The Price of Freedom John D’Esposito, Teaching American History Course

The Price of Freedom Officers Murdered by Right Wing Extremists in 2009

April 4, 2009 Richard A. Poplawski murdered three Pittsburgh, Pa. police officers who responded to a reported domestic violence call at the house he shared with his grandmother and mother “Pop” and his mother were arguing over who would clean up after his dog urinated on the floor.

Poplawski Murdered in Cold Blood He put on ballistic armor and gunned down Officers Paul Sciullo II and Stephen Mayhle as they came to the door

Poplawski continues… Officer Eric Kelly, on his way home, stops to check on the two officers who are not responding to radio calls and is picked off by Poplawski’s AK-47 as he exits his car Kelly calls for assistance and advises that officers are down

Poplawski continues… Poplawski was involved in a major shootout with SWAT and police units. He shot Officer Timothy McManaway in the hand; another officer broke his leg jumping over a fence

The Aftermath Poplawski was taken into custody He has been charged with three counts of homicide, aggravated assault, and a weapons violation He is facing the death penalty

Some of Poplawski’s Beliefs Zionists (Jews) control the media Obama was going to outlaw guns The government was controlled by secret forces (Jews) Troops were coming back from the Middle East to police the citizens here 30 US states had recently become independent, but the Jewish media wouldn’t report it

More Links to Extremists “Pop” wanted to get life runes tattoos on his calves, which are symbols used by the National Alliance, a violent Neo-Nazi group

Poplawski and Racist and Extremist Media and Groups He posted photos of his tattoos on Stormfront.org, a white supremacist web site He hosted a far-right internet radio show He began to speak of the “ultimate victory for our people”

Poplawski’s Previous Anti- social Behaviors He joined the Marines but was kicked out during basic training for throwing a lunch tray at a DI He attacked his former girlfriend, Melissa Gladish, threatened to kill her, and then violated a protective order by going to her workplace to ask her to marry him He slept with a pistol under his pillow and wore a bulletproof vest to bed

April 25, 2009 Joshua Cartwright, a Florida National Guardsman, murdered two Okaloosa County deputies at a gun range when they tried to arrest him on domestic violence charges

Cartwright Murdered: Deputy Burt Lopez Deputy Warren “Skip” York

Some of Cartwright’s Beliefs The United States Government was conspiring against him Barrack Obama wanted to take his guns away and to ban guns generally He was severely disturbed about Obama being elected President

More About Cartwright He was tasered by the deputies and came up shooting after the taser released after 5 seconds He was later killed in a shootout with other officers The argument with his wife that started this was over a tube of Clearasil that he thought was in her purse, not in the bathroom They then got into a “brawl” and he assaulted her

June 10, year old neo-Nazi James von Brunn walked up to the U.S. Holocaust museum and shot to death security officer Stephen Johns. Von Brunn was shot and critically wounded by other security officers

Von Brunn Murdered: Officer Johns worked for the Wackenhut Security Co., and was a “Washington, DC Special Police Officer”, which allowed him to carry a revolver on duty The Wackenhut union bargained for ballistic vests for their members, but they don’t have them yet

The Note in von Brunn’s Car Said “You want my weapons; this is how you’ll get them.” “The Holocaust is a lie.” “Obama was created by Jews. Obama does what his Jew owners tell him to do.” “Jews captured America’s money.” “Jews control the mass media.”

Other beliefs of Von Brunn Obama is not an U.S., citizen; therefore has no right to be President Hitler did not kill enough Jews He wrote a book “Kill the Best Gentiles” which states that Jews concocted WWI as a way to stab Germany in the back. He had been a white supremacist for over 40 years

More About von Brunn In 1981, he attempted to kidnap the Federal Reserve Board with a sawed-off shotgun. He served 6 years of a 20 year sentence for this offense. He explained that his conviction was more evidence of a Black/Jewish conspiracy His list of other targets: the White House, the Capitol, the National Cathedral, and the Washington Post He died in a federal prison in N.C. on Jan. 6, 2010, while awaiting trial for murder