New Details Emerge
Houston is home to roughly seven thousand Sikhs, a peace loving religion based mainly in India. Wisconsin police say it was their long beards and turbans which made them a target for gunman Wade Michael Page on Sunday.
Manpreet Singh is with The Sikh Coalition in Houston, she understands the tie to the September 11 attacks, but insists her religion has nothing to do with radical Muslims.
"I remember sitting at my desk on 9/11 and looking at my brother's picture and seeing Osama bin Laden's picture on television, I really see what everybody else thinks," says Singh. "But 99% of turban wearing people you see in America are Sikhs and not from any terrorist network."
The coalition reports nearly 700 threats against Sikhs since 9/11, most are described as school bullying incidents. But Singh notes one serious attack which happened right here in the Lone Star State.
"West Texas had a huge incident about two years ago where a pizza delivery guy was delivering his pizza and targeted," she says. "They attempted to drown him in their backyard pool and beat him badly."
Singh says a community wide vigil is being planned in Houston for the victims in Wisconsin, no word yet when that will take place.
Meanwhile, we're learning more about the gunman who spent time at Fort Bliss near El Paso and North Carolina's Fort Bragg before the Army booted him out after minor arrests and repeated misconduct.
Page found refuge with neo-Nazis, and even fronted hard metal rock bands with names like Definite Hate and End Apathy.
Though he was on the FBI's radar, terrorism expert Dr. Jeff Addicott at St. Mary's University in San Antonio cautions trying to tie Page to so-called right-wing extremists, or even the military for that matter.
"Many groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center are going to stem this into a greater campaign against conservatives," says Addicott. "We're already seeing that he's a veteran, therefore we have to watch out for Army veterans, but that has nothing to do with it."
"The guy is a nut, he's obviously a criminal, he's had emotional and mental problems and that's whey the military kicked him out," he says. "It’s hard to predict people will turn to violence, but this guy apparently did."
