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There are many atrocities in history. What makes it even worse is people commit many of them during times of celebration such as New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. With that in mind, check out below for the top 10 murder spree on that took place on New Year’s Eve.
#10: Long Branch New Year’s Eve Murder Spree
The following event happened recently in Long Branch, New Jersey on New Year’s Eve. In this murder spree, a 16 years old boy killed 3 members of his own family as well as a close family friend. He used a family member’s legally owned gun. The victims were 18 year old Brittany Kologi, her parents Linda Kologi and Steven Kologi, as well as family friend Mary Schulz. The boy gunned down in 4 separate rooms in the Long Branch Kologi family home.[1]NJ – Family killed in New Year’s Eve shooting to be remembered at funeral Monday Reports said that that each the boy shot each person multiple times at close range.
#9: The Istanbul Nightclub Shooting
The 2017 Istanbul nightclub shooting is one of the worst murder spree in recent history. The New Year’s Eve massacre took place in the Reina nightclub, in the popular Ortakoy neighborhood. This area has many popular bars, art galleries, night clubs, cafes, and restaurants. The shooter killed 39 people and wounded severely an additional 70 people.[2]Independent – Istanbul nightclub suspect ‘confesses to New Year’s Eve massacre’
The attacker was Abdulkadir Masharipov. He is was born in Uzbekistan. Masharipov entered the club in a Santa Claus costume. However, as soon as he entered, he immediately started shooting from his AK-47. In addition, Masharipov used stun grenades to distract people while he reloaded. Reports say that Masharipov shot over 180 rounds during his 7 minute attack. Afterwards, Masharipov went into the club’s kichten and changed into new clothes. He was then able to slip out in the confusion. Fortunately, the police caught him soon after. Masharipov’s attack has terrorist ties. In fact, it is part of ISIL’s (Islamic state of Iraq and the Levant) strategy at attacking foreign nations.
#8: New Year’s Massacre in Omoku, Nigeria
The Omoku New Year’s massacre in Nigeria is a perfect example of ISIL’s Islamic extremism. Nigeria is a secular government that is a melting pot of religious diversity. However, the country’s religiously divided mostly between the Muslims in the north and the Christians in the south. Currently about 58% of Nigerians are Christians and about 41% of Nigerians are Muslim. However, since the early 2000s, Boka Haram, an extremist branch of ISIL in Nigeria, has been committing a lot of murder spree and other terrorist acts in the country. They want to enact Sharia law in Nigeria. One of the worst murder spree is the Omoku New Year’s massacre. Led by Johnson Igwedibia, Don Waney, on New Year ’s Day, Boka Haram forces killed 21 people, including women, children, and old people returning from New Year’s church services.[3]Vanguard – How Don Waney, New Year day massacre mastermind, was killed
#7: The Nanking Massacre
The Nanking massacre took place between December 13, 1937 and January 1938 for around 7 weeks in the Chinese city of Nanking.[4]South China Morning Post – The Nanking massacre: why Hong Kong and world downplayed atrocity, distracted by New Year’s Eve partying and a minor incident This was during the period of Japanese Imperial expansion in the Second Sino-Japanese War. At the time, Nanking was the capital of the Republic of China.
During the Nanking Massacre, the Japanese military committed an untold number of horrific acts. They committed mass murder spree and rape of the Chinese people in Nanking. According to historical evidence, the Japanese killed anywhere between 40,000 to 300,000 people. The murder spree was so great, that even to this day relations between China and Japan are still not great.
#6: Brazilian New Year’s Eve Murder Spree
Not all murder spree have political motivations. In fact, in 2017 in Brazil, Sidnei Ramos de Araujo, a normal 46 year old lab technician, killed 10 people, including his ex-wife, son, and other family members.[5]Express – Gunman kills 12, including son and ex-wife, as New Year’s Eve party turns into bloodbath Prior to his attack, Araujo was in the middle of messy divorce proceedings. He couldn’t accept breaking up with his ex-wife. In addition, Araujo was not being happy that he couldn’t see his son as often as he wanted. Therefore, in his deranged mind, Araujo decided killing a bunch of people before committing suicide was the best answer.
