Frazier Glenn Miller, the suspect in the shooting of three people at two different Jewish locations in Overland Park, Kan., is a former KKK leader, a well-documented white supremacist, and, at one point, was a protected FBI informant. Now Miller, who faces a capital murder charge following the April shooting rampage, confirms what many have long suspected: He was targeting Jews, which was why he opened fire in the parking lot of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City and then drove to Village Shalom, a Jewish retirement home nearby, where he continued shooting.
The three people he killed weren’t Jewish, they just happened to be at those locations that day—a twisted irony that can’t be lost on the hate-filled Miller. The first two victims were identified as William Lewis Corporon and his 14-year-old grandson Reat Griffin Underwood, a high-school freshman who was reportedly at the JCC to audition for a local singing competition. The third victim was identified as Terri LaManno, 53, a Kansas City resident and mother of two who worked as an occupational therapist at the Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired. She was visiting her mother, a resident at Village Shalom, when Miller opened fire.
The Kansas City Star spoke to Miller, who is being held at the New Century Adult Detention Center in Kansas, and who told them he decided to commit the act when he was hospitalized for worsening emphysema in March:
“I was convinced I was dying then,” said Miller, of Aurora, Mo., in his first published interview since the April 13 shooting rampage. “… I wanted to make damned sure I killed some Jews or attacked the Jews before I died.”
The ADL released a statement questioning the newsworthiness of Miller’s remarks. ADL chief Abe Foxman wrote, statement, “This incident raises some serious questions about the role of prison authorities in enabling and permitting a racist and anti-Semitic bigot or any bigot to use his notoriety in a racist, anti-Semitic crime to project and advocate for his horrific behavior. What values in society do his remarks serve?”
Stephanie Butnick is chief strategy officer of Tablet Magazine, co-founder of Tablet Studios, and a host of the Unorthodox podcast.
