WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday deplored the hatred shown by the gunman who killed a guard at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum and hoped Americans are united against such acts.

"It's a terrible tragedy. And the kind of hatred that the killer evidenced over many years toward different groups in our society is deplorable," Clinton told reporters at the State Department.

"And I hope that we will be able to send out a clear, unmistakable message that hateful rhetoric, violence based on any kind of discriminatory attitude toward any group in the United States is not acceptable," she said.

She added that those "who foment that kind of rhetoric, that unfortunately we see on the Internet, or here on broadcast media, or shows up in pamphlets need to think very hard about the consequences of that kind of incitement."

The chief US diplomat concluded: "I hope all of America will stand united against that kind of terrible action on the part of anyone who harbors those feelings and attitudes."

An 88-year-old white supremacist with a history of anti-Semitic tirades sent frantic tourists scrambling when he opened fire Wednesday at the museum fatally wounding a guard before being shot himself.

The attack alarmed Washingtonians and visitors alike, and drew reactions of shock and sadness from President Barack Obama, US lawmakers, Israel, and a US Muslim organization.

The gunman was identified as James von Brunn, a Maryland resident who has done time in prison for taking a gun into the US Federal Reserve in an apparently botched anti-Semitic attack, a federal law enforcement official said.

The museum flew its flags at half mast on Thursday as the FBI and Washington police were investigating any leads into the attack which came without any prior warning, officials said.

Von Brunn, 88, remained in critical condition in an area hospital.

AFP, June 11, 2009