Unsung Oklahoma Beheading Hero

A terrifying story unfolded over the weekend, one that could have ended much worse than it did. Recent Muslim convert, Jah’Keem Yisrael known to his family and friends as Alton Nolen had an Arabic tattoo on his chest that reads: Peace be upon you. But peace was the last thing on his mind when he returned to work, angry after just being fired. Police say Nolen was aggressively trying to convert co-workers to radical Islam, and that distraction led to his firing.

When he showed up to work on Friday, he was out for blood. First, he slammed his car into another one parked in the lot outside, before storming into the building and stabbing the first person he saw. 54 year old Colleen Hufford was the first victim. Nolen stabbed her several times, before cutting off her head.

He quickly moved on to a second victim, but she survived the stab wounds. Nolen was stopped from killing and beheading his second victim because another man came to work with a gun. Off duty reserve sheriff’s deputy Mark Vaughan was alerted to the knife attack, and shot Nolen before he could carry out the rest of his assault. Nolen survived the gunshot wound and is now facing first degree murder charges.

Right now, if you Google “Oklahoma beheading,” the top articles are throwing out questions like, “Who is Alton Nolen?” Was it an act of terrorism? Was the killing motivated by radical Islam? Even while Nolen’s Facebook cover photo shows Islamic fighters holding rocket propelled grenades, one top story suggests there is a nationwide debate over what to call the beheading.

Some of the same media outlets who weren’t afraid to state the obvious in Ferguson, Missouri, now seem to be dancing around the obvious in Oklahoma. In one instance, a white police officer shot a black teenager. In another, a radical Muslim with a criminal record was stopped short of committing brutal mass executions by a man who carried a firearm to work.

Neither story is pleasant. Neither story had a happy ending. Both stories involve a guilty party. Neither Michael Brown nor Darren Wilson chose their skin color. Alton Nolen chose his path to radical Islamic violence. As long as the public views skin color as a cause of someone’s actions, this nation will always have a problem with racism. But once a person’s actions are free to speak for themselves, unfettered by bias and prejudice, then and only then will we be free to pursue justice in America.