’s Daily.

“There is no dispute that all five of these entities are part of the [Chinese] party-state propaganda news apparatus and they take their orders directly from the top,” an unnamed State Department official told reporters.

“We all know these guys have been state-controlled forever, but that control has gotten stronger over time, and it’s far more aggressive,” that reporter added. 

Now, employees of those agencies will be required by the State Department to register as consular staff, though the U.S. has noted that it won’t impede their reporting activities.

See what others are saying: (Business Insider) (South China Morning Post) (NPR)

• A young girl named Fátima was murdered in Mexico, fueling the growing public anger over violence against women in the country.
• The child’s family claims that if authorities had acted quicker and given the case more attention, she would still be alive today.
• Fátima’s death came just a few days after a 25-year-old woman, Ingrid Escamilla, was murdered by her boyfriend and photos of her mutilated body were posted by local news outlets.
• Protesters took to the streets to march over violence against women after Ingrid’s death and did the same after Fátima’s.
• Pressure has been put on Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who has been accused of brushing off the demands for justice.

Young Girl Killed

The gruesome murder of a young girl in Mexico has fueled the growing public anger over rising femicide in the country.  

Seven-year-old Fátima went missing on Feb. 11 from her neighborhood on the outskirts of Mexico City. Her mutilated, naked body was found in a plastic bag on Saturday. 

The child was waiting to be picked up from school last week when she was led away by a stranger, an abduction that was caught on video footage. Five people have been questioned in the case, according to the Associated Press. 

Fatima’s family claims that if authorities had acted quicker, the girl would still be alive. 

“Fatima is not with us because the protocols were not followed, because the institutions did not give the attention they should have,” Sonia Lopez, Fatima’s aunt, told reporters. “We will not forget her.”

The girl’s name was launched into the trending topics on Twitter when thousands tweeted #JusticiaParaFátima, meaning Justice for Fátima. Her death led to a continuation of protests in the city, demanding justice for the child as well as other women who have suffered.

Rise in Femicide

Fátima’s slaying is the latest in a string of brutal killings of women and girls to ignite widespread outrage. News of the girl’s death came just a few days after 25-year-old Ingrid Escamilla was murdered by her boyfriend and whose body was skinned and maimed in an attempt to dispose of the evidence. 

Shock and fury escalated when local news outlets posted pictures of Escamilla’s mutilated body on their front pages, and protesters took to the streets of Mexico City to march over violence against women on Friday. Demonstrators covered the National Palace with fake blood and wrote messages like “Femicide state” on the walls. 

Femicides, killings of a woman or girl based on her gender, are on the rise in Mexico. A report posted by the National Public Security System showed that femicides increased about 10% last year and 1,006 women and girls were targeted. 

These increased numbers are putting pressure on Mexico’s political leaders, primarily president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who has been accused of brushing the protests off. 

When he was asked about the government’s position in fighting femicides on Monday, Lopez Obrador said, “The issue has been manipulated a lot in the media,” and added, “I don’t want the issue just to be women’s killings.” 

“We are working so that there won’t be any more women’s killings,” Lopez Obrador also said on Monday. 

The president seemed to shift the blame of Fatima’s death onto other sources, saying that femicides are a result of the “selfishness and accumulation of wealth in a few hands left by neoliberal policies.” 

He also requested that protesters not vandalize the National Palace like they did last week, which only upset people more. According to The Washington Post, demonstrators returned to the building on Tuesday wielding signs that said, “Moralizing is not the solution.” 

See what others are saying: (Washington Post) (CBS) (Los Angeles Times)