He was loud, very publicly visible, opinionated, and reviled among legions of Americans who still managed to find time to listen to his firebrand approach. His willingness to take on all comers in public debate made him a unique voice that capitalized on the American addiction to conflict.
His political views were considered extreme by countless citizens and politicians alike—even among many of those who considered themselves aligned with his side of the political aisle. He was brash, bold, and unshakeable in his beliefs, and didn’t shy away from insulting or belittling those who disagreed with him. He could be heard across the country, coast-to-coast, thanks to the reach of ubiquitous technology that ensured his message would reach the ears of any who cared to listen.
And then, in a shocking act of horrific violence, he was gunned down by someone who decided the best way to deal with his brash, unapologetic outspokenness was simply to silence him forever. Gun violence ripped him apart, his last gasps spent drowning in a pool of blood.
Alan Berg was murdered in his driveway on June 19, 1984 at 9:30 p.m. He was 50 years old.
To compare Alan Berg—the longtime talk jockey whose slot on 850 KOA made him known to the entire nation—to Charlie Kirk might seem beyond comprehension on the surface. Kirk was an evangelical Christian, right-of-right on the Overton Window, and Berg was an atheist Jew whose liberal views were left-of-left for their day. But one thing linked them both—as well as to the innocent children cut down in the Evergreen High School shooting on Sept. 10—that also connects them to dozens more of those murdered by mass shooters and political extremists.
Hatred of Jews.
Alan Berg was murdered by two members of The Order, a neo-Nazi domestic terror organization bent on igniting a revolution aimed at eradicating Black and Jewish Americans.
In Evergreen, 16-year-old shooting suspect Desmond Holly’s social media accounts reveal a macabre infatuation with mass shooters, such as those who executed the Columbine school massacre, in addition to white supremacist and antisemitic theories. According to the Denver Post article published Sept. 12, “the (social media) accounts also include references to Holocaust denial, and the name of one of the accounts appeared to end with a reference to a prominent white supremacist slogan. That account reposted several videos showing school shooting scenes from movies, as well as another video that appeared to show the two Columbine shooters taking target shots at bowling pins. Other videos the account reposted were explicitly antisemitic or depicted people in Nazi uniforms.”
Meanwhile, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson is the suspect accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk. The swirl of rumor and conspiracies around the assassination is nothing short of a category-5 digital hurricane. Authorities continue to piece together their investigation and little has been officially released as of the writing of this article. But even the swirl itself is a septic tank filled with antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric as thousands have taken to social media platforms to engage in the age-old pastime of “blame the Jews.”
Antisemitism seems to simply be table stakes when it comes to mass shootings and myriad targeted assassinations in the United States—even when there may be no Jews among the victims of some of the incidents—and it dates back decades:
Columbine High School Massacre, April 20, 1999:
“In a six-week investigation by Time magazine after the shooting, reporters Nancy Gibbs and Timothy Roche obtained what were later called ‘The Basement Tapes.’ They were shot in (Eric) Harris’s basement and showed footage of the two boys on several occasions, cradling weapons and spewing racial slurs against Jews, Latinos, African Americans and others.
Washington D.C. Holocaust Memorial Museum Shooting, June 10, 2009
“Police said they found a notebook on von Brunn that contained a list of District locations, including the Washington National Cathedral; they dispatched bomb squads to at least 10 sites. The notebook also contained this passage, signed by von Brunn: ‘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. The 1st Amendment is abrogated henceforth.’”
Fort Hood, Texas Massacre, Nov. 5, 2009
“Over … two months, (Fort Hood mass shooter Major Nidal) Hasan sent six emails to (Anwar Al Awlaki, an Islamist terrorist and Colorado State University alumnus killed by drone strike under the Obama administration in 2011) and Awlaki responded to two, after which Hasan continued to email him. Hasan asked several questions about Hamas and the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict, posited an essay scholarship prize for the question ‘Why is Anwar Al Awlaki a great activist and leader?’ and offered to help Awlaki ‘in accordance with the u.s. Law [sic].’ In all, Hasan exchanged 16 emails with Anwar al-Awlaki, dated from December 2008 to June 2009. … Statements by Hasan’s acquaintances following the attack reveal that Hasan viewed his military service as deeply in conflict with his religion. According to Duane Reasoner Jr., a friend of Hasan’s, “[Hasan] felt he was supposed to quit [the army]… In the Koran, it says you are not supposed to have alliances with Jews or Christians.”
