Gay Black Jews Heave Sigh of Relief

The New Bedford teenager wanted in last week’s attack in a gay bar
gunned down a small-town police officer in Arkansas yesterday, led authorities
on a highway chase, fatally shot a female passenger in his car, and then
was shot by police, authorities said.

Jacob D. Robida, 18, was in critical condition last night in a hospital
in Springfield, Mo. He was shot twice in the head, and Bristol District
Attorney Paul Walsh Jr. said he was not sure Robida would survive. Though
Robida is yet to be charged, killing a police officer is a capital offense
in Arkansas.

”He had a death wish," Walsh said last night. ”He didn’t care about
who he hurt."

In New Bedford, police who had searched Robida’s home, where he lived
with his parents, found homemade posters disparaging African-Americans
and Jews; neo-Nazi literature and skinhead paraphernalia; a makeshift
coffin; and an empty knife sheath. In the city, Robida, who had swastika
tattoos, had surrounded himself with other teenagers who cut a similarly
intimidating profile, residents said.

He also cultivated friends online, using the nickname ”Jake
Jekyll" on
the popular website myspace.com. Those friends told reporters they were
startled when he was linked to the New Bedford attack, and said he had
never spoken ill of gays.

from the Boston Globe