“Couldn’t Wait To Kill Indians”: What a US Teen Told Coworkers at Taco Bell

“A special day.” According to reports, a 19-year-old Taco Bell cashier in Illinois, Chicago, told coworkers about his last Sunday. Alexandros Paporakis also published pictures of his tactical equipment and a letter, which police referred to as a manifesto, detailing an alleged intention to carry out a mass shooting of “Indian people.”

Prosecutors from the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office claim that Paporakis publicly identified as a white supremacist at work and told them he “couldn’t wait to kill Indian” people in the eight-page dossier. His violent plans were stopped in their tracks when one of his coworkers denounced the adolescent to the authorities.

On Sunday afternoon, as Paporakis was leaving his house, the Mount Prospect and Palatine police departments worked together to find and apprehend him. Detectives suspect that Paporakis was preparing to carry out a mass shooting at a Hindu temple in Aurora, which is about 40 miles (65 km) southwest of Palatine.

A gun, several full rifle magazines, and hundreds of rounds of extra rifle ammunition were found by police during searches of his residence.  “Among the recovered items was a tactical vest containing body armour and a patch displaying imagery associated with white supremacist extremism,” Palatine police said.

Detectives also examined electronic communications and a document attributed to Paporakis titled “Why I Fought: A.K.A.: (Aurora Shooter’s Manifesto)”, which described Indian, Jewish and African American people as “subhumans” and outlined a plot to kill as many of them as possible, according to a court document obtained by The Associated Press.

Although the precise location of Paporakis’s target is still being investigated, authorities surmise that he meant to target the biggest Hindu temple in the southwest suburb of Aurora. The biggest Hindu temple in Aurora, Illinois, is Sri Venkateswara Swami (Balaji) Temple.

Paporakis called a coworker earlier in the day on Sunday, according to the prosecution, claiming that his gun had jammed and that he had fled “very fast” without being noticed. Paporakis was charged with felonies of “making a terrorist threat” and unauthorized weapon possession, according to police, after consulting with prosecutors from the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. Police said the suspect’s next court date is set for October 30. The suspect showed up for a detention hearing on Wednesday, and a judge ordered him to be detained. Human rights activists claim that a rise in white supremacist ideology and anti-immigration language and legislation have contributed to the recent surge in hate crimes against South Asians in the United States.