Overland Park Massacre, April 13, 2014
“Frazier Glenn Miller Jr., a lifelong, unrepentant white supremacist who shot and killed three people outside a Jewish community center and retirement home in suburban Kansas City in 2014, has died in prison. Miller…spent decades writing and spreading racist and antisemitic messages and threatening and inflicting violence against liberals, Blacks and Jews…Miller, whose execution by lethal injection was pending active legal appeals, died in the El Dorado Correctional Facility in Kansas on (May 3, 2021). He was 80 years old.
San Bernadino, California Massacre, December 2, 2015
“Syed Farook, father of San Bernardino terrorist Syed Rizwan Farook, has described his son as negatively “obsessed” with Israel…In an interview with Italian daily La Stampa, Farook said that he once tried to console his son by promising him that Israel would not exist in another two years because ‘China, Russia and America will bring the Jews back to Ukraine.’ In (another) report, Farook said, “My son said that he shared [IS leader Abu Bakr] Al Baghdadi’s ideology and supported the creation of the Islamic State. He was also obsessed with Israel.” Syed Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik killed 14 people in the mass shooting attack.
Orlando, Florida Pulse Nightclub Massacre, June 12, 2016
“A former coworker of the Orlando nightclub killer has called 29-year-old Omar Mateen an angry, loud, profane man who used slurs for gay people, Blacks, Jews and women. ‘He never used other words to describe them,’ Daniel Gilroy told the Tampa Bay Times. Mateen also regularly made threats of violence, according to Gilroy.” The deadliest mass shooting event in U..S. history at the time, 49 people were killed and 53 more injured at the gay nightclub; most of the victims were of Latino descent.
Florida, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Massacre, Feb. 14, 2018
“In a private Instagram group chat, confessed school shooter Nikolas Cruz repeatedly espoused racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic views and displayed an obsession with violence and guns.” The massacre remains the deadliest high school mass shooting event in U.S. history, claiming 17 lives and injuring 18 more.
Pittsburgh Synagogue Massacre, Oct. 27, 2018
“As a profile of Robert Bowers (convicted on June 16, 2023 and later sentenced to death) begins to emerge, particular attention is being paid to how the man who is suspected of opening fire at a Pittsburgh synagogue Saturday morning and killing 11 people was fond of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. He frequently threatened Jews on social network Gab. His anti-Semitic and nationalist views seemed to combine perfectly in his penchant to frequently post about the migrant caravan making its way from Central America to the United States.”
Chabad of Poway Shooting, April 27, 2019
“John T. Earnest, a Rancho Penasquitos man who entered the Chabad of Poway on April 27, 2019, opened fire and killed one woman (Lori Gilbert Kaye), injured three others, and attempted to kill 50 others, was sentenced in federal court … to life plus 30 years in prison for his crimes…”
New Jersey Kosher Market Massacre, Dec. 11, 2019
“David N. Anderson, 47, and Francine Graham, 50, killed a police detective near a Jersey City cemetery and then stormed a nearby Jewish market Tuesday, shooting and killing three people there and starting an hourslong police standoff that ended with their deaths, authorities said…Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop cited (a surveillance) video – appearing to show Anderson ignoring pedestrians and other businesses – as evidence that he attacked the kosher store for specific reasons. ‘My sentiment is that it should be viewed as a hate crime,” Fulop said … “There’s no question it was an attack on the Jewish community.’”
“Anderson, who identified as a Black Hebrew Israelite, had a history of posting antisemitic and anti-law enforcement messages on social media; Attorney General of New Jersey Gurbir Grewal stated that evidence indicated that the attacks were acts of hate and domestic terrorism which were fueled by antisemitism and anti-police sentiment.”
