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Louisiana Movie Theater Shooter Lauded KKK Leader David Duke

HeadlineJul 27, 2015

The white gunman accused of killing two people in a Lafayette, Louisiana, movie theater before killing himself has been identified as John Russell Houser. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Houser lauded longtime Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke and expressed interest in white power groups, anti-Semitic ideas and the anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church. He had posted about the “power of the lone wolf” on a forum dedicated to the New York chapter of Greece’s far-right neo-Nazi party, Golden Dawn. Houser opened fire Thursday night inside a showing of Amy Schumer’s movie “Trainwreck,” killing two young women, Jillian Johnson and Mayci Breaux. Authorities say he was able to acquire his gun legally in Alabama, despite a record of mental illness, alleged domestic violence and an arrest for arson. Speaking on CBS Face the Nation, Louisiana Republican Governor Bobby Jindal acknowledged Houser should not have been able to acquire a gun.

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