Man who attacked Knoxville Unitarians "hated liberals"

When initial reports suggested that the murderer who shot up the Unitarian church in Knoxville yesterday "hated Christianity," I was skeptical. Why would an anti-Christian bigot attack a Unitarian church? Anything is possible in the mind of a deranged killer, of course, but that explanation just didn't smell right to me. I mean no offense -- I'm not implying anything negative about Unitarians -- but they aren't exactly the poster children for in-your-face organized religion of the sort that's likely to offend somebody who "hates Christianity."

This, on the other hand, sounds much more plausible:

The shotgun-wielding suspect in Sunday's mass shooting at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church was motivated by a hatred of "the liberal movement," and he planned to shoot until police shot him, Knoxville Police Chief Sterling P. Owen IV said this morning.

Jim D. Adkisson, 58, of Powell wrote a four-page letter in which he stated his "hatred of the liberal movement," Owen said. "Liberals in general, as well as gays." ...

Owen said Adkisson specifically targeted the church for its beliefs, rather than a particular member of the congregation.

Did he know in advance about the children's play, I wonder? But then, I suppose those little kids had it coming, right? After all, they were at a gay-loving liberal hippie church, the little snots. Children whose parents care about "desegregation, racial harmony, fair wages, women's rights and gay rights" deserve to die! Ugh, ugh, ugh. What a God damn evil lunatic.

Anyway:

Adkisson said he also was frustrated about not being able to obtain a job, Owen said.

The letter, recovered from Adkisson's black 2004 Ford Escape, which was parked in the church's parking lot at 2931 Kingston Pike, indicates he had been planning the shooting for about a week.

"He fully expected to be killed by the responding police," the police chief said. ...

Officers recovered 76 shells for a 12-gauge, semiautomatic shotgun inside the church. Among those shells were three spent rounds. He had carried the shotgun inside the church in a guitar case, Owen said.

"He certainly intended to take a lot of casualties," the chief said.

Thank God the death toll wasn't higher. And if it weren't for Greg McKendry, maybe it would have been.

On an unrelated note, I expect two things to happen once the local media and blogosphere move past the initial grief/shock reporting phase. Firstly, there will be an incredibly annoying, obnoxious pissing contest between gun-control advocates and gun-rights advocates, with each using this shooting as an example of their pet beliefs. (This is why we should ban all guns! This is why everyone should carry a gun!) East Tennessee is pretty much the ideal place for such a debate, given the combination of traditional southern red-state conservatives with liberal hippie northern expats who've moved down here. (This same dynamic is responsible for the Ichthys War, which is unceasing in these parts.) InstaPundit, being a local, strongly pro-gun blog with a huge national following, will no doubt have a lot to say about this issue, though I hope Glenn will show some restraint and not use this tragedy as an opportunity to grind an axe. (That same advice goes for everybody, BTW.)

Secondly, now that we know the shooter was motivated by a hatred of liberals, gays, etc., there will be all sorts of inappropriate recriminations from certain corners of the lefty blogosphere, which will in turn spur inappropriate overreaction among some righty bloggers. For example: some idiot blog commenter, or Daily Kos diarist or whatever, will cite this shooting as yet another example of Evil Republican Conservative Violence, and will tie it into larger themes (e.g., a vote for John McCain is a vote for the Knoxville butcherer!). Some bloggers on the Right will then act as if this idiotic individual is some sort of spokesman for the Left, and will use it as an example of how liberals in general are deranged and unhinged. It's all quite predictable, and it, too, will be incredibly annoying and obnoxious, on both sides.