Buffalo, NY Supermarket Massacre, May 14, 2022:
“In (the suspect’s manifesto, published on Google Docs a few days prior to the shooting), the author claimed to have been radicalized online and appeared to adhere to the false replacement theory (more on that here), which has been used by white killers to justify violence against Muslims, Latinos, and Jewish people around the world.”
Capitol Jewish Museum Murders, Washington D.C., May 21, 2025
“Prosecutors say (31-year-old Elias) Rodriguez, who is from Chicago, had expressed support for violence against Israelis, including in social media posts where he allegedly wrote: ‘Death to Israel.’ As (Yaron) Lischinsky and (Sarah) Milgrim left the museum, the assailant allegedly fired 20 shots and told police at the scene: ‘I did it for Palestine. I did it for Gaza.’”
Run For Their Lives Walk, Boulder, June 1, 2025
“…At approximately 2pm, (45-year-old Mohammed Sabry) Soliman threw two lit Molotov cocktails at individuals participating in a gathering near the Boulder Courthouse of members of ‘Run for Their Lives,’ which organizes weekly walks to call attention to the Israeli hostages in Gaza. When he threw the Molotov cocktails, Soliman yelled ‘Free Palestine!’ The Molotov cocktails ignited in the crowd of people, causing burn injuries to eight individuals. Soliman stated that he wanted to kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead. He stated that he would do it (conduct an attack) again. Throughout the interview, Soliman stated that he hated the ‘Zionist group’ and did this because he needed to stop them from taking over ‘our land,’ i.e., Palestine. He stated that he had been planning the attack for a year.” Just under a month later, 82-year-old Karen Diamond died of the burn injuries she sustained in the attack.
And while no link was found between the perpetrators of some mass shootings on U.S. soil, there is often an ugly torrent of antisemitism that follows the acts, as antisemites take to social media accounts to posit some sort of Jewish conspiracy behind them—witness the tens of thousands of examples surging through X right now blaming Israel and/or Jews for the assassination of Charlie Kirk. The Sandy Hook Elementary school massacre that took the lives of 20 children and 6 adult staff members is another such example. Michael Harris, a failed GOP candidate for Arizona governor claimed that the mass shooting on Dec. 14, 2012 in Newton, Connecticut was “…an Israeli mission to teach President Obama a lesson.” Harris also implied that Israel was somehow behind the Aurora, Colorado Movie Theater mass shooting perpetrated by James Holmes on July 12, 2012 that killed 12 and injured 58. Those theories have also permeated darker corners of the web, as has the persistent and thoroughly false claim that Israel was behind the 9/11 terror attack.
While the list above is far from exhaustive, it’s clear that the thread running through so many mass murderer’s motives is a disturbing hatred of Jews and/or Israel (and there never seems to be any daylight between Jews in diaspora and Israel in their hatred) that runs so deeply, these killers are propelled to commit acts of wanton and horrific violence. Antisemitism is a gateway drug to extremism that can then evolve into self-righteous, murderous rage. A 2020 research report published by the George Washington Program on Extremism summarizes it well:
- Antisemitism is pervasive throughout several categories of American extremist movements, both violent and non-violent. American extremists incorporate antisemitic tropes and narratives in every level of their worldviews, using them to help construct “us/them” dichotomies and wide-sweeping conspiracies that are essential to their movements.
- During the past several decades, the American extremist movements that have been among the most violent—specifically, far-right and jihadist groups—have used antisemitism to target Jewish people, Jewish houses of worship, Jewish community institutions, and Americans supporting the Jewish state of Israel.
- Antisemitism, as a belief and world-structuring theory, can at times serve as a gateway issue for individuals into further radicalization to violent extremism. Nonviolent and violent iterations of the same extremist milieus often share antisemitic views as central elements of their belief system, and thus antisemitism constitutes a linkage between activist and violent extremist segments of the same movement.
- Several case studies of violent American extremists, representing far-right and jihadist movements respectively, demonstrate that antisemitism can be an integral part of American extremists’ progression through the radicalization process and in justifying terrorist attacks.
Whether it’s a motive for the shooter or a Jew-hating narrative retrofit into an ugly conspiracy by antisemites after the fact, one thing remains certain: Antisemitism is a billowing, often bloody red flag that needs to be curbed—for all of our sake.