#5: Rosewood Massacre
The US has a dark history with regards to race. Things such as slavery and segregation have cast a long shadow over the United States. One of the worst times in the US for African Americans was segregation. Segregation stated that white and black people were equal but separate. However, in reality that was far from the truth. Rather, in most cases, the government relegated African Americans to second class citizens. As such, justice did not apply to African Americans equally.
The Rosewood Massacre of 1923 is a perfect example of this. Rosewood was a small town in central Florida. As such, segregation was a very real reality in everyday life. The incident started when white people in a neighboring town thought that a black man from Rosewood had sexually assaulted a white women. In reaction, the white people put together a lynch mob of around 20 to 30 men to get revenge. They ended up killing the black man, his family, and even their dog. However, in the ensuing fight, the black man managed to kill two of the attacking white men.
The next day, due to a misrepresentation of the information, neighbors heard that a black man had killed 2 white men. As a result, a group of around 200 men from the surrounding communities put together a second lynch mob to go into Rosewood.[6]BlackPast.org – Rosewood Massacre (1923) The lynch mob burned the town to the ground. However, after the event the local courts couldn’t find enough evidence to prosecute anyone.
#4: The Murder Spree in Calgary
Canadians are the stereotypical kind and friendly people. In fact, you could probably bump into a Canadian person and they would say sorry to you. However, this is not always the case. On New Year’s Eve 2015, an attacker killed one person and wounded 6 other people during a party in Calgary, Canada.[7]Zoom Dune – New Years Eve massacre one dead six wounded after Calgary party shooting Investigators don’t know what the motive was. However, the party was primarily Africans of Somali decent. As such, investigators believed that the attack had either racial or gang ties.
#3: Chenogne Massacre
WWII was a period of many atrocious massacres and murder spree. However, despite popular opinion, both sides committed some mass murder spree as well. A famous example of this by the allies is the Chenogne Massacre on January 1, 1945 in Chenogne, Belgium. During this massacre, American soldiers mercilessly killed 60 German troops who were surrendering.[8]The 11th Armored Division Legacy Group -B Company 21st AIB The reasoning as to why the American troops did this is not clear due to the American government covering up the incident at the time. However, historical evidence suggests that at least one American unit had direct orders to not take any German troops alive. This was in retaliation to an event just prior in Malmedy, Belgium. There, Nazi SS used fear tactics common on the Eastern front by killing 84 American POWs.
#2: Waterloo Creek Massacre
The British Empire exported English culture throughout the world. However, it did not always take the native people into consideration. The colonization of Australia by Britain is a perfect example of this.
Historians hold two main view points with regards to British colonization.
- The British had very minor conflicts with native peoples. They were more interested in bring culture and civilization to its expansive empire.
- The British massacred native populations in order to exploit the natural resources of the land for the benefit of England.
The Waterloo Creek Massacre is an example of the second line of thought. Between December 1837 and January 1838, Australian mounted police had several armed conflicts with native Australian Aborigines.[9]Waterloo Creek : the Australia Day massacre of 1838, George Gipps and the British conquest of New South Wales During the murder spree, Australian police killed around 50 native Aboriginal people due to conflicts over land ownership.
#1: Massacre of Mullaghmast
English colonialism didn’t just take place in Australia. In fact, it first happened much closer to home and a long time before just next door in Ireland. In fact, you can still see the effects of British colonialism today in the strained relationship between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. One notorious example of English imperialism over the Irish is the massacre of Mullaghmast which happened in 1577. In order to steal the land from the Irish leaders, the British envoy to Ireland put together a sinister plot to kill them all. He invited the leading members of the great families in Ireland to come to Mullaghmast. The plan was to talk about a mutually beneficial military service for the two countries. Instead, the British envoy killed between 100 to 400 of these Irish leaders. He even burned some at the stake.[10]Library Ireland – Store of Ireland
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