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Neon Tommy - Annenberg digital news

Sikh Temple Shooter's Girlfriend Arrested, And Other Details Emerge

Michael Juliani |
August 9, 2012 | 5:18 a.m. PDT

Executive Producer

An ariel view of the Sikh temple where the shooting happened.  (Wikimedia Commons)
An ariel view of the Sikh temple where the shooting happened. (Wikimedia Commons)

Police have arrested the former girlfriend of Wade Michael Page, the man who shot and killed six people at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, on a weapons charge, according to CNN

Police say that Misty Cook had illegal possession of a gun, since she is a felon.  

South Milwaukee Police Lt. Jason Walker said that the arrest came following a joint investigation between the FBI and the South Milwaukee Police Department.

Walker did not say if Cook was involved in any way with the Sunday shooting at the Sikh house of worship. 

Cook, a 31-year-old waitress and nursing student, has reported ties to white supremacist groups, according to the Los Angeles Times.  

The Anti-Defamation League, which monitors hate groups, has had information on Page and Cook for several years that links them to neo-Nazi groups.

Police would not discuss her criminal record, but the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found court records that reported that Cook was convicted in 2005 of fleeing and eluding police in Milwaukee County.  She was sentenced to 18 months probation and spent 97 days in jail, according to the L.A. Times.

The L.A. Times said, [A neighbor] said he didn't know the gunman or Cook well, but that Wade Page had lived with Cook and her 5-year-old autistic son in the upstairs apartment since March 1. In the middle of June, he said, Wade Page hauled his things out in a few garbage bags, and Cook signaled that the couple had broken up. Cook left the apartment with her father several days ago.

The L.A. Times also reported that Page's involvement in "hate rock" bands highlights the subculture's secretive existence. 

White power punk rock is used as a recruiting tool for the white supremacist movement.

The lyrics espouse fascist ideology that condemns a racially integrated America.

The Times said, Page became involved in white power punk after attending 2000's Hammerfest, a fascist-punk festival hosted by the Nazi group Hammerskin in Orlando, Fla., according to an interview with Page posted on the website of Label 56, which released his albums.

In 2001, Page joined a Nazi band called Youngland that was based in Orange County, playing with the group for about two years, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

Newsday is also reporting that the FBI now says that Page killed himself, and was not killed by police officers, during his attack on the Sikh temple.

The FBI also said that they have not identified a clear motive behind Page's attack.

Newsday said that Page was a native of Littleton, Colo., and had a few minor alcohol-related crimes on his record.  

He was a veteran of the U.S. Army, and was demoted for getting drunk on duty and going AWOL before he was discharged in 1998.

In South Milwaukee, where he lived with Misty Cook until the end of this spring, he worked third-shift at a brazing factory. 

The L.A. Times has a slideshow of photos from the Sikh temple shooting. 

 

Read more of Neon Tommy's coverage of the Sikh temple shooting here.

Reach Executive Producer Michael Juliani here; follow him on Twitter here.



 

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