commentary by Patrick H. Moore
Jerad Miller and his wife Amanda Miller, the Las Vegas cop-killers, were not your usual neo-Nazi white supremacist couple. In fact, it could be argued that they were not unlike Muslim fundamentalist terrorists who – as we all know – have a penchant for suicide bombings and flying hijacked airplanes into large buildings.
Of course, the Millers carried out their murders and mutual suicide pact in the best tried-and-true American fashion – with guns and more guns.
In an action that makes the blood run cold, Miller & Miller launched their attack at around 11:20 a.m. Sunday at CiCi’s Pizza restaurant in an aging strip mall about five miles Northeast of the Las Vegas Strip , when they opened fire inside the restaurant where Las Vegas police officers Alyn Beck, 41, and Igor Soldo, 31, were having lunch.
The police report that Jerad Miller shot Officer Igor Soldo in the back of the head, and then shot fellow Officer Alyn Beck in the neck, at which point Amanda Miller pulled a gun from her purse and also fired on Beck.
Dazed by the completely unexpected violence, restaurant patron Sheree Burns told KTNV:
“I just sat down to have lunch. The officers were sitting in front of me, at the table right next to me, and this man came in out of nowhere.
“I thought he was going to get a drink, the way he walked up and walked past them. And then he turned around, pulled a gun on his right and shot the bald officer in front of me.”
One of the two officers was able to return fire but to no avail.
As part of their Revolution of 2, after shooting and killing the officers and “liberating” their guns and ammunition, the murderous couple placed a “Don’t Tread on Me” flag and a Nazi swastika on one of the police officers along with a note saying something to the effect of “this is the beginning of the revolution,” Second Assistant Sheriff Kevin McMahill told reporters.
Dirty deed accomplished, on their way out, they passed Alvaro Lopez who told CNN affiliate KLAS:
“They had a backpack, and I saw a gun in their hand. He just told me to tell the cops that it was a revolution and that he’d just killed two cops inside CiCi’s.”
The killers then ran to a nearby Walmart where Jerad Miller fired off a round near the entrance. Joseph Wilcox, who was armed with a concealed weapon, “heroically” tried to confront Jerad Miller. According to McMahill, in the process, Wilcox passed Amanda Miller, apparently not noticing her, and Amanda shot and killed him.
(Note: Although a police representative had initially stated that the Walmart victim was female, a spokeswoman for the Clark County coroner’s office identified the deceased person on Monday as Joseph Wilcox.)
Although I have reservations about any private citizen carrying a firearm in public, there is no doubt that Wilcox “died attempting to protect others.”
Appalled by the proceedings, shoppers rushed toward the exit.
Pauline Pacheco reported to LKAS that as soon as she saw the armed man, she grabbed her father to get him out of the store:
“We saw when the man was walking. He was shouting, yelling bad words, and suddenly he had a gun.
“It was terrible, it was terrible. That man was crazy.”
Officers then converged on the Walmart and exchanged fire with the couple, at which point, Amanda Miller, after reportedly exchanging a few words with him, shot her husband repeatedly as the officers closed and then turned the gun on herself.
As if their deaths are not tragic enough, Alyn Beck and Igor Soldo were both married with children. Beck left behind his wife and six children; Soldo is survived by his wife and baby.
KTNV reported that a prayer vigil in the officers’ honor was planned for Monday night.
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Based on the signs Miller & Miller left in the pizza restaurant, and what law enforcement found at their apartment Sunday night, as well as what has been culled from their Facebook postings, the neo-Nazi couple looked at law enforcement as oppressors.
“We believe that they equate government and law enforcement … with Nazis,” said McMahill. “In other words, they believe law enforcement is the oppressor.”
Krista Koch, a neighbor who lived near the murderers, informed CNN affiliate KTNV that the husband-and-wife team liked to dress up as the villainous Batman characters Joker and Harley Quinn.
What is even weirder is the fact that Jerad Miller reportedly sometimes dressed as Slenderman, the fictional horror character who recently made national headlines based on the role the mythological horror figure played in the stabbing of a 12-year-old girl in Waukesha,Wisconsin.
Revealingly, Koch also told KTNV that the couple had told her they were going to carry out an attack, but she thought they were “crazy,” so she unfortunately took no steps to report them.
Las Vegas police will be doubling up in their patrol cars for at least the next few days as officers mourn the loss of their two colleagues, who appear to have been well-liked on the force.
“We still have a community to police and we still have a community to protect,” said an Officer Gillespie on Sundaynight. “We will be out there doing it with our heads held high but with an emptiness in our heart.”
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Mike Blasky, Colton Lochhead and Francis McCabe of the Las Vegas Review-Journal report that when the Millers left their downtown apartment Sunday morning, they were loaded for bear carrying one shotgun, two handguns, 200 rounds of ammunition, knives, first aid supplies, camouflage clothing and military-issued rations known as MREs.
According to one law enforcement source, the couple appeared “cool and calm” during the shooting spree, and that there was no indication that they were using drugs that day, although a toxicology report is in the offing.
During a news conference on Monday, senior police officials called the attack an isolated incident, but assured the citizenry that officers will take extra precautions as they patrol the valley in the coming days. Nevertheless, law enforcement believes that the Millers appeared to be working alone and were not part of a larger white supremacist plot.
As is often the case with maladjusted maladroits of this ilk, bad as it was, the mayhem engendered by the Millers didn’t begin to compare to their grandiose plans.
Kelley Fielder, who lived next door to the Millers and called them her “best friends”, was holding documents for them that included detailed plans to take over a courthouse and execute public officials. A file box containing the documents, along with three empty rifle cases and an empty box that once contained handcuffs, were confiscated by investigators during a search of Fielder’s apartment.
Unsurprisingly, Jared Miller had a long criminal record.
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This is bad. I’m sure I’m not alone as I fight against the horrible revelation that our nation may be in the process of coming apart at the seams.
(Note: If you’re not sufficiently concerned already, click on this link and you will be able to access a number of Jared Miller’s highly disturbing videos.)