Sikh temple shooter's ex arrested. What role do women play in racist groups?
The Sikh temple gunman's former girlfriend was arrested on gun charges, but the FBI said she wasn't involved in the attack. Experts say women are increasingly involved in white hate groups.
This 2005 photo shows Brenda Cook, now known as Misty Cook. Cook, the former girlfriend of Sikh temple shooter Wade Michael Page. She was arrested on a weapons violation but authorities said the arrest was not connected to the shootings.
Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office/AP
CHICAGO
The estranged girlfriend of Wade Michael Page, who gunned down six people at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin Sunday, was arrested on firearms charges, the FBI said Wednesday, and hate crime watchdogs said she had been tracked for years for involvement in white supremacist groups.
The FBI said Misty Cook had no involvement in the Sunday massacre at the Milwaukee area temple. Experts, however, say photographs on social media showing Ms. Cook posing alongside male members of various white power groups reveal the growing role that women play in these organizations.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) says it has monitored Cook’s movements for years.
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Women are becoming more valuable in the organizations because they are perceived as offering traits that their male counterparts do not, experts say. Women are less prone to violence and petty crimes, which attract the growing attention of federal authorities, and they are better at recruiting new members because they are perceived as more trustworthy and sincere, the experts say.
Many white supremacists also value white women for bearing children – white children, in particular – which is crucial to hate groups’ distaste for what they see as the threat of multiculturalism.
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